Why Israel's Man U fan club is flying a bereaved father to the semi final 

For 558 days, Erez Tsarfati couldn’t bring himself to watch a football match. The roar of the crowd, the thrill of a goal, were once the heartbeat of his life as a devoted Manchester United fan, but they had gone silent. On October 7, 2023, his daughter, Ron, was brutally murdered at the Nova festival in Israel.

Her loss shattered Erez, stripping away the joy he once found in the game he’d loved for over 30 years. But last night, in a moment that felt almost divinely timed, Erez chose to tune in again, drawn to Manchester United’s clash with Lyon. The team’s stunning comeback was a victory on the pitch, but it was also Erez’s quiet, personal triumph over grief.

The story unfolded in a corner of the internet, where a post by Sharon Davidovitch on Manchester United’s epic turnaround against Lyon triggered an unexpected outpouring. Erez left a comment that stopped readers in their tracks. “On October 7, I lost my daughter, Ron, at Nova,” he wrote. “Since then, I haven’t been able to watch football games. I’ve been a United fan for over 30 years. Today, I decided this is my comeback game to life, after a year and a half during which I couldn’t… Football, bloody hell!!!” He signed off with the anthem of United fans: Glory Glory Man United.

The raw honesty of his words, shared in a space usually reserved for stats and celebrations, struck a chord.

Manchester United’s match against Lyon was no ordinary game. Down and struggling, the “Red Devils” staged a sensational rally, defying the odds in a way that echoed the club’s storied history at Old Trafford.

For Erez, the timing felt like a whisper from above, as if his daughter’s spirit nudged him toward this moment. “It’s like an angel came down from the skies of Old Trafford and said, ‘This is your comeback game,’” one fan remarked on X, capturing the sentiment swirling around Erez’s story.

After a year and a half of lackluster performances from his beloved team, this electric improbable victory reignited something in him. “I could feel how much this game moved him,” Davidovitch later posted, touched by Erez’s courage to share.

The response from Manchester United’s Israeli fan club was swift and heartfelt.

This is what they wrote (and honestly I can't read it without crying.)

“Dear Erez,

The family of Manchester United fans in Israel embraces you and shares in your and your family’s grief over your incomprehensible loss. We would like to talk to you and fly you to Old Trafford and give you a ticket to the semi-final against Athletic Bilbao."

Erez (and the internet) was speechless. “Wow! I have no words. I’ll get in touch."

Ron Tzarfati was full of life. Her father Erez honors her by choosing to live again: Football, with its chaos and glory, gave him a way back, not to erase the unimaginable pain of her loss as much as to carry it alongside joy. For one night, in the glow of Old Trafford’s legacy, a grieving father found a reason to shout Glory Glory Man United, and that alone is a victory worth celebrating.

But more than that, it demonstrated the unique, still beating, Jewish heart. The ecstasy of the game was not nearly as special as the outpouring of love to a grieving father and the exceptionally generous offer.

We're not crying, you're crying (and of course, well done Man U! You killed it!!!).