What started as a playful online stunt has turned into an unexpectedly long-running saga stretching across 493 days.
What started as a playful online stunt has turned into an unexpectedly long-running saga stretching across 493 days.
On 5 October 2024, content creator Frank Ilett – better known online as The United Strand – uploaded a video announcing he would not cut his hair again until Manchester United recorded five consecutive victories.
At the time, his audience was modest. He even asked viewers to vote on when they thought the next haircut might come, offering three options: 2024, 2025, or 2026. Out of 27,000 responses, nine in 10 opted for the latest date.
After United was held to a 1-1 draw away to West Ham on Tuesday, the challenge continues with no clear end in sight.
Ilett now commands an audience of more than 2.3 million followers. His live YouTube watchalong of Tuesday’s match drew crowds that peaked above 100,000 viewers, underlining how far the idea has travelled.
Speaking a year into the self-imposed rule, Ilett told BBC Sport the concept was meant to be harmless fun, aimed at lifting spirits during a difficult spell for supporters.
He admitted he expected the ordeal to last only a few months, believing the team’s poor run would soon correct itself. Instead, the opposite has happened.
The last occasion United managed five straight wins came between January and February 2024, shortly before Ilett began his pledge.
While that streak felt recent at the outset, historical comparisons paint a bleaker picture. The club once went 902 days without putting together five successive victories, a drought that ended in January 1999 – a figure Ilett prefers not to dwell on.
Initially, optimism remained high. United had lifted the FA Cup in May 2024, and the assumption was that a short slump was all that stood in the way. As months passed, that confidence faded.
Ilett’s increasingly distinctive hair became a visual shorthand for the club’s ongoing issues, circulating widely on social media as a reminder of how far standards had slipped.
He accepts that the image may be uncomfortable for those inside Old Trafford, suggesting it helps explain why there has been no formal contact from the club. Still, he hopes a more positive atmosphere might eventually change that.
Alongside visibility came commercial interest. Ilett now works with an agent handling partnerships and media requests, something he never anticipated when he filmed the original clip.
Despite that growth, he insists stopping is not an option, given the scale of the audience now invested in seeing the outcome.
While some within United once appeared open to embracing the joke – especially given the inclusion of a barbers’ room in the £50m Carrington redevelopment – that attitude has cooled.
Publicly and privately, the club has distanced itself. Captain Bruno Fernandes and manager Michael Carrick brushed off questions after a fourth consecutive win against Tottenham, although Carrick admitted his children had already told him about the challenge.
Daily updates and comparison images that once amused fans now underline the length of the team’s inconsistency, making the stunt feel less light-hearted.
Ilett has pledged to donate his hair to the Little Princess Trust and launched a JustGiving campaign for the children’s cancer charity. A £500 target has been surpassed many times over, reaching £6,132 by Tuesday afternoon.
Not all reaction has been supportive. One supporter received an indefinite ban from Old Trafford after confronting Ilett during a home match against Chelsea in September 2025. Others criticised his involvement in a gambling advertisement, questioning whether the challenge had strayed from its charitable roots. Ilett has rejected claims about the scale of his earnings.
Many fans continue to back him, and responses to his appearance on the Stretford Paddock podcast were largely favourable. Yet whether supportive or critical, most observers agree on one thing: they want United to win five in a row and finally bring the story to a close.
