Eddie Thomas has seen it all - and has watched Manchester United win the lot. Thomas' first season at Old Trafford was in 1957 and he'd been to every cup final, including Europeans, until recently when a friend who was responsible for sorting their tickets made an error.

That friend and Thomas are no longer on speaking terms and avoid each other in their local pub. "He doesn't come in when I'm in the pub these days," laughed Thomas about the dispute.

Thomas has lived and breathed United throughout his entire life and he was voted as United's biggest fan by the Manchester Evening News in 2006. The prize for winning the competition was a limited edition book - the Opus book - that was worth £3,500 and it left him speechless.

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The MEN's former sport editor, Peter Spencer, visited Thomas to present him with his prize and 19 years later, Steven Railston was invited to his home to look at the revamped 'Red Room'.

You could spend hours in the Red Room, which is like United heaven. Thomas has autographs from Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, George Best and Sir Bobby Charlton, incredibly rare shirts from the 1960s onwards, artwork that commemorates club icons and United-related souvenirs.

At the top of the stairs, there is a a limited edition lithograph of the United heroes who lifted the European cup in 1968, and a Roman-theme portrait of Eric Cantona looks over the first floor.

The loft has been converted to make space for the remarkable collection and Thomas admitted his friends have all been blown away when they have checked it out for the first time.

There is something worth looking at across every inch of the Red Room. A pristine 1999 Champions League final shirt, signed by goalscorers Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, greets you at its entrance and Thomas has been forced to take out extra insurance to cover the room's value.

Before retirement, Thomas worked as a joiner and he decorated his safety helmet with United stickers and noted trophy wins with a black marker pen. "My boss told me off for that because he said I wasn't allowed to decorate my hardhat - but I did it anyways," explained Thomas.

Thomas was moved by the passing of Denis Law last month and has a framed Law shirt. It's not just any ordinary shirt, either. It's a limited edition shirt from the 1963 FA Cup final, signed by Law himself. There is also a shirt from the 1958 FA Cup final, signed by goalkeeper Harry Gregg.

The Red Room is a treasure trove and words don't really do it justice. There is a sticker on the wall that reads "this room belongs to United's No.1 fan," and Thomas can back that claim up.

The newspaper cuttings from the MEN in 2006 have been proudly kept by Thomas, who has been able to introduce himself in the pub as United's official biggest fan in the last 19 years.

Thomas explained that a friend, who is also another diehard Red, has regularly argued he is the bigger United fan, but he has the accolade and the Red Room to settle the debate.

"Just before Peter Spencer visited, all my family came around and told me to throw my shirt on," Thomas said, referencing the day he was named as United's biggest fan by the MEN.

"I've got a photo of me and him holding the book. It weighs a ton and it takes two to carry it. The centre part folds out to 6ft. I used to have it in the front room but it's too big to stay there."

Thomas has brilliant stories about his time supporting United. He once faced rubber bullets from Portuguese police, and he travelled to the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow, just hours after landing from a holiday in Thailand where he had fought off serious food poisoning.

His wife, Christine, has stood by him through it all and laughed: "There were times when I came home from work and we had a statue of Matt Busby stood on the mantle piece, and a statue of Fergie as well."

"There we so many United fans in Portugal when we played Porto in 1997," recalled Thomas, whose memory of United matches is encyclopaedic. "We thought it would be a jolly trip but it ended up being a nightmare because the police attempted to control the crowd and we got shot at.

"Even Fergie got shot at with a rubber bullet. We ended up watching it on the TV and we were hiding from the police. Playing Barcelona in 1984 was also memorable. We were 2-0 from the first leg and beat them 3-0. The atmosphere at Old Trafford that night was unbelievable.

"When I went to Moscow for that Champions League final, I'd been really ill and we were coming back from Phuket on a 26-hour flight, but I still made it to the game because I wouldn't miss it."

Christine said: "We watched him walk up the street and we thought, he's not even going to make it to the bus, never mind Moscow".

Thomas continued: "When I was younger, we'd sometimes go down to London on the Friday night to watch them in cup finals. We had no money and we'd sleep rough in warehouses and all that.

"That 1968 final, I didn't have enough tokens. I didn't have a ticket, but I heard of a lad who was selling one. I had no transport, but my mates were getting on the coach and I snuck on with them and got under the seat. The driver counted the passengers and I was hiding, which is how I got there.

"You would just find a way. We had special players and George Best was fantastic. There has been no better, for me, and I managed to see Duncan Edwards in his last six months or so.

"When you saw Best with the ball in front of him, he'd just go and run. They were all Ballon d'Or winners, Best, Law and Charlton, and Liverpool didn't have a player who could win it. They only won it recently with Michael Owen and we already had four four winners by the time he did.

"Cantona would have to be one of my favourites, Mark Hughes as well. Cantona was like the missing link, we got him and just went on from there, and I was in Germany when I was told we signed him."

The MEN were reacquainted with Thomas in the summer of 2023 when he was facing the threat of losing his season ticket. Thomas thought he had renewed his season ticket, only to be told he'd missed the deadline by a day. He contacted United's ticket office but was told nothing could be done.

Thomas and his son, Darren, attempted to escalate a complaint and outlined that he'd attended almost every United game since 1957, travelling far and wide around the world. They even reminded United that Sir Alex Ferguson promised Thomas his seat for life after raising money for the Manchester United Foundation, previously known as the club's development, in his spare time for 30 years.

United were informed Thomas had been in his seat since 1991, and he was a platinum member. Prior to that, he had a season ticket in the Scoreboard End, but the complaints over email fell on deaf ears and United continued to insist there was nothing they could do about him losing his season ticket.

Thomas was distraught and decided to contact the MEN, which resulted in United assessing the case and eventually arranging a season ticket for him, albeit in a different seat at Old Trafford.

"I couldn't believe they said everybody had renewed their season tickets just a day after the deadline," he said. "I was really stressed about it and everybody I knew couldn't believe how they treated me. They think nowt of you really and going to the newspaper probably shook them up a bit."

Christine added: "He couldn't come to grips with the fact his season ticket wasn't being renewed. Our whole lives have surrounded United, he's missed key family events over the years and a wedding reception."

Thomas has seen decades of success at United, but there's hasn't been much to celebrate of late. United have enjoyed triumphs in the Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup, but they haven't come close to winning the Premier League since Ferguson retired and are currently 13th in the table.

Ruben Amorim recently said his side are "maybe" the worst team in the club's history and Thomas agreed. "I think they are. One week they're alright and the next week they're awful," he said.

"But I don't think he should have said that, it's not what you say to get your team up for a fight. All the lower teams, the likes of Bournemouth and Brighton, they don't fear Old Trafford anymore.

"They think 'we'll beat these' and it never used to be like that. In the 90s and the 2000s, everyone would ask me for my prediction before we went to a game and I couldn't see us losing to anyone. We went 20 years without being out of the top three and won the treble the hard way."

There has been a shift in power at Old Trafford, as Sir Jim Ratcliffe gained control of football operations last year, but Thomas is not convinced about the British billionaire.

"I don't think Ratcliffe is right. I don't think he's interested in putting his own cash in," he said. "We're crying out for a striker and he didn't buy anyone. I have never seen a player like Zirkzee playing for a top team. And Hojlund isn't much different. I think the players are losing heart."

Thomas has given his heart to Manchester United - it is more than a football club to him.