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Thanks - I never noticed that. I think I must have been unconsciously converting the US style to the UK style in my head all this time.

It's in the context of football that I really struggle to contain myself, and I'm not a grammar nazi any other time.

"Manchester United is going to win", or "Scotland has no chance", Argh!! I've no real reason to hate this, but it just feels wrong!

"Manchester United" is a contraction of "Manchester United Football Club"

And "Manchester United Football Club is going to win the Premiership" sounds to me as incorrect as "Manchester United is going to win the Premiership"

No matter what justification you use, "<football team> is..." will sound wrong to english speakers in the UK, Aus, NZ and a couple of other places (bar the person higher up in this thread who says they never notice it :))

Right, but en_UK dictates that this is plural, and hence you say "Manchester United are going to win."

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