In light of the United Strand’s challenge, we delved into the stats…
By Séamus Brady
By now, most football fans have come across The United Strand – the viral challenge by Frank Ilett – who’s vowed not to cut his hair until Manchester United win five consecutive games.
The result? A flowing mane, an ever-growing wait, and over 320,000 followers on Instagram watching the drama unfold.
While United’s shaky start to the season has given plenty of ammunition to rival fans, along with little hope to Frank’s barber, it got us thinking: just how rare is a five-game winning streak amongst Premier League clubs, even including all competitions?
We took a deep dive into the form books to uncover the last time each Premier League club managed to win five on the bounce across all competitions.
Spoiler alert: some of the names near the bottom of the list might shock you.
Table in Order – Lowest to Highest
Manchester City – 26/06/2025 – 77 days.
Chelsea – 08/05/2025 – 125 days.
Burnley – 03/05/2025 – 130 days.
Leeds United – 28/04/2025 – 136 days.
Wolves – 20/04/2025 – 144 days.
Newcastle United – 13/04/2025 – 151 days.
Aston Villa – 30/03/2025 – 165 days.
Crystal Palace – 29/03/2025 – 166 days.
Nottingham Forest – 29/12/2024 – 256 days.
Liverpool – 24/11/2024 – 282 days.
Tottenham Hotspur – 03/10/2024 – 344 days.
Arsenal – 12/05/2024 – 487 days.
Manchester United – 18/02/2024 – 571 days.
Fulham – 12/01/2023 – 973 days.
Bournemouth – 1,412 days.
Sunderland – 17/03/2021 – 1,639 days.
West Ham United – 23/01/2021 – 1,692 days.
Everton – 26/09/2020 – 1,811 days.
Brentford – 04/07/2020 – 1,895 days.
Brighton & Hove Albion – 17/04/2017 – 3,069 days.
About his hair challenge, Frank Ilett told SportsJOE: “I started this hair challenge because we were going through a bit of a tough time, and I wanted to spread some humour and positivity to other Man Utd fans who were also having a tough time.
“The only thing is, I didn’t expect it go on as long as it has. All my family are a bit like: ‘Come on now.’
“I’ve come this far now. I think if I was going to quit, I would have quit a while ago!”
