Manchester United supporters expressed fury with the club’s owners in a pre-derby protest organised by The 1958 fan group about the “season ticket ban fiasco.”
The Premier League club’s heavy-handed summer crackdown on ticket touting resulted in widespread condemnation from fans and supporters after many innocent people faced the threat of sanction.
United confirmed on Friday that they had removed 685 season tickets as part of the contentious process and claimed that they have disrupted organised ticketing networks, but fans remain angry.
The Red Army supporters’ group confirmed on the eve of Sunday’s derby that there will be no flag display against Manchester City in the wake of the club’s investigation into ticket touting.
A large swathe of supporters marched to the match after a call to action by The 1958, which urged fans to “stand united” against the so-called fiasco as a “line has been crossed.”
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Anti-Glazer songs and similarly forceful chants about co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe filled the air along with green and gold flares outside the Bishops Blaize pub near Old Trafford.
Among the banners held up was one reading: “You take it all from fans and banning us for nothing. Premium prices all for greed.”
The word ‘premium’ used the style of Amazon‘s logo — a nod to the documentary series currently being filmed at United.
The protest continued into the Munich tunnel at Old Trafford, where “We want Glazers out” was bellowed outside the directors’ entrance.
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The club last month said that an independent company had “uncovered significant and organised touting”, having reviewed account activity on the club’s ticketing platform between March and June.
United acknowledged that their ticketing touting investigation had “caused significant concern and distress for some supporters.”
The Red Devils also conceded that they had “underestimated how common sharing account usernames and passwords was” and recognised “that some fans may have felt they were being treated unfairly”.
