Man United fans protests against season ticket ‘fiasco’ ahead of derby

Manchester United fans have protested against the club’s ownership ahead of the Manchester derby in response to the season ticketing “fiasco” that resulted in 685 ticket bans.

The club recently announced the season ticket bans after a length investigation into ticket touting, with the manner of the investigation criticised by fans. Another 464 supporters received a final warning or a reduced sanction, with a total of 1,617 accounts identified as requiring further investigation and action.

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Ahead of the Premier League match against Manchester City, fans gathered by the Bishops Blaize pub near Old Trafford to protest both the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with chants directed at both parties.

While the Glazers have long been targeted by fan protests since taking over in 2005, these protests mark one of the first times that Ratcliffe and the new Ineos ownership have been targeted in such a public manner.

Speaking on the bans, a club statement said that they “were issued where there was significant misuse of the ticketing system for financial gain,” including “the operation of organised ticketing networks, which were controlling, selling and distributing tickets from hundreds of accounts”.

Nevertheless, fan backlash has been strong, with the club’s methods coming under scrutiny and many fans feeling they were targeted unfairly.

Another fan group, The Red Army, also announced that it will carry out a protest of its own ahead of kick-off, opting to remove their regular flag displays in the Stretford End and replacing it with a single banner that will read: “The way you treat us is a disgrace.”

A statement from the group called it “an honest, heartfelt cry for recognition from the maligned, vilified, and misrepresented beating heart of our football club – the generational match-going supporters”.