Man Utd Fans Warn Owners ‘This Is Just The Start’ After Storming Of Old Trafford
Manchester United supporters have insisted that further action is planned after their protests and storming of Old Trafford on Sunday caused the Premier League match against Liverpool to be postponed.
The protests were targeted at the unpopular American owners, the Glazers, and organisers have emphasised Sunday’s events were the beginning of a sustained long-term campaign to pressure the owners into leaving the club.
Fans stated they felt ‘sidelined and ignored’ after United were criticised for their role in trying to launch the reviled European Super League, although fan opposition to the Glazers has long predated the breakaway competition.
The Red Devils have stepped up their security protocols at the stadium after around 200 demonstrators burst into Old Trafford, lit flares, threw bottles and clashed with police in controversial scenes, although much of the protest was peaceful.
There are legitimate fears of more protests in upcoming home fixtures, for example against Leicester on May 12 and Fulham a week later, plus the rearranged clash with fierce rivals Liverpool, and it is understood planning for further action is underway.
A Manchester United Supporters Trust letter said: ‘No one wants what happened at Old Trafford yesterday to be a regular event. We don’t want to spend our days off work protesting outside our football ground.
‘But what happened was the culmination of 16 years in which your family’s ownership of the club has driven us into debt and decline and we have felt ever more sidelined and ignored.’
Manchester United, the Premier League and the FA are all investigating Sunday’s events, with United facing potential sanctions for the security breaches.
A club statement read: ‘After breaking through barriers and security on the forecourt, some protesters climbed the gates at the end of the Munich tunnel, then forced access to a side door in the stand, before opening an external door that let others through to the concourse area and the pitch.
‘A second breach occurred when a protestor smashed the door of a disability access lift, enabling a group to enter the stand.
‘The majority of our fans have and will condemn criminal damage, along with any violence towards club staff, police or other fans, and these now become a police matter.’
A Premier League spokesman said: ‘The actions of a minority of those present at Old Trafford on Sunday have no justification and will be investigated by the Premier League and the FA, as well as by the Greater Manchester Police.’
Red Devils icon Roy Keane said on Sunday: ‘Sometimes you have to put a marker down for people to take notice and this will go all over the world now and people will have to sit up and take note.
‘Hopefully the owners of Man United will say ‘these fans are deadly serious’ and there’s more to come. This is just the start of it for United fans, mark my words.
‘This is just the start for United fans and their plan is for the United owners to give in and sell the club.’