Manchester United fans launched a seething protest against the club’s Glazer owners before their final-day clash with Aston Villa.
Around 1,000 fans, led by the 1958 Group, marched down Sir Matt Busby Way outside Old Trafford with banners and flares to challenge ’20 years of theft and lies’.
One fan seemingly dressed like the Grim Reaper joined the crowd and the protest spilled into the stadium, with banners flooding the stands.
Their ire was mostly aimed at the Glazers, who saddled the club with debt following their 2005 leveraged-buyout and are widely-viewed as responsible for a miserable last decade.
Banners contained slogans such as ‘We want our club back,’ ‘Love United, hate Glazers,’ Glazers: ’20 years of theft and lies,’ and ‘history, dignity, integrity, you stole it all’.
United bolstered their security detail for the match, as exclusively revealed by Mail Sport while Sir Jim Ratcliffe stayed away from the ground.
Manchester United fans launched a vehement protest against the Glazers at Old Trafford
Around 1,000 supporters marched dow Sir Matt Busby Way to challenge the Glazer family
One fan wearing a skeleton mask joined the crowd with flares as the mood turned toxic
It comes after Ratcliffe was reportedly even booed by club staff at a screening of their ill-fated Europa League final amid another round of savage job cuts.
Around 200 staff at risk of redundancy were informed in meetings earlier this month, just eight months after 250 staff were let go in a drastic cost-cutting drive.
And at a screening of Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Tottenham in a warehouse venue called Diecast, Ratcliffe and the glazers were booed repeatedly, as per The Athletic.
At recent games, fans who are angry at being shifted next season for corporate punters, have protested directly in front of the directors’ box by unfurling banners.
That came after the news that United are converting the seats behind the dugouts into a lucrative VIP hospitality area, and uprooting fans who have sat there for decades into different seats. Around 500 fans will be relocated.
Earlier this season, United sparked fury when they raised ticket prices to a minimum of £66 for members for the rest of the season.
Members of all ages including children have been made to pay the increased fare for tickets and the club has also removed concession prices.
United have raised season ticket prices by five per cent for three seasons in a row, although they have frozen prices for under-16s.
Supporters continued their protest inside Old Trafford at their clash against Aston Villa
One fan resorted to placing a sticker on his head, such was his commitment to the cause
Their ire was mostly directed at the Glazers (Avram pictured left at Europa League final), while Sir Jim Ratcliffe stayed away
But the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust said in March that they were ‘disappointed’ that the club ignored calls to freeze all prices.
MUST raised concerns over plans to relocate fans sitting behind the dugouts at Old Trafford and sell their seats at higher prices in a new VIP area, and also charge non-season ticket holders more for premium games using a match categorisation model.
They also challenged United over an increase in the season ticket holder minimum usage requirement to 16 of the 19 Premier League games, the decision to impose a £10 charge on fans selling their tickets back to the club less than two weeks before the game, and a 15 per cent increase in car parking charges.
MUST and The 1958 have staged repeated protests throughout the season. A large-scale demonstration outside the ground in December united under the banner of #StopExploitingLoyalty’.
In April, The 1968 organised a sit-in protest for after their 0-0 stalemate with Manchester City, remaining in their spots well beyond the match.
