A LOYAL Manchester United fan has been forced to give up his Old Trafford seat of 45 years to make way for corporate hospitality.
Michael Carney, 81, has followed United through thick and thin – from the Busby Babes and the Holy Trinity of George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law to the 1999 Treble and today’s lows.
A loyal Manchester United fan has been forced to give up his Old Trafford seat[/caption]
However, the club are taking the longtime fan’s seat away and are forcing him to move from his spot in the lower section of the Sir Bobby Charlton stand.
Carney was among the die-hard Man Utd fans who received a season ticket renewal letter that informed them their seats will be converted to hospitality sectors this summer.
It read: “We have identified a small number of general admission tickets directly adjacent to the home and away dugouts that will be converted to hospitality seats this summer.
“This reflects the high value of this unique location and will help to raise hospitality revenue to keep general admission Season Ticket prices lower.
“Your current seat is included within this block, and we will therefore need to find you an alternative seat for next season.”
And Carney made his feelings known by aiming a powerful placard at the Red Devils’ hierarchy during Sunday’s goalless derby against Manchester City.
The sign read on one side: “I was sat here before you were born!”
And the other side read: “74 years of loyal support – for what?”
Carney, who still keeps newspapers from the Munich air disaster and Best’s phenomenal performance at Benfica in 1966, feels his beloved club is hanging him out to dry.
He told the BBC: “It is very sad after all these years. They could put you anywhere and I don’t think you will be able to argue much. If you don’t like it, clear off.
“They are brilliant seats. Mine is smack on the halfway line, midway between the dug-outs and the directors’ box.
“One way of looking at it is that we have been fortunate to be sitting there for all those years – but you get used to it.
“It has been happening on an individual basis for some time now. Before every game, you get an email saying if you can’t make the game, let them know and they will give you your money back.
“If you have not been, the lads around will ask whoever is in the seat how much they paid for it. Very often it would be £250-£300.
Fan protests
“That is a good way of seeing what they want to do now, taking everyone out en-bloc.”
Man Utd have been making a lot of controversial changes, which include brutal cuts, under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos, who are in charge of sporting operations.
The club told season ticket holders who are sat right behind the dugouts at Old Trafford will have to move to make way for a VIP hospitality area.
This situation led to another protest after the Manchester derby with hundreds of fans venting their frustrations over next season ticket price rises, the cutting of concessions and the amount of money paid to service United’s £1billion debt.
Some seniors will see the cost of their season tickets rise by 57 per cent – a situation branded “shameful” when it emerges last month.
A wider “sit-in” protest was also arranged by the 1958 fan group.