Manchester United supporters sent out a clear statement to their American owners during the Carling Cup quarter final against Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening at Old Trafford.
It is estimated that United were roughly 22,376 spectators short of a full house, their lowest attendance figure for a competitive match at the Theatre of Dreams in just over six years.
The statement was clear and could be seen by the viewing public who tuned in to watch the reds cup clash in the form of the amount of empty upturned seats clearly visible to the human eye. Prior to the match United refused to lower the price of tickets, and it is believed that adult tickets were around £42.
It is absolutely scandalous and outrageous to charge such an amount for what was a Carling Cup game against championship opposition.
Perhaps the happiest people that evening would have been the ones who would have been sat watching the match at home or in their local drinking establishment with the green and gold scarf around their neck, fully backing the ‘Anti-Glazer’ agenda. The match can now be looked back on as a demonstration by supporters, venting their anger at the Glazer family for pricing fans out of going to watch the working man’s game.
United must have known at the start of the week that they had 22,376 tickets to sell, so why did they not offer them to local schools or youth clubs? These local schools and youth club’s are where the next generation of reds will come from and the club need to realise that they need to attract younger supporters to come to Old Trafford.
Even if they offered them for free to children it still surly would have made business sense. How many of them children would have visited the mega-store or made a food or beverage purchase inside the ground? This would have been money that would have gone into the Glazers back pocket, so it is their loss.
If tickets had become more affordable and realistic Old Trafford would have been full, but the worrying thing is as a United supporter is the Glazers do not actually seem interested or intent on acting upon the scene of them empty seats. They should take notice and could learn a few things from Manchester City, whose owners have impressed me on the commercial and ticketing side of the game.
The evening before United’s quarter final cup game, Arsenal played Manchester City at the Emirates and all tickets including the away teams were set at a reasonable £10. So it was no surprise to see that the Emirates was almost packed to the rafters. £10 to go and watch two premier league teams play in a cup quarter final, why could United not have done something similar?
Do the Glazers not realise a global recession is now kicking in on the football side of things as supporters start to give up season tickets that they can no longer afford to keep, and also stop going to football grounds because it has become far too expensive for a family or the average working-class person to attend?
If ticket prices for a cup competition that is fourth on the list of season priorities remain the same then expect more Old Trafford demonstrations, or empty seats as the majority of other supporters will view it as.
Manchester United are arguably the most famous and best supported football club side on the planet, Wednesday evening has taught the Glazers a lesson, they need to stop taking supporters for granted.
Kevin Ashford @KevinAshford7
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