An already fractious relationship is now at breaking point, on the eve of a new season that was supposed to represent the perfect opportunity to start afresh.
Instead, hundreds of Manchester United supporters, some of whom have been attending games for decades, have been contacted by the club as they are suspected of being a ticketing tout.
The social media backlash has been vitriolic, to put it mildly. A club, who have done much to irk their own since co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos came on board, are now targeting their most loyal.
For the first time, influential fan groups have joined together to call for an end to the ongoing process and the retraction of any unproven suspensions.
“It is diabolical,” one disgruntled season ticket holder of 25 years tells The i Paper after receiving the dreaded email.
“We know why they are doing it: drive us season ticket holders out, then day-trippers, who spend all their money in the club shop and on food, replace us.
“As ever with Ratcliffe, money comes first.”
The issue is much more complex than many supporters realise, however.
A flawed system from the off
When contacting supporters, with two rounds of emails already sent out, United are seeking an explanation from fans who have given their login credentials to more than six different people, where their e-tickets can be accessed and shared.
This appears as unusual and isn’t going to flag someone who is just logging into their dad’s account, despite claims on social media to the contrary.
The club, however, allow supporters to forward on away tickets to other season ticket holders, for example, at an unlimited rate.
So those who have been flagged for multiple account logins are often regular matchgoers who are doing nothing wrong.
“I manage all our groups’ applications, so we can coordinate,” Steve, a season ticket holder, tells The i Paper.
“We’re not doing anything against what the club says. We’re using the official forwarding system they state. They should be going after the people that log in on the app because that’s where the tickets are.
“We might be forwarding tickets from multiple account logins, but the club have got the data where the ticket is going and can see it is for other season ticket holders. I don’t see why they think what we are doing is touting, because surely they would then look and see if that ticket is being forwarded or it’s acquired from logging into the app by someone else.”
Despite supporters taking it upon themselves to warn the club, the system of adding season tickets to your own in the app could not be more susceptible to fraud.
All you need to do is get the season ticket number and name of another holder, and you are then free to use that to attend matches.
“Someone could get my number and then beat me to the turnstile the next match, simple as that,” another anonymous fan says. “We have told United there needs to be some form of two-factor authentication, a password or something, but no. And then they try blame us?”
‘If they have nothing to hide, why are they worried?’
United are not the only club trying to crack down on touts.
This week, Liverpool have issued over 400 lifetime banning orders relating to illegal sales of tickets at their matches.
The club feel well within their rights to attempt to stamp out such activity. Sources added that no formal sanctions have been issued yet, United are simply restricting accounts and requesting information from supporters to prove they are not up to no good.
“They’ve not been banned, the club just want more information,” one supporter, who wished to remain anonymous, told The i Paper.
“If they have nothing to hide, why are they worried? Maybe other supporters with 10 years’ worth of loyalty points who follow the rules might get a better chance at away tickets now.”
The distribution of away tickets has been a controversial topic among United supporters for some time. Many of the people contacted are in the loyalty scheme and are almost guaranteed to get tickets for every away game, having been present and applied for everything for a prolonged period of time.
Some of these, so say some naysayers, are in the scheme as a result of sharing their tickets out with numerous others or even selling them on, for inflated fees, while keeping the loyalty points.
Going about it the wrong way
What has caused the most consternation is how United are going about this process.
“They didn’t even tell us on this first wave of emails what it was, just that it was a suspicious activity on your account,” Steve adds. “Now you have to plead your innocence. Plead your innocence for what? They always come up with this ‘you’re guilty before proving yourself innocent’ approach.
“There has been pressure from MUST [Manchester United Supporters Trust] to change the sanctions process, but I know they are struggling with that. When United have done some data analysis to identify problems that have happened in the past, they’ve got it wrong. And it is happening again.”
United are aware that some rule-abiding supporters are being caught in the crossfire but remain resolute in their attempts to eradicate touting.
Sources insist restrictions are necessary because if they didn’t restrict the accounts while investigating, then touts with tickets for all games could just sell them on and profit from it.
Is this all a ruse for something entirely different?
The club are adamant this is not a revenue-driving scheme and that any revoked season ticket will be resold as another season ticket.
Supporters, angry at recent ticket price rises and other controversial Ineos cost-cutting measures, are rather sceptical.
“I believe this is directly related to simply raising prices and attracting non-season ticket revenue,” Professor Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and programme director at the University Campus of Football Business, tells The i Paper.
“While some call them sport tourists, ad hoc attendees are becoming a crucial revenue stream for clubs. They spend more on their ticket and spend more on a match day. It’s an uncomfortable truth about modern football economics.
“It’s fair to say an average season ticket holder probably spends £20-30 at the stadium, at most. A one-off visitor will spend five times that amount. And then if we look at hospitality ticket goers that number is likely £750-1,000 per person, including the ticket for bog standard corporate. Hence they are trying to squeeze in more.”
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Old Trafford regulars will take some convincing otherwise. Even if United do reallocate any season tickets taken away from those deemed to be touts, going to war with long-standing fans acts as a deterrent, putting off others from continuing to part with thousands of their hard-earned pounds.
And who will fill those free seats – big-spending tourists.
Just last year, season ticket holders behind the dugouts in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand were informed their seats would be converted into premium hospitality seats and they would be relocated, leading to mass protests at several games.
It is understood all emails calling for more information have been sent out. The question the club have to consider now is: was it all worth it?
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