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Manchester United have been accused of treating their fans as “suspects” following a clampdown by the club on potential ticket touts.
Thousands of fans received emails warning their accounts had been suspended and season tickets are at risk of being revoked as part of United’s anti-touting drive.
The move has led to a backlash from fans who feel the clampdown on touts has resulted in innocent supporters being unfairly targeted and that trust has been eroded.
Now five fan groups, including the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust, The 1958 and The Red Army, 90 official supporters clubs and United fanzines Red News and United We Stand have joined forces to demand the club stop their “ban first and ask questions later” approach.
Although supportive of the club’s efforts to root out touts, there is growing concern that genuine supporters are being caught up in the crackdown and the groups have thrown their support behind a letter sent to United by the fans’ forum last week calling for an immediate halt to the ongoing suspension process.
“Long-standing supporters who have followed Manchester United for decades, often across multiple generations of the same family, should never feel they are being treated as suspects without clear evidence, due process or a meaningful opportunity to respond to the allegations made against them,” the groups’ said in a joint statement.
“The current approach has created a growing perception among supporters of a ‘Ban first and ask questions later’ process. That is not how trust is built, nor is it consistent with the standards of fairness that loyal supporters should expect from their football club.
“Investigations should establish the facts before sanctions are imposed, particularly where the potential consequence is the loss of a season ticket and relationships with the club built over many decades.”
The situation is the latest in a series of disputes between fans and the club over ticketing. Last year, United came under heavy fire from fans who were being forced out of their seats to make way for VIP hospitality.
Around the same time, there was a backlash from older supporters who accused the club of trying to price them out of games after a 50 per cent discount was halved to an “across the board” 25 per cent rate. There have been other protests over rising ticket prices.
Telegraph Sport spoke to some fans affected as part of the club’s efforts to stamp out touting.
Carl Saunders has been a season ticket holder for at least 25 years. He believes he has been caught in the net because he is part of a group of four friends who usually have one member of the group log in to each account to apply or pay for tickets or assist with relocation requests.
Saunders said that was because his friend was the most “tech savvy” among them and best at handling the digital aspects around ticketing in a rapidly changing landscape. He believes the clampdown is “revenue driven”.
Andrew Robson, a season ticket holder for the past 30 years, echoed those sentiments. “They could sell my ticket to members for twice as much,” he said.
‘The way I have been treated is despicable’
Another supporter, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, manages the tickets with a friend on behalf of a group of season ticket holders who attend away games together. He has appealed against his restriction but has since been told that the suspension will remain in place pending further investigation and is now at risk of being stripped of the season ticket he has held for more than a decade.
“I can’t really put into words what losing my season ticket would do to me,” he said. “It’s a massive part of my life. I met my partner through United, to a degree I build my life around United, my holidays are planned around European aways. The way I have been treated by the club is despicable.
“I always thought that people saying that the club wanted rid of season ticket holders were wearing their tin hats but it’s becoming harder to disagree with them the more you look at the consistent pattern of behaviour from the club. We’re not wanted anymore, my season ticket goes for 40 per cent more when sold to a member.”
He added: “I know this crackdown has caught some touts, touts that are well known, but from what I can see the margin of error is huge. I don’t for one second believe that the club have considered the potential outcomes of their actions and what they could be doing to fans.
“I’ve complied with several ID checks over the last few years, I’ve never failed one, nor has anyone in my party. That’s because the person whose name the ticket is in is the one attending games. We’re lauded for having some of the best away support in the country. That’s because we’re a community who help each other out – last time I checked that doesn’t equate to touting.
“No money is being made, at least not in my friendship group. We spend thousands a year on following United. I reckon last season alone was over £3,000 for me and that’s without my season ticket.”
The fans’ forum said their independent supporter liaison officer service had been overwhelmed with requests for help from supporters who had received emails informing them of suspicious activity on their account and asked to confirm every device used to access it, among other requests.
They said they had successfully assisted in a good proportion of cases being overturned but that many appeals were being rejected and referred to an appeals panel.
United say they will not be issuing any statements while they are midway through their ticket touting operation.
No sanctions without evidence, say United
However, United sources have stressed that, although they understand the concern and distress that anyone who has received an email may experience, no sanctions are being imposed with the initial email.
Sanctions will only be issued in cases where there is evidence to support them and not before fans have replied or 14 days have lapsed with no response. Where there is a straightforward explanation, the club say no sanction will be forthcoming.
It is understood that account restrictions are in place to prevent actual touts who receive a letter from immediately forwarding tickets for all 20 home games.
Old Trafford sources add that, where the observed activity relates to fans passing on their username and login details to others, the club are simply seeking further information and/or an explanation from fans who have given their login credentials to more than six different people.
Sources say such activity is unusual and “isn’t going to flag someone who is just logging into, for example, their dad’s account”.
United say there is no ticketing process that requires a supporter to access another person’s account and that tickets can be purchased, forwarded and managed through the club’s authorised processes without sharing login credentials.
The club are also adamant that the crackdown is not about driving revenue or reducing season ticket numbers.
It is understood that if someone has a season ticket cancelled then – subject to the conclusion of any appeals process – that ticket will be reissued to another person on the season ticket waiting list/with a cup season ticket.
United sources are insistent that the club must remove touts who are wilfully abusing the process to the detriment of the overwhelming majority of fans.
