The football might be worryingly similar at Manchester United this season but as Sunderland prepare to come to Old Trafford and heap more pressure on beleaguered head coach Ruben Amorim, one thing has certainly changed.
The protests in front of the directors’ box that were a recurring feature of United home games have gone.
“They’ve shifted everyone out,” said 81-year-old Michael Carney.
“They have padded seats now. Throw in a meal in Manchester and a couple of drinks before the game… I saw an advert, a seat near where I was, it was £599. I was paying £23.”
Carney was one of the season ticket holders told by the club they were being relocated at the end of last season as the area was turned into a corporate zone.
He had been sitting in the same seat since 1980. Many of the fans he sat with had become friends.
The protests – with the homemade messaging – captured attention but did nothing to alter the club’s stance. Minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe pushed on in his quest to drive up revenues, cut costs and slash losses.
Supporters being relocated were offered a choice of where to go.
For Carney, there was an additional sting.
“Individually, they said nothing, they didn’t get in touch with me, I didn’t expect them to,” he said.
“I was sent a stadium plan, like you would for the theatre, with various seats for me to choose from.
“I have ended up in the block next to mine but lower down. I was used to the people that sat around me and a couple of lads had gone a couple of rows from the front.
“I didn’t really want to be there but I wanted to stay in touch with them, so that’s where I went.
“I had received communication to say the season tickets were only going up 5% – but it also said the discount for pensioners was being cut.
“So now, my seat is not as good and it is double the price. It was £420 last year, now it is £840.”
‘This is as bad as it has been’
United say they understand the frustration of Carney and others similarly affected but they are largely unapologetic about making the changes.
Ratcliffe had been clear in his assessment United’s huge losses could not continue, warning there was a danger the club might ‘go bust’ unless action was taken.
To that end, relocating fans in prime seats that can attract such a significant premium on what existed before was a no-brainer.
Last month, United confirmed losses had been cut by 70.8% from £113.2m to £33m.
Chief executive Omar Berrada confirmed the improved financial performance would “support our overriding priority: success on the pitch”.
So far, the expected uplift has failed to materialise, with United losing three of their six Premier League games in addition to being knocked out of the EFL Cup by League Two Grimsby, the first time in the club’s history they have been beaten by a fourth-tier team.
As someone who started supporting United in the late 1940s and still has memorablia charting the progress of the Busby Babes, Carney has seen plenty of good and bad times.
He says he cannot remember the situation being quite so bleak as now.
“This is as bad as it has been,” he said. “It’s just heartbreaking.
“It was pretty dire between 1959 and 1962 but there was bound to be a big dip after the Munich crash as the club was rebuilding.
“It was also grim in the 1970s. I think Sir Matt [Busby] mentally thought he was done after winning the European Cup. The club made some bad signings and got relegated.
“But the enthusiasm among the fanbase was still there and the players we had did try. When we brought Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill in, you could see the green shoots. I can’t see that now.”
Carney is yet to decide if he will renew his ticket again next season.
At the very least, he will look to relocate again, having got soaked during the recent victory over Chelsea as the wind swept torrential rain across the first few rows of seats where he now sits.
He has reached an age where he can’t be certain how long he will be able to commute from his Northwich home with his United mad grandson, who is disabled.
Either way, he is not alone in feeling the game he has loved all his life has changed at the top level, and not for the better.
“I don’t think the soul is there anymore. It is not just United, it is across the board. It’s business, it’s money. The days that are gone will never come back,” he said.
“Now there are a lot of day trippers who come from all over the world saying they have been to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United.
“United do have money – but they are £1bn in debt.
“They are talking about a new stadium but the way things are going, they might not need space for 100,000 people.”
