Thousands of Manchester United fans marched to Old Trafford to protest against the Glazer family ahead of Monday’s win over rivals Liverpool.
Supporters are at their wits’ end with the controversial owners, and the recently formed group The 1958 led the final anti-American demonstration before kick-off. Fans gathered at the Tollgate Pub, about half a mile from the stadium, for the planned pre-game rally.
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“United for $ale” read a banner stretched out in front of the crowd, who moved slowly and loudly towards Old Trafford, while more supporters joined along the way. That banner also carried an image of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the British billionaire who gave fans an extra rallying point last week when he expressed interest in buying the club.
The message on another flag read, ‘We want our club back’, while smoke from torches filled the air and there was plenty of anti-glazer chanting. A large police presence monitored the event, which reached Old Trafford about 30 minutes before the game.
As the march ended near United’s ‘Trinity’ statue in front of the stadium, where hundreds of fans had already gathered, many Liverpool supporters were held back in a car park by police to avoid trouble.
The demonstration was largely peaceful, although scattered rockets were thrown over the wall separating protesters from Liverpool fans. The issues were quickly dealt with by police, but it took so long to resolve the protest that visiting fans were held back until after kick-off.
Liverpool fans, who made it into the ground early on, chanted “Up the Glazers” and brought out hundreds of masks of Avram Glazer, United’s executive vice chairman and director. Otherwise, it was noticeably quiet in the stadium as kick-off approached.
United confirmed the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro ahead of the game and the Brazil international was paraded on the pitch to a mix of applause and anti-glazer chants. Goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford gave Erik ten Hag his first win since arriving at Old Trafford.
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