""Do I love the club? It is the history and tradition that I love. When you think about this current lot, there is not much to love from the top to the bottom." 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."
"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."
"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."
Protests that had recurred in front of the directors' box at Manchester United home games have stopped. The area in front of the directors' box was converted into a corporate zone and long-term season-ticket holders were relocated. An 81-year-old supporter described being moved from a seat he had held since 1980 and noted higher-priced corporate seating and hospitality offers. Supporters were offered choices of alternative seats, but relocation separated long-standing fan groups and generated resentment. Minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe pursued revenue growth, cost-cutting and loss reduction, driving the stadium and ticketing changes. Communications noted a small season-ticket increase and signalled changes to pensioner discounts.
Read at www.bbc.com
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