Manchester United tickets: How Old Trafford tries to deal with hecklers

Speaking to United staff earlier this month, the scale of the problem was revealed.

In the past, a feature of Old Trafford matchday was the people lining Sir Matt Busby Road for a ticket sale. But the numbers dwindled.

Now it is being circulated on Facebook or WhatsApp groups in a way that makes official identification difficult or impossible. Sneaking is very difficult.

In minutes from a fan forum meeting in October, United said 2,000 tickets for the Premier League match with Chelsea on September 20 had been “successfully recovered” and “more than 4,500 active users have been blocked” from purchasing tickets. The club believes that the use of bots to purchase a large number of tickets under assumed names is the main problem.

The club says season ticket holders on average return between 5,000 and 7,500 tickets per match for “reuse”. They estimate that between 10% and 15% of United’s 47,000 season tickets are owned by resellers, who seize tickets from holders who do not want to keep them. Valid addresses are no longer required because tickets are delivered in digital format.

In their first five home games this season, United have either blocked or canceled 22,000 tickets, a figure the club considers the “tip of the iceberg”.

The club carries out checks on suspicious tickets requiring fans to look for officials at the box office at away matches. It emerged that one fan paid £900 for a ticket to watch the win at Liverpool, and another paid £800 for the 2-2 draw with Tottenham earlier this month.

With more tickets available, some scenes at Old Trafford can be upsetting when fans discover they have been cheated. For away games, ticket holders are allowed into the game. The source of the ticket is logged and action is taken. At home, this is often not possible when tickets for the same seats are sold multiple times.

Promotion is big business. It is estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to participants and is not limited to Manchester United. The biggest northern clubs and all London-based clubs are prime targets, with fans from abroad willing to pay a premium to circumvent the ticket policies of clubs they either have no knowledge of or do not meet their standards.

At one point, Manchester United sent non-permanent staff to buy tickets on the street. Within minutes, it became clear that those running the promotion had figured out what was happening and demanded to know why. Checking tickets on the street led to verbal and physical threats.

The club feels it is beginning to recognize exactly who is responsible for season tickets. It is impossible to do the same with a membership of around 500,000 – all members are able to apply for tickets.

Ticket prices for corporate zones, which rarely sell out, have been reduced, meaning that overpaying promoters is not necessary.