An elderly Manchester United fan is being kicked out of the seat his family have used for 77 years to make way for a money-grabbing hospitality section.
Tony Riley, 76, travels from the Midlands for each match to use a seat his family have held since 1949.
He is among around 500 supporters being moved next season to make way for seating costing £315-£425-a-head in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand – a plan which is the brainchild of billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Around 600 fans have already been shifted coming into this campaign and given seats in the lower tier, with the option to sit with each other.
Riley’s name is engraved on the seat and his father-in-law, Laurie Cassidy, played for United in the 1940s and 1950s before helping trainees such as David Beckham.
‘We feel it’s an injustice, not just for us but all the others as well,’ Riley told the Guardian. ‘I just feel really sad about it. I feel helpless and hopeless.’
Around 600 of the 1,100 fans have already been moved and replaced by what Riley calls the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’.
‘I now have the pleasure of sitting next to them,’ he said. ‘I don’t begrudge them [but] they spend more time taking selfies than anything else. They’re not hardcore supporters.
‘It’s going more like American football.’
For the £315 seats, spectators get the chance to enjoy a three-course meal at Gordon Ramsay’s Lucky Cat restaurant.
At the £425 price bracket, those with deep wallets get champagne and a ‘premium’ experience where they can ‘impress key business contacts’.
Every fan is offered a different seat and season tickets are not revoked, but there is no guarantee that they will be able to sit with their loved ones. In the case of Riley, he will be separated from his son as there are not two available seats together.
Increasing revenue from seating can help the club to be more competitive on the pitch and may allow them, at least in theory, to reduce ticket prices elsewhere.
But that is not happening. Season ticket prices are going up by five per cent for 2026-27. Last season, base ticket prices rose to £66 – with no concessions.
Riley’s daughter, Catherine, accused the club of ‘absolute failure … to understand, let alone value, the fans that turn out whatever the weather, the day of the week or the competition to cheer their team on.’
She added: ‘I know that Premier League football is a business now, perhaps even more than it is a sport.
‘But I am incensed by the treatment of my dad, who is not “high net worth” enough to justify keeping a seat he has earned through a lifetime of supporting a club that is literally part of my family’s history.’
She also claimed that loyal supporters are in an ‘abusive relationship’ with the club.
Manchester United’s The 1958 group of fans have regularly protested against the ownership due to such issues.
