The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (Must) has described the club raising ticket prices to “eye-watering” levels as a “kick in the teeth” after it was announced it will cost up to £97 to attend Premier League matches at Old Trafford.
United have a new four-category system, increasing the cost of tickets for the most in-demand matches. Fixtures against Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham will be placed in category A, where prices range from £59 to £97.
The club say they needed to do this to maximise revenue as they seek to put United back on a stable financial footing, impeded by a lack of European football after finishing 15th in the Premier League. They say prices for season-ticket holders and members have gone up on average by £5.10 a match.
Must said: “After how last season went, we might have hoped the club would reconsider their plans for this new ticketing model which will see eye-watering price increases for 20,000 supporters per game who buy tickets on a match-by-match basis. This really is a fresh kick in the teeth for Manchester United fans.
“When the club said they were introducing this new model for members’ tickets, we urged them to keep the majority of matches at current levels and only apply the highest price category for a small number of the biggest games, and reduced prices for lower-demand games. Once again, they have failed to consult any of the fans representative bodies on the details of the decision, and once again they’re making choices against the interests of fans and, we believe, the club as a whole. The club’s stated commitment to fan representation is fine in principle, but once again is not being delivered in practice.”
United insist the club’s fans’ advisory board was shown the new prices and that these were reduced after consultation. The club also say less than 1% of tickets will cost £97. Tickets for 11 league fixtures will be £57-£86 and two matches, in category C, will cost £37-£60. Category A prices start at £59. Last season members’ tickets for full-paying adults ranged from £40 to £66 until a flat £66 rate was introduced in November.
Must said: “These ticketing decisions only push those regular supporters away in favour of occasional visitors and risk pricing out the next generation of younger fans who are the very future of the club. This match categorisation model will do enormous harm and undermine the atmosphere in the ground in a season when the team will need it more than ever.”
Ticket pricing under Sir Jim Ratcliffe has become an increasingly contentious issue. In another change last November concessions were scrapped, but were then reinstated for some games and remain in place. Last week the chief executive, Omar Berrada, apologised for how the changes were communicated to fans. “What we’ve done since is engage heavily with the Fans’ Advisory Board and they’ve all been good,” he told the United We Stand fanzine. “We’ve had some robust conversations and they pushed back on a lot of the ideas that we had and the initiatives that we wanted to implement.”
There have been other unpopular ticketing changes at United under Ratcliffe. Season-ticket holders in the South Stand have had to make way for more hospitality seats. This led to a number of protests aimed at the directors’ box during matches last season but Berrada claimed the decisions were made “for the good of the club”.
Everton are poised to appoint Manchester United’s director of academy, Nick Cox, as their technical director. Cox will be part of the new football structure put in place by the Friedkin Group.
The chief executive, Angus Kinnear, disposed of the director of football position when Kevin Thelwell left, preferring a technical director who will take on some of the responsibilities of the previous role. The club engaged an external recruitment firm to identify candidates, with Cox appearing to be the standout.
Cox joined United in 2016, overseeing the academy when they won the FA Youth Cup in 2022, and is credited with aiding the development of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho. It is anticipated that Cox, who has just completed his pro licence coaching course, will stay at United for the coming months to help with the transition period.
As part of the changes Everton have also brought in Nick Hammond from Leeds as head of trading and Chris Howarth as head of strategy, and James Smith is poised to return from Manchester City in a recruitment role.
