Manchester United fan group ‘The 1958’ are planning a protest against the club’s treatment of match-day supporters on March 9 when the Red Devils face Arsenal at Old Trafford.
INEOS, who gained full control over the football operation at United following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ratification as co-owner, have implemented a series of unpopular cost-cutting measures over the past year.
There have been widespread redundancies amongst the club’s non-playing staff, at a time when millions of pounds were wasted on decisions relating to the team; including the decision to extend Erik ten Hag’s deal and hire Dan Ashworth as a sporting director, only for both men to be dismissed on costly contracts less than six months later.
Around 250 employees were made redundant last year while INEOS are “preparing” cuts to another 100 staff members.
The United fanbase has also borne the brunt of this approach by the club’s new co-owners with ticket prices, including those for children, having seen a significant increase.
In an interview in December, Ratcliffe revealed the club needed “revenue from people who can afford it” as a justification for the increases in costs, despite acknowledging the contradictory need to “make sure that people who are genuine supporters can afford to go”.
For United to “win the Champions League or Premier League” the British billionaire explained, the club has to “optimise our ticket income”.
This has proven a deeply unpopular policy amongst the Red Devil fanbase with 97% of supporters believing prices rises risk “alienating future generations” from attending matches.
And a high-profile fan group – The 1958 – are now planning to formalise these frustrations with a protest before the Arsenal match next month.
In a statement on X, the group released an announcement:
“Shall we begin: Announcing protest Arsenal 9th March
We have been preparing for this for a few weeks in anticipation. We are angry, the fans are angry and it’s been building for some time. We have all been more than patient. We all know the root cause, we have always known the elephant in the room. Yet, this isn’t being addressed.
It’s those who can least afford it, have the most emotional connection with our club who are being asked to pay the price in more ways than one. Trampling over generational support and memories of friends and family who handed the club over to us like something they have stepped in.
– The treatment of fans from the club
– The eradication of fan culture
– The assault on concessions and generational fans
– Putting profit before fan safety
– Putting profit before everything
– The total lack of communication and transparency
– The uncertainty of our clubs future
The club preach fan engagement the reality is they dont practice it. We know this first hand and have evidence.
ACTIONS NOT WORDS ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH
They can hold meetings with the FAB which is all under NDA. It is supposed to be for the fans YET they can’t tell the fans anything. It’s a disgrace!
These meetings are effectively gagged and it is NOT open and transparent dialogue with fans. Not even close. The silence from the club is deafening.
We rise again to defend our club and be warned this will not just be on the street campaigns at the ground. Keep treating the fans with contempt at your peril. More details to follow in the coming days.
The 1958.”
🗣️Shall we begin: Announcing protest Arsenal 9th March
We have been preparing for this for a few weeks in anticipation.
We are angry, the fans are angry and it’s been building for some time.
We have all been more than patient.
We all know the root cause, we have always known… pic.twitter.com/Rwxn3ThcNb
— The 1958 (@The__1958) February 14, 2025
The pressure on INEOS, and Ratcliffe, continues to build with questions starting to emerge of whether an eventual Premier League or Champions League victory is worth eradicating the heart of the great institution at Old Trafford to achieve.
What is success without a soul? Only Manchester City should be able to answer that; never Manchester United.
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
