STANDING UNITED
Club gets go-ahead to trial 1,500 rail seats at Old Trafford
MANCHESTER United are to trial safe standing at Old Trafford. In a historic move, the club will install 1,500 rail seats early next year as part of an initial trial.
United have been well aware of fan support for safe standing for some time and carried out a ‘detailed and comprehensive study’ into the matter last year.
They approached the relevant authorities for permission, which has now been granted.
They believe the seats, which allow people to stand against a barrier, will ‘enhance spectator safety’ in areas where there is persistent standing.
As such, the 1,500 new seats will be added to the J Stand area of the ground, which has traditionally experienced such issues.
Standing has been banned in the top two tiers of English football since the Taylor Report, carried out following the Hillsborough disaster of 1989.
The new seats are not likely to be used until Old Trafford returns to its maximum capacity.
Stadiums in England are currently subject to heavily restricted crowd capacity under the British Government’s Covid-19 prevention measures.
Meanwhile, United have defended the controversial share dividend payments made to their owners, the Glazer family.
In October — despite a substantial drop in revenue due to the Covid-19 pandemic and last season’s absence from the Champions League — close to £20million was paid out to the Americans. At a fans’ forum, the issue was raised and a club spokesperson responded by pointing out that payment of dividends was ‘standard practice for listed companies around the world and falls within our normal course of business’.
On the pitch, midfielder Scott McTominay was angered by the officiating and reaction of Paris St Germain’s players in a defeat that leaves United’s Champions League hopes hanging in the balance.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side started Group H with impressive wins against the perennial French champions and RB Leipzig, but head into the final matchday level on nine points with those sides.
United blew their chance to secure their place in the knockout phase with a match to spare on Wednesday evening, when a point against last season’s Champions League finalists PSG would have been enough.
Marcus Rashford’s deflected effort cancelled out an early Neymar strike in a first half that saw Fred somehow avoid a red card for pushing his head into that of Leandro Paredes.
The United midfielder would get his marching orders after collecting a second yellow card shortly after Marquinhos scored in the second half, with Neymar wrapping up a 3-1 win for PSG in stoppage-time.
‘It’s a tough pill to swallow when you watch the way the game pans out,’ McTominay said.
‘Obviously it’s a sloppy goal to concede and then the way we played after that I thought we were brilliant. I thought that the way we approached the game was with total focus.
‘The way the game panned out in general was — I’ve not really got an awful lot to comment on t he way t he r eferee, t heir players... but that’s football. You’re going to get that when you play in Europe.
‘Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in the net. That can be football but, as I say, decisions, referees, their players. It’s a tough night.’