MORE MAYHEM IN MANCHESTER
TENSIONS threatened to boil over again outside Old Trafford after Manchester United fans gathered to protest the Glazer family’s ownership ahead of last night’s rescheduled match with Liverpool. The May 2 clash was postponed after fans broke into the stadium and invaded the pitch before kick-off.
But United and police bolstered security yesterday before fans arrived to let off flares outside the stadium, and the game went ahead despite attempts to deflate the tyres of Liverpool’s
team bus near their hotel earlier in the day. Police moved swiftly at one stage to control a mob of several hundred protesters who left the forecourt in front of Old Trafford where trouble erupted 11 days earlier and where steel barricades had since been installed to keep them out. As a police helicopter hovered overhead, protesters advanced towards the rear entrance where the team buses would normally access the stadium. But United players had arrived up to seven hours early, while Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team were involved in an elaborate game of hide and seek with demonstrators around their city-centre hotel. Those gathered at Old Trafford met with a show of force from police and United security, far greater than when they forced this fixture to be postponed first time around. Then, police appeared to be caught out by how quickly a peaceful protest turned nasty and were powerless to prevent fans breaking in. This time ten riot vans, half a dozen mounted police and a battalion of heavily armoured officers were waiting as fans drew near brandishing flares. Riot police blocked their path to the entrance gates which remained firmly locked. On the far side there was a small army of security staff and more police with dogs. For a few minutes it threatened to turn nasty again. Two bottles were thrown and police drew their batons. Colleagues on horseback moved in as fans dispersed. News filtered through that Liverpool’s team bus had made it to Old Trafford, and the protesters’ hopes of another postponement were dashed. Klopp and his players had arrived around lunchtime at the Hyatt hotel in Manchester. Having blocked the United players in the Lowry Hotel last time, the protesters targeted their opponents this time. Despite a heavy police and security presence around the hotel, fans blockaded both ends of Kincardine Road to prevent the official Liverpool team bus from getting out, and some demonstrators tried to let the tyres down. It later emerged Liverpool’s players had left the hotel through a different exit in two black coaches flanked by police vans and motorbikes. They arrived at Old Trafford shortly afterwards and were let in by a different entrance on the west side of the stadium. United had also used decoy buses to throw fans off the scent. The game went ahead, with Liverpool winning 4-2.