Manchester United tell fans: Buy tickets for Cambridge replay or miss Sunderland game
Manchester United informed 9000 season ticket holders that they should have purchased tickets for the club’s FA Cup replay fixture against Cambridge United by 8 pm on Wednesday (28th January) or they won’t be allowed to attend the home match against Sunderland on the 28th of February.
The club sent this letter to season-ticket holders, which stated: “The deadline to buy your seat for Cambridge United is 8pm tonight. Please note that not buying this ticket will result in your Season Ticket being suspended for the Sunderland game.”
United’s policy is attracting flak from fans, many of who will not be able to attend the game on Tuesday against Cambridge due to work and other personal commitments. One such fan, under the condition of anonymity, said this, “They are threatening the Sunderland game. I – like many others – cannot attend the replay at such short notice, due to work commitments.”
The club’s message has been relayed to 9000 season ticket holders, with the fan saying, “I just called the club to vent and the adviser said 9,000 fans are in this situation. I told them that’s a pretty high percentage of total holders and shows the system doesn’t work – for anyone other than the club.”
A spokesperson for the club said, “We did notify fans that failure to pay for a game in the cup scheme would mean a suspension from the next game. We have consistently done this throughout this season. The terms and conditions are clear: ‘In respect of each home cup match for which the ticket holder fails to provide valid payment card details or for which the ticket holder’s card or payment is declined, the ticket holder’s season ticket may be suspended for one home league match.
“This measure was introduced [two seasons ago]. If we successfully sell the ticket the fan has failed to pay for, they can apply for a refund of the Sunderland ticket at the end of the season.”
The club’s policy entails that the supporters who are season ticket holders (55,000 people) have to buy tickets to FA Cup and Champions League games. They can opt out of the Capital One Cup while the fans under the age of 16 can opt out of both the FA Cup and the Capital One Cup.