Manchester United to close down tier on Sir Alex Ferguson stand for first Europa League game
In what is an embarrassment to legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United are going to close the upper tier of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand for when the Red Devils take on FC Midtjylland in the Europa League round-of-32 stage.
United's European campaign restarts on the 18th of February when they travel to Denmark but it's the reverse leg in this case that catches the eye. The 5000-seater tier in Sir Alex Ferguson stand that sits across one of the lengths of the pitch is set to be closed down due to incomplete ticket sales – something that hasn't happened often at Old Trafford.
United's official website does not allow supporters to buy tickets for that stand anymore with the club also confirming that they're in the process of writing to each and every one of the supporters who have bought tickets for that particular stand insisting that their relocation will cost them absolutely nothing.
The drop in ticket sales hasn't been entirely new for the 20-time Premiership winners, back in 2012, when United were playing in the Europa League, Old Trafford recorded their lowest attendance in a long time with only 59,265 attending the 3-2 home loss against Liga BBVA side, Athletic Bilbao.
In order to prevent such a scenario, officials and higher-ups at United moved to reduce ticket prices by 25% hoping that it would entice a lot more people to come and watch the Europa League tie.
Four away games on the trot
Manchester United will play four away games in a row spanning three competitions. A visit to London to face defending Champions, Chelsea, will be followed by facing relegation candidates Sunderland – both Premier League games.
They then travel to Denmark to face FC Midtjylland in the Europa League followed by an FA Cup 5th round tie against Shrewsbury town. United will play a total of four games in the span of fourteen days