Oliver Kay in the Times picks up on BB’s story of United staff having to pay to go to
MANCHESTER United fear that they will be dragged into an auction with Chelsea and Real Madrid in their pursuit of Mahamadou Diarra and Javier Mascherano, their two leading candidates to fill the void left by Roy Keane, so perhaps that is one reason why they appear so desperate to make cutbacks under the Glazer regime that some of their younger players and even directors were forced to pay to watch last month’s Carling Cup triumph.
United had already been embarrassed by the revelation that 400 staff members had been told that they must pay to watch the match against Wigan Athletic at the Millennium Stadium, but now it has emerged that repercussions of the cost-cutting reached the dressing-room and even the boardroom, with players and directors told that they must pay up to £72 for tickets.
The revelation presents an uncomfortable scenario at Old Trafford, not least given the implications for some of the youngsters who helped United to reach the final, which they won 4-0. Sir Alex Ferguson had already been criticised for reverting to his more senior players once it became clear that the competition represented their best chance of a trophy this season, but the fact that a player such as Richard Jones had to pay for tickets for himself and his family, having made three appearances in the earlier rounds, must have added insult to injury.
The Football League gave United 100 free tickets to distribute among the playing and coaching staff, with senior players receiving an allocation of three each for their families, while it is understood that another 30 tickets were offered to directors and their guests.
United attempted to make light of the issue last night, saying that “all playing staff, coaching staff and directors not involved with the first team were given the opportunity to buy tickets”, but, while they insist that the policy had nothing to do with the Glazers — three of whom sat in the directors’ box at the final and also stayed at the team hotel in the Vale of Glamorgan, whether at the club’s expense or their own — the disclosure does show how times have changed at Old Trafford since last summer’s takeover, which plunged the club £540 million into debt.