Manchester United continue to show complete and utter disregard toward their most loyal supporters, even after Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs previously warned that they were punishing the wrong people.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of Manchester United fans have been hit with account restrictions and had their season tickets suspended ahead of the 2026/27 season.
All of United’s prominent fan groups have come together to demand that the club immediately halt the ongoing suspension process and retract all unproven suspensions.
The fan groups in question, including MUST and The Red Army, pledge that once an official written response has been received from the club, it will be shared in the interests of transparency and fairness.
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Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs called out Man Utd for showing sheer disregard for fans
Although United will say they are tackling touting in the game, something isn’t right when genuine fans are being caught up in a spree of suspensions.
That is why there has been so much backlash on social media from angry fans, while others are so anxious that they no longer feel comfortable logging into their account for fear an AI system will flag suspicious activity in their account.
This is what following United has become.
Some of United’s fan representatives are getting it in the ear too. Unfairly in many cases, I should add, because they’re often the ones putting themselves forward, working behind the scenes to try to impact matters that affect us all.
The problem we are seeing here is that United are tone deaf when it comes to fan culture. They either fail to understand the unique situation that a supporter-customer relationship creates, or they simply do not care.
In March 2025, former United duo Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt criticised the club’s handling of relocating fans on top of the 5% rise in adult prices for season tickets – which increased again ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.
The two former United academy graduates stressed that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is doing himself no favours by punishing those who don’t deserve it.
“They’re punishing the wrong people, in my eyes, to try and balance the books.
“There are a lot of things I think they’re doing wrong, but we all know that and it’s sad to see because I’ve loved my Man Utd since I was six years of age and it’s not the Man United that I know and loved.”
The sad thing here is it’s July 2026, and the same issues apply, so nothing has been learned.
In addition, Giggs spoke about how his friends were relocated from the seats they had for 25 years at Old Trafford.
“I can only speak for my mates who have been behind the dugout for 25 years. They’re got their names on the seats, and they’re getting turfed away.
“It’s difficult, they don’t know where they’re going to go. It’s tough to see the club in this sort of situation.”
There is no denying that United have gone the wrong way about this. Surely it would have been so much easier to tell season ticket holders to stop sharing account details from this season onwards, as it looks identical to bot activity ahead of a serious crackdown from the start of the football season?
Of course, United will catch some touts in the process, but the damage they’ve caused is totally uncalled for and borderline intrusive considering fans are having to document how many devices they use to access their tickets.
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Man Utd fans must stand together before it’s too late
The cost of attending football matches is only increasing, and there’s a fear that those of us who haven’t been priced out of the game will be impacted in the next cull.
Prices for tickets at the 2026 World Cup were ridiculous and received widespread condemnation, but many owners of Premier League clubs will only see it as potential.
The best chance United fans have of tackling these issues is by standing together. For too long now, the Glazers – now joined by Ratcliffe and Ineos – have got away with their ill-advised treatment of fans by creating more hurdles for people to attend football matches.
When will United wake up?
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