A man from Lancashire has been charged for tragedy chanting during the game between Manchester United and Burnley at Old Trafford this weekend.
Nathan Rawlinson from the town of Bacup in the Rossendale Borough was charged with Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 and has since been bailed after being detained.
The 44-year-old was arrested by Greater Manchester Police’s Specialist Operational Football investigation team after he was reported tragedy chanting in the away section of Old Trafford on Saturday, 27 April.
Videos of the Burnley fan which have since been largely removed began circulating online not long after the full-time whistle of the 1-1 draw, with various accounts urging GMP and fans to help identify him.
Credit: X (various)
Issuing a statement following the incident, authorities said: “As we have enforced recently, continued incidents of tragedy chanting by anyone will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly.
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“We understand the interest this case will have generated but it is imperative that the suspect has a fair trial so members of the public must refrain from engaging in conversations online, at least until proceedings have concluded. Previously circulated videos should be removed.”
As for Burnley FC themselves, the club issued a swift response, stating: “We are aware of offensive footage currently circulating on social media from the away end of today’s fixture at Old Trafford.
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“Tragedy-related gesturing and chanting is completely unacceptable, and Burnley Football Club take a zero-tolerance approach. We will continue to work with Greater Manchester Police, Lancashire Police and Manchester United to help identify and prosecute the individuals responsible.”
We welcome the swift action from the GMP and we continue to assist in every way possible.
Burnley Football Club maintains a zero tolerance for such behaviour and anyone found guilty will receive the strongest ban possible. https://t.co/ZNT6aQJHix
Sadly, despite urges from clubs like Man United and Liverpool, tragedy chanting continues to be a prevailing problem up and down the country and there have been numerous instances in 2024 already.
A dedicated Premier League was set up in 2023 to try and curb the behaviour, working with supporter groups, local police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
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New and harsher measures have been put in place this season to crack down on the behaviour and people found guilty of offences can face stadium bans, criminal prosecution and even jail time.
It has no place in football, simple as.
There is no place for football tragedy abuse in our game. We strongly condemn this behaviour and sanctions are in place to ensure anybody found guilty faces consequences.
We continue to treat this as an unacceptable issue and fully support Burnley FC, Manchester United and the…
Both Manchester United and Manchester City named as teams with the least amount of local fans
Emily Sergeant
Both Manchester United and Manchester City have been identified as being teams with the least amount of local fans, according to a new survey.
We all know that supporting a local team can be seen as a mark of credibility among a certain kind of football fan, while on the flip side of that, not following a local team is often associated with being a ‘glory hunter’. But which Premier League clubs have the highest – and lowest – proportion of supporters living close to home?
Well, YouGov decided to use its profiles data to analyse the fanbases of all 20 Premier League clubs for the 2026-27 season to get the answer to this once and for all.
And it’s fair to say that it’s not looking the best for the Manchester teams.
The study found that, overall, Brighton & Hove Albion is the Premier League’s most local team – with 56% of fans based in the South East.
Sunderland (50%) and Nottingham Forest (49%) supporters are the next-most likely to live in the same region as their teams, followed by Aston Villa, Brentford, Ipswich, Leeds, Fulham, Hull, and Crystal Palace fans rounding out the top 10.
At the other end of the table, Manchester United has the second-lowest proportion of local supporters, with only a quarter based in the North West (23%), with one in six (17%) actually living in London instead.
And then as for Manchester City – who are widely considered to be the most successful team of the modern era – it has ranked fourth-bottom for local fans, as a quarter of the club’s supporters are based in the North West, with a fifth based in London (19%).
But although both United and City have found themselves towards the bottom end of the ranking, they are not the worst offenders.
That title, unfortunately, does belong to another North West team though – Liverpool.
Liverpool is the club with the lowest proportion of ‘local’ supporters, as just a fifth are based in the North West (21%) with the next highest concentration of fans can being found in London.
Featured Image – Johnny Gios (via Unsplash)
Sport
Manchester Storm game postponed just one week after AO Arena return due to ‘technical issue with the ice’
Daisy Jackson
Manchester Storm’s second game back at the AO Arena had to be postponed over the weekend due to a ‘technical issue with the ice’.
The ice hockey team made a record-breaking return to the venue earlier this month, attracting some 11,000 fans to watch their match against Sheffield Steelers.
But just one week later, as Manchester Storm prepared to face off against The Nottingham Panthers, the game had to be postponed.
Fans were already inside the legendary venue when a ‘technical issue with the ice’ became apparent and the game was called off.
Manchester Storm and the AO Arena said they ‘sincerely apologise’ to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption.
The game has now been rescheduled to Wednesday 14 October, with tickets valid for the new fixture.
The full statement read: “Unfortunately today’s Manchester Storm game vs The Nottingham Panthers has been suspended due to a technical issue with the ice.
“We sincerely apologise to supporters and ticket holders for the disruption and would like to thank everyone in attendance for their patience.
Danny Jones -
29th April 2024 
