Manchester United fans have been left outraged after the club launched their new ‘forwarding membership’: a tier that basically charges you for the sole privilege of receiving tickets from others.
As confirmed via email on Saturday, United announced that they have now ‘sold out’ of official memberships for the first time in their history which, according to their own estimates, makes them the most subscribed team in world sport.
With over 350,000 official members now on board, the club have taken the decision to close the scheme for both Lite and Full Memberships in order “to protect ticket availability at future games” for existing members, but which will fundamentally prevent others from joining the queue to buy their own ticket.
Notably, however, the club waited to stop the sale of new memberships until after they broke the world record and now, to add insult to injury, the club intend to charge fans who simply want to be able to receive a spare ticket from family or friends through this new United membership tier.
Amusing in itself that their magical cutoff point was once they passed the previous world record for a football club, they decided to then introduce a new, shiny membership category, the forwarding membership!
The news has gone down exactly as you’d expect, with fans rightly pointing out that should you be fortunate enough to receive a ticket from someone who cannot attend the game for whatever reason, that should be down to them as the ticket has already been paid for. No skin off United’s nose.
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Given the busy season, with the club regularly competing in four competitions a year, it can sometimes be hard for fans to make every single match, so many regulars have to pass on their tickets from time to time. Sadly, it seems United are now trying to spin an extra bit of profit from that transaction as well.
Season tickets already set fans back anywhere between £532 and £950 a year (excluding the additional cost of cup games), but whether or not supporters charge mates rates for their spare ticket — again, their discretion — or kindly pass it on for free, the outcome is the same: the seat is filled.
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However, the forwarding membership scheme is the club, essentially, trying to re-insert itself as the middleman after having already charged for the ticket once, hoping to squeeze out even more money from an already angry fan base who believes the owners are only driven by money. Wonder why?
Fucking hell united never fail to surprise me, “forwarding membership” get a grip you money grabbing cunts
Why would official membership sell out? Aren't they just turning money down here? That forwarding membership sounds a complete scam, surely you'd just pass on to a family member or friend for free? pic.twitter.com/jdynrxOxHo
Moreover, as explained in @Daytrippingred‘s lengthy thread, despite fans already having to pay a £100 deposit to get ‘priority’ in the extremely long waiting list for a season ticket, they will now have to acquire an even more expensive Premium Membership to stand a chance, with no guarantee you’ll ever get one.
As for those who could never feasibly afford a full season ticket or even regularly throw in for the odd game on top of their Lite membership (£20 just be entered into the ballot to try and secure a ticket), they will now have to pay a 75% of that price just in the hope that a spare ticket comes their way.
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United’s various tiers. Forwarding Memberships are already being charged for the remainder of the season. (Credit: Man United)
Not to ram the point home too hard, but this means if your Dad wants to give you his already paid-for ticket that he’s owned since before you were born — something that you have always been able to do and cost absolutely nothing as recently as last week — you will now have to pay at least £15 a year.
Simply ridiculous.
It’s just another sting in the tail of the current ownership, digital ticketing which has flooded United with data on ticket usage and modern football as a whole
In the fucking bin with the lot of them, the money grabbing bastards.#GlazersOut
It seemed as though the administration made at least some small but positive steps following the recent fan consultation, encouraging more communication with supporters’ groups, greenlighting the Fan Advisory Board (FAB), as well as allowing both opt-out and ticket buy-back schemes.
However, it now looks as though it’s one step forward and two steps back, with the new forwarding membership outrage just the latest in a long line of controversies under the Glazer family ownership.
With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that fans are once again staging not one but two coordinated protests ahead of the Manchester derby on Saturday, 14 January.
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With the Glazers having now hinted at being ‘open’ to the prospect of selling the club, it’s possible that this forwarding membership stunt could be one last attempt at eking out every last penny before they finally call it quits. Reds can only hope.
Today we release protest plans for the City game
These are the most ambitious to-date
A CO-ORDINATED protest from 2 locations
We urge all fans who love our club to keep fighting until they are gone
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is reportedly covering the cost of flights for several staff members and families around the club ahead of this month’s Europa League final.
Taking place on Wednesday, 21 May, Man United take on Spurs in UEFA’s second-string continental competition, giving the Red Devils a chance at lifting the trophy for the second time and, more importantly, getting into the Champions League next year.
Not only is this European final in a United manager’s maiden season a feat only previously achieved by Jose Mourinho, who also won it in his inaugural campaign at the club, but it also happens to be the first of Amorim’s career full stop.
With that in mind, the Portuguese head coach is hoping to rope in as much positivity and support as possible, so despite cost-cutting measures around the club over the last 18 months, Amorim is reaching into his own pocket to pay for staff and some of the family members to be at the final.
Ruben Amorim has paid for 30 of his Man United backroom staff to take their families to next week's Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain, after being told by the club that his coaches, physios and support team would have to pay for their own tickets, sources have told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rC2GkGsvZb
Now this is the kind of leadership supporters like to see.
According to ESPN sports writer Mark Ogden, at least 30 members of his backroom staff have seen their travel to the final paid for after the club said they would not be covering the increasingly inflated prices, with flights to Bilbao unsurprisingly skyrocketing.
The Athletic‘s Mark Critchley has gone on to detail that “coaches, physios and support staff would instead be able to purchase up to two tickets”, while only two complimentary family tickets have been granted per player.
If you’re wondering why fans continue to make his name echo around the Theatre of Dreams in spite of poor performances, gestures like this should tell you why.
The 40-year-old’s debut Premier League season might be one to forget, with his team set to record United’s worst-ever finish, but a final at the first time of asking, even with a squad that’s visibly struggling to adjust to yet another period of overhaul, is still an achievement – especially a European one.
In addition to admitting that he’s been left “embarrassed” by the league form, he says one of his biggest fears is that everyone around Old Trafford is “losing the feeling of being a massive club”, both inside and out. Obviously, he’s hoping that potentially winning another European title will help fix that.
United played out a forgettable 2-0 loss to West Ham this past weekend in what should have felt like a bit of a free hit, but ultimately resulted in starting centre-back Leny Yoro picking up another injury and key players exerting a lot more energy than many would have hoped.
Most fans were expecting to see the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Amad Diallo and so on rested to keep that balance between sharpness and recovery, but many first-choice players played far more minutes than was arguably necessary.
Whether or not this is all in line with his thinking, we’ll have to wait and see when the Reds rock up to the Basque Country a week from now
Salford City FC have announced their retained list for next season as this year’s EFL campaigns come to a close, with four players confirmed to be leaving the club.
It’s been another up-and-down year for the Ammies, with Karl Robinson’s side ever so narrowly missing out on the playoff places despite looking like they might just sneak in only a fortnight ago.
The Greater Manchester club has somewhat plateaued following their streak of promotions in the immediate years following the Class of ’92 buyout – even Gary Neville himself admits they’ve “lost some momentum” – but with another new era beckoning, who knows what the next few years hold?
One thing that we do now know is which players will be staying at the Peninsula Stadium, with Salford City revealing the four names set to depart upon the contract expiry this summer.
Following a sixth consecutive League Two season, Robinson and the administration will no doubt be looking to once again freshen up the squad in the coming transfer window.
That being said, while the likes of ‘Player of the Year’ Ossama Ashley, and fellow first-team stars Haji Mnoga and Luke Garbutt all seeing their deals extended into at the very least 2025-26, not mention seven new contracts offered to new players, they will be losing some key players and fan favouries.
Right-back Liam Shephard has also decided to join those parting ways with the Ammies head of next season, with many fans gutted to see the popular squad member heading for the exit door.
The club are going about sharing farewell videos for each of them, knowing full well a few will feel tought to take for some supporters.
Thank you for the past 4 years Shep ❤️
Across 92 games, a nearly 50% win percentage along with 4 goals and 13 assists, we thank @Liam_Shep2 for all his hard work 🫡 pic.twitter.com/G2cPLYx9hx
Crediting all of them for the years of service, especially given the roles that many of them played in helping Salford reach the playoffs in the 2022/23 season, the club expressed their gratitude to the senior quarter for their contributions.
Meanwhile, in terms of the youth set-up, there due to be even more departures, including the likes of Callum Morton, Jez Davies, Marcus Dackers, Sandro Da Costa and more.
You find out the full details from the 24/25 retained list HERE.
With a second modern takeover of Salford City having just been confirmed this month, the new ownership group will be looking regain some of that monentum Neville talked about and bring in replacements for the outgoings as they look to continue climbing the pyramid.
Danny Jones -
10th January 2023 
