Wednesday, January 20

Fans outrage after turnstile chaos


Supporters have reacted with outrage after hundreds of fans were locked out of last night's match.

United fans arriving at the M1 and M2 away-end entrances 15 minutes before the 20:05 kick off did not get into the game until half time.

They have called on Manchester City to investigate the crowd build up and give out refunds.

One fan, who asked not to named, said: "It was an absolute disgrace. The stewards insisted on body searching everyone and then a turnstile broke.

"As if that wasn't bad enough, the police horses at the back were inching people forward so a crush situation built up. It could have been dangerous.

"Missing the lion's share of a game when you've paid £40 for it is ridiculous. City need to refund us."

Witnesses said problems with crushing eased when Greater Manchester Police took full control of entry procedure about 15 minutes after kick off.

Manchester Evening News reporter Mike Keegan, who was in the stadium's police control room posted Twitter updates about the problems.

He said: "Big crushes at United turnstile as fans arrive late. Police move in to pull fans out.

"Fans at gates M1 and M2 getting crushed as kick off approaches. Tense scenes. Police holding fans back."

He said an estimated 1,000 United fans - almost a fifth of the entire allocation - were still outside 10 minutes into the game.

Some supporters gave up hope of entering the match altogether and went to watch it at pubs nearby.

Another fan said: "I got there over 20 mins before kick off. There were massive queues and noone moving.

"It turns out the turnstyles aren't working, so instead of stopping everyone from gettin squashed and opening them, they spend the next half hour locking us out."

Reds Away has asked Manchester City's press office for a comment on the issue.

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