The 75,000 capacity Old Trafford stadium was evacuated on Sunday, 20 minutes into the scheduled start of the game between Manchester United and Bournemouth to enable Soldiers from the British Army’s bomb squad blow up a suspect package found “in the North-West Quadrant of the ground” at the Stretford End. The game which was Manchester United’s final English Premier League game of the season, was called off, while United and Bournemouth players were warming up on the pitch. This is the second time in less than a week that Manchester United have been involved in a security alert.Their game at West Ham United on Tuesday was delayed after their team bus was attacked by home fans.
There was no panic inside Old Trafford, as announcements were made on the public address system that security staff should invoke “operation red code”.
The Public announcements instructed supporters in the South and East Stands including travelling Bournemouth fans to remain in their seats before the game was called off. There also was no initial indication of the seriousness of the incident but by the scheduled 3:00pm kick-off (1400 GMT), stewards outside the ground were telling supporters that the game had been abandoned and, within minutes, the decision was confirmed by Greater Manchester police, and by 3.15pm, the remaining parts of Old Trafford were evacuated.
The team had gone into Sunday’s match hoping to finish fourth, and thus qualifying for next season’s Champions League, although Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Swansea has made that eventually almost impossible.
With Manchester United playing Crystal Palace in Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley, it may be more than a week before the Bournemouth match takes place.
A statement issued by the Premier League said they would seek to rearrange the fixture as soon as practically possible and will advise fans accordingly.
Although Bournemouth are safe from the threat of relegation and cannot qualify for Europe, Sunday’s match was not without significance for the south coast side, who started the weekend in 16th place and were looking forward to completing a league double over United.
