Man Utd played Everton in the Premier League on Monday night and fans were delayed getting into the ground again.
Fans were delayed at Old Trafford.(Image: Graham Barton )
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Hundreds of Manchester United fans were left fuming ahead of the side's clash with Everton last night (November 24) after facing huge delays entering Old Trafford. Questions are now being raised over the stewarding of the turnstiles at the ground.
Some supporters have revealed they missed the start of the Premier League game against the Toffees. It is understood delays were partly caused by the length of searches conducted by stewards, as well as a shift to NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to gain entry to the stadium.
There were widespread reports of issues with fans entering the Stretford End.
"United need to do better for their fans. It has been like this all season when trying to get into the Stretford End and all around Old Trafford," a fan posted on social media. Another supporter described the delay as a "s******."
Season ticket holder Graham Barton has complained to United about the length of the queues in the past, but he believed Monday's delay was the worst he has encountered.
Barton told the Manchester Evening News: "It's been happening now for several years since the Manchester bombing, we all get searched before we go in, and this year, they've changed the entrance through the turnstiles. You have to use the NFC technology now rather than a barcode on your phone.
"That has slowed it down a little bit, but the problem is, I'm W11, you have four turnstiles, and there are barriers dividing you up as you queue up. And you've got six stewards searching, and they're usually quite slow. That makes a massive queue, and by the time the queue gets to the wall, the chief steward tells them to search quicker, so the searches aren't adequate anyway, and there's a massive queue."
The queue under the Stretford End.(Image: Graham Barton)
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Barton continued: "It's a safety risk because you don't need anything to get to that point. When I got there, it was the longest the queue had ever been, it went right back to the wall. It was about 20ft along the wall. I took the photos when I got there and spoke to one of the top stewards about it.
"I didn't like his attitude. He said it wasn't a problem, and I said I'm not comfortable standing in the queue. Think of the Manchester bombing. What if someone wanted to blow someone up here? There were hundreds of people. Then he said it's the turnstiles being slow, not the search time.
"I have complained about the length of the queues before to the stewards, also when the club sent one of the surveys to season ticket holders, I put down that queuing was an issue."
The MEN contacted United for a response to supporter concerns about turnstile delays. A Manchester United spokesperson said: "We understand the frustration of fans caught in queues close to kick-off and we are constantly looking for ways to improve flows, including deploying additional stewarding staff to help deal with any issues causing hold-ups at turnstiles.
"However, in general, digital ticketing has been working well and there were no systemic problems reported last night. The best way to avoid queues is to arrive at the stadium in plenty of time before kick-off, although we do appreciate that this can be more difficult for midweek games, and that many fans were affected by traffic congestion around the ground last night."
United were also criticised by fans who encountered problems at the turnstiles before the season's opening fixture against Arsenal. The club rolled out a new ticketing system for every supporter for 2025/26, meaning fans now enter Old Trafford using NFC technology.
All tickets are digital on a smartphone and downloaded to a device's wallet. The tickets are scanned to gain entry at the turnstiles, but mass confusion occurred before the Arsenal game when hundreds of supporters could not gain entry, and they were sent to the ticketing office by unprepared stewards.
The MEN were told some stewards on the turnstiles sent fans to the ticketing office because they did not know the solution to the problem, forcing fans to miss the start of the game.
One fan described the Arsenal delays as a "disgrace" while another supporter revealed their 77-year-old mother, a platinum season ticket holder, missed the game due to the changes.