It has been confirmed that Manchester United’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge will kick off at 17:30 BST on Saturday 22 October.
There had been a delay in announcing the details of the match which has caused a lot of unnecessary stress on fans planning to attend the game.
The game needed to be moved from the Sunday because of Chelsea’s commitments in the Champions League as they play away to RB Salzburg on 25 October, as per The Athletic.
Stretty News understands that a meeting was held to arrange the game on Thursday, but the announcement comes just 15 days before the match itself, which is further proof that the authorities care little for the travelling fan (not to mention Sunday’s ridiculous kick-off time at Goodison Park).
Manchester United away allocation cut at Stamford Bridge
It gets even worse for United…
The police have disgracefully cut our away allocation to 2,350 despite United having sold the tickets. Their initial plan was to cut it to 1,500 which is ridiculous when they were able to handle a state funeral with millions of people.
United should have 2,994 fans at Stamford Bridge.
A statement from Manchester United read: “The announcement follows consultation between United, the Premier League and Chelsea after the Metropolitan Police proposed a reduction in our away allocation due to policing concerns.
“The police initially sought to cut our allocation from 2,994 to 1,500. We have strongly opposed any reduction and worked with Chelsea to present a range of mitigations to the local Safety Advisory Group, which we believe could have allowed the game to proceed safely with our full allocation to fans.
“Unfortunately, the police have continued to insist on a reduction. However, we have succeeded in increasing the allocation to 2,370.
“While we are very disappointed by this outcome and believe it is unjustified, it is clear it is a final decision. We are now urgently considering options for how to manage the removal of 624 tickets from the original allocation which had already been agreed with Chelsea and sold.
“We will send further communications to supporters on Monday, outlining our approach. In the meantime, we strongly advise against booking travel.
“Everyone at Manchester United shares the inevitable disappointment and frustration about both the reduced allocation, and the long delay in confirming arrangements for this game. Over recent years, we have made significant progress in protecting away ticket allocations for our fans and we can assure you that we will continue to fight for this in future.”
