Fan protest group The 1958 met with Manchester United officials in a first-ever meeting at Old Trafford.
According to Andy Mitten of The Athletic, the meeting took 80 minutes and included four members of the group and United’s chief operating officer Collette Roche, as well as director of fan engagement Rick McGagh.
United have met with other pre-established fan groups in the past, including Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) and The Red Army (TRA), but I think all will agree that a lot more could have been done in the past 18 years.
There has been an improvement in fan engagement since Sir Ratcliffe’s INEOS acquired a minority stake in the club and took control of sporting operations. They requested feedback from supporters on the Old Trafford regeneration, and now they’ve met with a fan group, who had previously been anonymous, that helped organise some of the biggest protests against the Glazer family ownership in recent years.
Up until last season, several high-profile protests took place before games at Old Trafford, some starting in the city centre as fans marched out to Old Trafford.
The 1958 release statement after meeting with Manchester United
Speaking to The Athletic, The 1958 reflected on the meeting with United officials.
“This week members of The 1958 met with Collette Roche and Rick McGagh to advise our intention to move into fan representation.
“We discussed our concerns around the current fan engagement process and how this could be improved. Although we didn’t get through all our agenda, we feel it was a positive introduction and a platform to move forward.
“Fan coalition 58 (FC58) will be the fan representation division of The 1958. We will remain fiercely independent. No agenda.”
The statement suggests The 1958, or FC58, is seeking fan representation at United to have their feelings heard. That is all we’ve ever asked for as match going fans and I have always been of the opinion that fan groups should be able to work together on that.
The more match-going fans we have represented at club meetings, the better.
It’s rather convenient and a great shame United didn’t ask Joel Glazer to stay in the UK longer to meet the lads from The 1958, although the scrooge did meet with the Fan Advisory Board last week in another first-ever meeting in a face-to-face setting.
Joel previously answered questions at one fan meeting after the European Super League collapse via Zoom.
