Singing section?

Yesterday, Manchester United season ticket holders were sent the following e-mail from Ticket and Membership services at the club.

Further to previous communications, I would like to update you about the Singing Section following on from the two trials & consultation process, and to inform you that a decision has now been made to implement a permanent Singing Section in time for the start of the 2014/15 season. The new section, which will accommodate around 1,600 Season Ticket holders, will be in blocks N2401 and N2402.

Regards

There have been mixed responses from fans about the singing section, although most have been fairly positive.

In an ideal world, there would be no need for such a section, and all the people that filled the seats of Old Trafford would get behind the team.

Unfortunately, going to see United is a day out. Old Trafford is a tourist attraction. A ticket to a game in the corporate seats is a good way to impress a business client. These people have no interest in making a noise and getting behind the team, but just observing what is going on around them.

Then you get other people who show up in the latest United gear, but who don’t sing a word all game, then leave ten minutes before the end. Would you believe that there were people leaving early when we played Bayern last week? Well there were! A few years ago, with the score line at 2-2, people left early for the semi-final and missed Wayne Rooney’s winner! There are strange people at Old Trafford and their silence also damages the atmosphere.

So if a section can improve the atmosphere, which it did on the trials, then I’m all for it. My only reservation has to be for the people who will be kicked out of their season ticket seats to accommodate for the fans who want to be in the section. This is frustrating for them but then there’s no real way around it.

The atmosphere has been much better at Old Trafford this season regardless and I look forward to further improvements next season.