A father and son were left devastated after travelling from Belfast to watch Manchester United - only to be turned away from the stadium before kick off.
Lifelong fans Michael Mulholland and his 18-year-old son Jack made the 300-mile journey by ferry and coach to watch their club's Premier League fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday, April 30.
The tickets were purchased by Michael's wife as part of a package. They were a Christmas present the father and son had been looking forward to for months.
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After arriving at Old Trafford around two hours early, the pair went to go and take their seats in the stands. Michael claims he was able to pass through the turnstile easily, but when he looked behind him, Jack appeared to have got stuck.
The family believe Jack successfully scanned his ticket, but made the mistake of not passing through the turnstile quickly enough, causing it to lock before he could go through.
Amid claims security staff said they couldn't help, Michael went back through the turnstile and the pair tried to get help from management to get back in. After two hours of trying, the pair claim nobody was able to help them, and they were forced to abandon the game.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Jack's sister Shauna said her father and brother were left devastated.
"They booked a package and had travel to Dublin, then get the boat to Wales and then get a coach to Manchester where they stayed the night before," she said.
"My dad and brother got to the ground two hours before and my dad went through the turnstile fine, but my brother wasn't able to get through. The only thing we think could have happened is that he didn't go through quickly enough and it locked.
"Nobody around them could help. They said there was no other way to let my brother in. My dad wasn’t going to leave him so came out of the turnstile as well.
"They spoke to several members of staff. One was very nice and got on the radio and told them to issue two new tickets, to which he was told 'no'."
Shauna said her dad and brother spoke to another member of staff who said they could purchase two new tickets for £90, which they were prepared to do, having travelled so far. But when they got to that stand they were told they were sold out.
"They stood for two hours in the rain to try and get into the match they had paid for," Shauna said. "They had to head back to the hotel and go back home with everyone else.
"My brother is 18 and this was only the second game he’d been to. My dad is 53 and had only been a handful of times. It was booked as a Christmas present for both of them and they had been really looking forward to it. They are lifelong Manchester United fans.
"The whole package cost £550 and they had to buy membership to be able to go to the game. Despite showing their tickets, membership and photo ID at the game - nobody would let them in."
The family don't believe there was any issue with the ticket as Michael, whose ticket was part of the same package as his son's, was able to enter the stadium.
Shauna says she's written to Manchester United to get answers.
"They have been looking forward to this game since Christmas. I just want Manchester United to acknowledge what happened and just apologise. A refund for the tickets would also be appreciated since they didn’t get to watch the game."
A spokesperson for Manchester United said: "Manchester United constantly strives to protect its fans from exploitation by unofficial third-party ticket agencies and ticket touts.
"We regularly remind fans to buy tickets from official sources as this is the only way to guarantee entry to Old Trafford. Sadly, this was not the case on this occasion and, although we deeply sympathise with the situation our fans faced, it is often a reality of buying tickets from unofficial channels.
"If you have been offered tickets or have any information in relation to tickets available outside of the official channels, please contact the club via touting@manutd.co.uk to minimise these types of issues in the future.”
Read more of today's top stories here.
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