TVC E. Old Trafford evacuated after discovery of what turns out to be device left behind by company conducting training exercise
A fake bomb planted by a security company as part of a training exercise at Old Trafford caused the cancellation of Manchester United’s final Premier League game of the season when the firm forgot to take it away.
The security blunder led to United’s home stadium being evacuated 20 minutes before kick-off against Bournemouth after an “incredibly lifelike explosive device” was found at the ground.
Army bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on the dummy device, which was discovered in the toilets within the north-west quadrant, between the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand and the Stretford End.
Full assessment has now been concluded and found device wasn’t viable.
Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, said: “The safety of fans is always our highest priority. I’d like to thank the support from the police, which was first class, and the impeccable response from fans of both teams.
“The club takes security very seriously and staff are regularly trained with the police and emergency services to identify and deal with these incidents. We will investigate the incident to inform future actions and decisions.”
Greater Manchester’s police and crime commissioner, Tony Lloyd, said: “It is outrageous this situation arose and a full inquiry is required to urgently find out how this happened, why it happened and who will be held accountable.
“This fiasco caused massive inconvenience to supporters who had come from far and wide to watch the match, wasted the time of huge numbers of police officers and the army’s bomb squad, and unnecessarily put people in danger, as evacuating tens of thousands of people from a football stadium is not without risk.”
A terrorist attack has long been the nightmare scenario for one of the world’s biggest football clubs. In January, United reportedly beefed up security at Old Trafford in the wake of the terror attack at the Stade de France in Paris.
It was only about 20 minutes before the scheduled kick-off of 3pm on Sunday that it became clear all was not well at Old Trafford, the UK’s biggest stadium apart from Wembley, with a capacity of more than 75,000.
Many supporters were not yet in the ground when fans were evacuated as security personnel announced “operation code red”. It is understood that both sets of players were kept in the dressing rooms for about 40 minutes before being taken to a suite, being looked after by security and hospitality staff.
The alert at Old Trafford came just days after the home secretary, Theresa May, announced that MI5 had raised the threat level to Great Britain from Northern Ireland-related terrorism from moderate to substantial – the third most serious category out of five.
May said on Wednesday that the move “reflects the continuing threat from dissident republican activity”.
The threat level to the UK from international terrorism remains at severe – meaning an attack is “highly likely”. This has not been changed. Next month marks 20 years since the IRA destroyed Manchester’s shopping district in a bomb attack.
Premier League officials announced that the postponed game will be played on Tuesday at 8pm. The Premier League said: “The decision to abandon the Manchester United versus AFC Bournemouth match was taken after the police advised of the necessity to deal with a suspect package.
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“When it comes to matters of security it is obviously right that Manchester United and the Premier League place the safety of supporters and employees foremost.
“It is always the last resort to abandon one of our fixtures and while we apologise for the inconvenience caused to fans we are sure, in the circumstances, they will appreciate the need to do so.”
There was inevitable disappointment from fans who had travelled from outside Manchester for the match. Sam Stride, a United supporter from Bristol, said: “Unbelievable. This is the first time I have been to Old Trafford to see a game. My mate and I have known each other for 63 years and we travelled up from Bristol together. We sat in the Stretford End for about five seconds before they asked us to leave. It’s very disappointing.”
But in the beer gardens outside the ground fans were largely accepting of the decision to cancel the match, the fine weather and alcohol taking the edge off any frustration. Pub landlord Steve Kerr was trying to look on the bright side. “The sun’s shining, everybody is in good spirits. But we’ve not really been happy all season —this puts the final nail in the coffin,” he said.
“It sums up our season, that. Just fizzling out – something and nothing,” said Matt Crew, who had come up for the match from Leek in Staffordshire.
His dad, Dave, said there was no trouble during the mass evacuation. “People were just singing and chanting as usual. You can’t blame the club really. They’re caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. If anything goes wrong they’ll be the ones criticised. Security is the most important thing these days.”
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