Man Utd fans wear clown masks to protest 'circus' Glazers and Ratcliffe ownership

Suraj Radia

• 1 Feb 2026 17:14 GMT
• 4 min read

News

Manchester United fans wore clown masks to protest the club’s ownership ahead of their win over Fulham on Sunday after claims that the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe had run the club ‘like a circus’.

United continued their revival by securing a third straight win under Michael Carrick thanks to Benjamin Sesko’s last-minute winner to give the Red Devils a 3-2 home victory over the Cottagers.

However, around 500-600 supporters marched outside the stadium and chanted against the owners, with banners being displayed and flares filling their on Sir Matt Busby Way near Old Trafford.

The protest was organised by fan group The 1958 and its spokesman Steve Crompton said: "It is a protest now about this partnership with Ineos and the Glazers that, just for me, isn’t working.

“The last two games have been fantastic and there’s been an upturn in what we’re seeing on the pitch, but what we do has never been about what happens on the pitch."

"We want our football club back," Mr Crompton added. "Everything that’s happening. We’ve got over 95,000 members that follow us. Over 50 per cent of them are matchgoing fans and what’s happening to matchgoing fans is just getting ridiculous. Fans are getting priced out of coming.”

United fans take stand over ticket prices and Ratcliffe cost cutting

United have made a number of controversial cost-cutting and revenue-boosting decisions since the arrival of Ratcliffe as a minority owner in 2024, including raising the prices of matchday tickets and cutting the amount of concessions given to disadvantaged groups.

“I had a look this morning for the Villa game, and they’re selling tickets all over the stadium minimum of £300 as hospitality,” Crompton said. “There’s no tickets available to members to buy just as a standard ticket, so how do these fans to get to games anymore?

“It’s becoming unaffordable. That affects exactly what we want in the ground, which is a great atmosphere created by fans."

Despite the upturn in form since Ruben Amorim’s sacking earlier this month, the protest was announced more than three weeks ago and it was made clear that the results had nothing to do with the dissatisfaction.

"This is never about the manager or the players," Mr Crompton said. "We’ll support them through thick and thin. And, let’s be honest, it’s been pretty thick for quite a while now.

“We’ll always back the team. That’s what you do as a supporter. But, you know, let’s not punish these supporters that want to back the team for a quick buck, which is where we’re at with it."

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