Stopping the biggest game in English football was a statement of intent

TYNAN'S TAKE BY STUART TYNAN

I am sitting down to type this column, and my phone explodes with notifications. Man Utd v Liverpool CALLED OFF due to fan protests.

As my screen keeps buzzing, I begin read the accounts of what was happening on the day as I was on the road at the time it all kicked off.

After what I read about the fans who got onto the pitch to protest against their owners and getting the biggest game in English football postponed, I just thought to myself: fair play.

It's no secret I am a Liverpool fan, so watching Manchester United suffer on the field the last few years has been an added bonus along with Liverpool's success. But you would have to be blind, deaf and dumb to realise that there have been serious problems at United well before Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013.

Their owners, the Glazer family, who took over in 2005, have almost been the poster child for owners who simply see the clubs they own as money-making machines and little else.

The debt that the club have been under since the infancy of their ownership has seen numerous fan protests, with some fans breaking away to form a new club, F.C. United of Manchester.

For the most part, the Glazers have seen off many of the protests. But with no 'Fergie' around any more, their ownership has now been in question more than ever before.

When the European Super League was announced, and Joel Glazer was seen as one of the primary antagonists in a breakaway league, it was the last straw for many.

Liam Byrne, a CRCfm contributor and well-known United fan in these parts, said it pretty well to me that evening.

“I’m not condoning vandalizing one bit, but if it had just been a protest, the Glazers would not have listened. But I think the fans that got on the pitch made a statement that enough is enough. The Glazers have to sit up and listen.”

While I am a little surprised myself with how easy they got into the ground, and United fans should rightly condemn any of the idiots causing damage to cameras or anything else in the stadium, it was a huge statement of intent from their fans.

If I were any of the other 'Big Six' owners, I would be feeling on edge. We might just be watching the beginning of a revolution in football.

*You can read Stuart's full column every Tuesday in our print edition.