Man Utd launch one-year season ticket

Manchester United have launched a new ’one-year’ season ticket in an effort to satisfy long-term demand at the expanded 76,000-capacity Old Trafford.

After failing to win the Premier League title or make any significant impact in Europe over the past three seasons, many pundits claimed the Red Devils would struggle to fill the stadium with the capacity increased by 8,000 seats at a cost of £39m (€56.2m).

Those fears have only been enhanced by the requirement for new season ticket holders to join the automati cup scheme, which forces them to purchase seats for all cup games regardless of the opposition.

The lack of incoming transfer activity and continuing uncertainty over the futures of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo is casting a further shadow over Alex Ferguson’s squad ahead of the new campaign.

However, far from finding interest in the club dwindling, United have been overwhelmed by the response.

With all 52,000 available season tickets snapped up, club officials did consider just releasing more, even though, because of regulations surrounding visiting allocations for domestic cup ties, admission to the stadium for all games could not be guaranteed.

Instead, the extra tickets, which do not carry an automatic right to renewal, will be offered on a ’first-come-first-served’ basis to existing members, with the names of the successful applicants being placed at the top of a waiting list for subsequent campaigns.