By Chris Wright
Manchester United have seen fit to ban a fan from attending all of the club’s future away games for the heinous crime of having one, single, unopened can of beer about his person while passing through the turnstiles at St James’ Park earlier this month.
The fan, one Jamie Bazley, had the beer confiscated from his bag on the way into Newcastle’s stadium and received a police caution for doing so, though United have since written to him to inform him that he has been banned “indefinitely” from attending away games.
An incredulous Bazley then posted a photo of the letter on Twitter…
As gleaned from Twitter conversations with other users after posting the photo, Bazley insisted that it was an honest error, had no intention of drinking the beer in the ground and that he had simply forgot to drink the beer on the train up to Newcastle before the game after misplacing it in a bag he was carrying his United flag in.
“This is how a club treats you after spending all your money following them??” he raged on Twitter.
“They still let me renew my season ticket though won’t they…sick of them treating fans like idiots.”
It’s the old “you can’t take beers into a football stadium unless they’re already swilling around in your stomach” hypocrisy again, isn’t it? They’ve got to ensure they get their hands on your £££ somehow.
Any road up, we’re fairly sure this is just a standard letter sent out by United’s offices. You’d have to think that an appeal would surely be successful if Mr Bazley’s story is straight.
(Image: @jamiebazley/Twitter)