Fear As Old Trafford Is Rocked By "Bomb Report"

Goal.com official 

              A Goal.com agent tells hus story about Old Trafford's Bomb news. Goal's Manchester United correspondent was
among the 75,000 hurriedly evacuated from the
Theater of Dreams as the club's clash with
Bournemouth was abandoned.
          There was the usual hustle
and bustle at Piccadilly Gardens tram station
as people queued for tickets. Then there was
the gentle, slow stroll in the sun from the
Quays to the stadium. Over there were the
rowdy patrons of pubs serenading fellow
Manchester United fans as they passed. A
normal day out at the football.
Then there was panic, confusion, fear. Those

emotions which enveloped Old Trafford on
Sunday told the story of a day nobody in
attendance would ever forget.
Since the Paris terror attacks in November, the
matchday security operation at United’s
75,000-plus capacity home has been noticeably
tight. Bags are checked as a matter of course
by a cordon of stewards surrounding the
stadium, while entrance to the press lounge is
only permitted after a body search and a
second bag check.
It was a small curiosity at the time as I arrived
for the final Premier League game of the
season against Bournemouth that I managed to
amble through the cordon without being asked
to show the contents of my bag.
“I bet you won’t miss this,” said a member of
staff who patted me down before I was
allowed into the media section, making the
kind of quip which seemed normal and
throwaway at the time, but a couple of hours
later as I collect my thoughts feels far more
emotive.

He even thanked me for carrying a
light load in my bag today. “Easiest check I’ll
have all day,” he said as he placed the ‘BAG
CHECK’ label around the handle. It was all
business as usual until around 2:45 p.m.
When an announcement came over the public
address system at a more booming level than
is customary at Old Trafford, there was a
momentary annoyance at the threat to
eardrums. When the phrase ‘CODE RED’
followed as part of the message, the majority
of the crowd had their first sign of something
abnormal occurring.
Within seconds the Stretford End began to
empty. Less than five minutes after I’d taken a
photograph, for Instagram and for posterity, of
the popular stand beginning to fill I was taking
another as it began to empty. Those in the Sir
Alex Ferguson Stand began to follow suit upon
the instruction of stewards and safety officers
to exit quickly but calmly from the arena.
I wondered what the reason was for the
evacuation. Could kickoff be delayed? Would
the match between Swansea City and
Manchester City, the other with Champions
League implications, be affected too? How
soon could the stands be refilled and the game
be allowed to go ahead? No clear message.
Manchester United’s press team on hand within
the area was unable to give confirmation of
anything. This was something developing at a
far more serious level, and soon we were told
that there was a suspect package found in the
northwest quadrant of Old Trafford.
Something very disturbing had been plotted –
or so it seemed until it was later revealed the
"bomb" was actually left behind accidentally
after a training exercise.

It became an exercise in ascertaining the
details of the inevitable abandonment of the
fixture. Fans in the East Stand and the Sir
Bobby Charlton Stand were being asked over
the PA every two or three minutes to remain in
their seats and wait for further
announcements. Members of the press were
told by guests in the adjacent directors’ box
that the game was off, and that fans would be
told in due course.
That confirmation came at 3:16 p.m., a good
10 minutes or so after I had started to hurriedly
rush back and forth around the press area
attempting to gain a strong enough signal to
relay information back to Facebook viewers
and Goal readers. The aisles were filling with
journalists scurrying around for more
information. Soon after, they finally received
the news that no football would be played here
today we were asked by stewards to evacuate
the stand. “Everybody has to leave the
stadium,” they told us.
There was a temporary reprieve as huddles
formed around any club staff member who
might be able to give us further details. When
will the match be played? Can anybody give us
a comment from the Greater Manchester
Police? Will the club be releasing a statement?
What about the Premier League?
Moments later we were given 30 minutes to
compose ourselves, file any updates we could
gather back to our news desks and get our
things together, but then told that actually we
needed to make haste.
As we joined the 75,000 others in being
escorted from the premises, we found how the
west car park was closed off and inaccessible.
We were told by police that we had to leave
the area now, ask questions later. Never has
the sight of a coach pulling away from a
football ground felt so eerie.
I recalled a conversation I’d overheard in the
press lounge at around 1:30 p.m. as I waited
for team news. Michael Carrick’s two children
were among 13 mascots lined up for the
occasion of what may well have been their
father’s last Old Trafford appointment as a
Manchester United player. The other 11 had
been spotted pitch side with the names of
characters from a new Hollywood movie on
their shirts. What must they be feeling now?
Different fans had different stories. Augustin
from France had travelled over from his
homeland on Saturday specifically for this
game, his first at Old Trafford. The same was
true of a supporter from India, who had been
waiting for this day for 15 years.
That it was not a far more concerning story
comes as a great relief. As people begin to file
away from the area, with the fact they would
not see the game of football they had come
for beginning to sink in, I recalled the story of
the steward at the Stade de France who
spotted and reported the explosive vest, saving
potentially thousands of lives back in
November.
Facts were sketchy, but the message was
similar here at Old Trafford on this sunny
Sunday afternoon. Security procedures had
been followed to the letter, fans had been
removed a safe distance, and those people
trudging away without their football fix or
glumly looking on through the windows of their
coach as it pulled away from the car park had
been kept safe.
Football was seemingly targeted, but we left
the stadium safely and live to tell the tale.
That is the result that matters.