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 yesterday afternoon 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 2:45pm. 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 kick-off 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 were 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 north-west quadrant of Old Trafford.
Something very disturbing had been plotted. 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 3:16pm. 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 and 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 1:30pm 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 pitchside 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, it later turned out, had not been targeted. But we felt relieved to be alive, safe and able to tell the tale.
- Kris Voakes, Goal.com
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