Manchester United have broken silence to save face after footage of Old Trafford’s leaking roof went viral.
It was double jeopardy for the Red Devils during their Premier League fixture against Arsenal on Sunday, May 12.
The falling Premier League giants did not only lose to Arsenal to tank hopes of European football next season but had the revered and iconic Old Trafford rip apart by torrents of downpour towards the end of the game.
Footage shared on social media and captured at the end of this post, showed rain wetting the stadium due to leaked roofs.
Close to the away end of the stands, the footage showed the heavy downpour breaking into the facility through the leaked gaps.
Another footage showed the dressing room was also drenched.
It was an overly embarrassing incident for a club in the class of Manchester United and known for an epic record in European and English football.
The leaked roof delineated the 19 years of neglect of the facility by the club’s embattled majority owners, the Glazers.
There has been a widespread backlash directed at the club’s management by fans and pundits for handling the iconic sporting theatre with reckless abandon.
Some United fans lashed out at the Glazers family for the 19 years of rot that has left the club and its facilities in ruins.
As of the time of filing this report, workers have been seen abseiling up and down the facility trying to fix things.
However, Manchester United spokesperson has debunked the reports that the workers were called in to fix the leaking roof after years of neglect.
According to him, the workers were on their regular maintenance duty at the facility, not emergency contacts to fix the leaking roof.
While the spokesperson is attempting to set the record straight and blot out the bad PR the leaked roof has generated, there have been questions about whether the maintenance team were still active. And if they were, pundits and fans have questioned why the roof of the facility went moribund without being checked.
To some pundits, the incident underscores the overall rot that has consumed United’s sporting operations and facilities so far under the watch of the Glazers.
It is hoped new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe will do the needful by embarking on a wholesale revamp of the facility.
