Masked protesters reportedly attacked the home of Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward last week.
Several masked United supporters attacked the £2million Cheshire mansion shortly after approximately 20 fans turned up to club’s Carrington training ground to protest their involvement in the now-defunct European Super League, according to Sky Sports.
Sky Sports are also reporting that the gates were damaged during the attacks. No one was inside the property at the time of the attack.
Masked protesters reportedly attacked the home of Manchester United chief Ed Woodward
The attack happened after Manchester United supporters stormed the club’s training ground, Carrington, last Thursday, while there is no suggestion those pictured were involved on the attack on Woodward’s home
The supporters – pictured here by the first-team pitch – held banners saying ‘Glazers Out’
Police were also not alerted to the attack.
Fans stormed the club’s training ground last Thursday, which saw the group blockading the entrance to Carrington, with the heated incident sparked security concerns while players were reportedly shocked at how easily the collective gained access.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke to the group, along with coaches Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick plus midfielder Nemanja Matic.
Speaking about it to Sky Sports, Matic said: ‘We saw the fans here and that was very nice from our manager to decide to go out and speak to them. With that gesture he showed that us as a club we respect our supporters, we respect their opinions.
‘He just went outside to speak to them and that was a positive thing. They shared their opinions with us, of course we understand them and all the players are really focused on our job.’
Some senior players, as well as members of the Under 23s and women’s team, were unable to get into the training ground while others en route to Carrington were contacted and told to stay away until the protest had finished.
It is the second time Woodward’s Cheshire home has been attacked, with fans vandalising his gates last year (pictured January 2020)
A police van arrives at Woodward’s property after following the attack last year
Video footage showed protesters setting off flares outside Woodward’s home in January 2020, while a Snapchat caption claimed the United chief was ‘gonna die’
United called the police, who sent officers in a squad car and riot van to monitor the situation but took no action.
The club issued a statement saying: ‘At approximately 9am a group gained access to the club training ground. The manager and others spoke to them. Buildings were secure and the group has now left the site.’
Soon after the collapse of the Super League project, Woodward resigned from his role after seeing his position as untenable following fierce backlash from supporters.
It is the second time in 16 months that Woodward has been targeted by protesters at his home after a large group set off flares outside of his property in January 2020.
A large group descended on the 49-year-old’s house last year and were filmed throwing at least one missile into the United chief’s garden. No serious damage was caused and no one was hurt in the attack.
Fans have been vehemently protesting the club’s current owners the Glazers over their role in creating the Super League, which led to more angry protests outside Old Trafford on Saturday.
Manchester United fans gathered outside Old Trafford to protest against the club owners
Fans protested the club’s owners with ‘Glazer out’ flags and inflatable snakes at the weekend
Fans showed their displeasure at the Glazers, labelling them as ‘greedy’ over their ESL plans
Angry supporters created fires outside the club’s iconic ground on Saturday afternoon
Following Ed Woodward’s resignation this week, fans now want the Glazers to sell the club
Joel Glazer was heavily involved with the hugely controversial and almost universally unpopular breakaway competition and was set to be a vice-chairman for the league, along with Liverpool owner John W. Henry.
United supporters followed on from the example of demonstrating Arsenal fans and Liverpool fans protesting on Saturday by taking to the streets and vocally demanding a change of ownership.
Fans chanted ‘F*** off Glazers’, set off flares and smoke bombs, unfurled anti-Glazer banners and wore scarves with ‘#GlazersOut’ emblazoned on them.
Many have climbed up onto the ‘Holy Trinity’, a trio of statues depicting club icons George Best, Denis Law and Sir Bobby Charlton, and have put scarves around the players’ necks.
Much of the protest is characterised by green and gold colours, harking back to the kit colours of Newton Heath, the club founded in 1878 which later became Manchester United.
Woodward (right) resigned from his role as United’s executive vice-chairman last week
Supporters have previously worn green and gold scarves and kit in protest against the Glazer family’s ownership of the club.
The Glazers are not generally popular among United fans, but their role in the European Super League, widely seen as a money and power grab, has brought relations to an all-time low.
Two of the original Red Knights consortium who unsuccessfully tried to oust the Glazers from power more than a decade ago have urged the American owners to give up their controlling interest in the club.