Man Utd executives meet with fans’ protest group for first time

The 1958, fiercely critical of Glazers, said meeting could be a “major step forward in fan engagement” with club

Senior Manchester United officials have met for the first time with members of the fans’ group behind many of the recent protests at Old Trafford.
United’s chief operating officer Collette Roche and director of fan engagement Rick McGagh held an 80-minute discussion with four members of The 1958 this week in a meeting said to have been instigated by the club’s chief executive Omar Berrada.
The 1958 group have helped to organise some of the biggest protests against the Glazer family’s ownership of United and staged a series of high-profile demonstrations at home games.
In January 2022, a number of its members had been planning to protest outside the Cheshire home of Richard Arnold only for United’s then chief executive to head off the demonstrations before agreeing to meet those disgruntled supporters at a nearby pub.
United have made efforts to engage more with fans in recent years and Old Trafford’s new Ineos-led hierarchy are keen to widen that process.
The 1958 said the meeting, which had been “set up” by Berrada, was “positive and productive in what could be a major step forward in fan engagement.”
They said a new fan coalition called FC58 had also been established which would be the supporter representation arm of The 1958. A new FC58 website is due to be launched this week.
Representative Steve Crompton said: “The meeting with the club went very well where we spoke about our intention to move into fan representation, with FC58 the fan representation division of The 1958.
“We remain fiercely independent with no agenda or self-driven ambitions. This will become crystal clear following the release of our launch. It is a much-needed new dawn for fan presentation.”
United have held regular meetings in recent years with the fans’ advisory board, fans’ forum and the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) in addition to having regular dialogue with The Red Army group which has focused on improving the atmosphere on matchdays at Old Trafford.
A United spokesperson said: “We believe in the benefits of dialogue between the club and fans and meet with a variety of groups as part of this approach from time to time.
“Our main channels for engagement continue to be via our fans’ advisory board, fans’ forum and the recognised independent supporters’ trust, MUST.
“These channels give fans a voice at the heart of the club, and we welcome all fans and fan groups who want to engage constructively within that framework.”
Meanwhile, Kobbie Mainoo has been ruled out for a few weeks with a muscle problem in a fresh injury blow for Erik ten Hag.
The midfielder suffered the injury in the 0-0 draw against Aston Villa that forced his withdrawal from England’s games against Greece and Finland and could miss around six matches. Harry Maguire also remains sidelined for a few weeks with a calf injury.
United said Luke Shaw and Mason Mount were making “steady progress” in their recovery from injury and that Tyrell Malacia took part in the first part of Thursday’s group session. Malacia has not played for United since May 2023 while Shaw has not played a game for the club since February.
Noussair Mazraoui was a surprise inclusion in training having expected to be out for a few weeks following a heart procedure although it is not clear yet if the right back will be available to face Brentford on Saturday.
Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo have returned to training after missing the internationals for Argentina and Ivory Coast through injury and illness respectively.
Midfielder Manuel Ugarte took part in a recovery session having just returned from international duty with Uruguay.