Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion will be Manchester United’s only home game in a span of 50 days.
That is the time between October 5, the day after their 2-0 defeat of visitors Sunderland, and November 24, when they entertain Everton.
United have spoken to the Premier League to express their concerns about the number of midweek games they are scheduled to play between now and Christmas, as revealed by The Athletic on Friday, but going so long with just one match at Old Trafford actually feels unheard of.
Several factors have led to this — primarily, United not qualifying for Europe for only the second time since English clubs were allowed back into UEFA competitions in 1990. Being knocked out of the Carabao Cup by fourth-tier Grimsby has hardly helped, either.
United played 30 home games last season; depending on their progress in the FA Cup after they join that competition in January’s third round, it could be as few as 19 in this one, all in the Premier League. And that has real implications.
Fewer games without the various domestic and continental cups mean fewer opportunities for the club’s fringe players. That can impact on squad unity, with individuals frustrated by their lack of chances.
Then there’s the commercial consequences. United played at home seven times in the Europa League last season, each in front of a full house. That’s a potential 73,000 people a match paying for tickets, travel, merchandise, programmes, fanzines, food, drinks and more.
There’s now no prize or broadcast money, in addition to no ticket revenues, which is a huge headache at a time of general cost-cutting. United’s executive ticket holders get their European-game admission thrown in as a bonus. There are no such bonuses this season, and certainly no Champions League-related ones for the players.
United will miss out on significant matchday revenue this season (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
It isn’t just within the club that the impact is felt — all parts of the United world are scaled back this season. Manchester’s hotels are full when United play at home, so all are taking a hit with the lack of matches. Then there are the local pubs and cafes that thrive on matchday footfall.
“There’s a massive impact,” explains Ben Plunkett, landlord for the past 15 years of the nearby Bishop Blaize pub, which is full of 600 United fans for every game. They employ 51 full- and part-time staff, with 30 of those being extras for matchday. Those opportunities will now be restricted.
Plunkett is trying to make the best of a bad situation. “It has given us a chance to get a full-on refurbishment — new roof, new kitchen, new air-conditioning — and we re-open for the Brighton game,” he says. “It does give us an opportunity to be more than an event/matchday pub, though. It’s nice to put events on for the local community, like quiz or poker nights.”
The souvenir stalls outside the stadium which do a roaring trade on matchdays are also feeling the squeeze from the lack of games — and the bad weather that accompanied the ones that were played recently against Chelsea and Sunderland.
“The wind and the rain cut my sales to a fraction,” says Tony Veys, who has run a stall at United games since the late 1960s. “Punters put their heads down and won’t stop as they walk past. The lack of games hits everyone, but what can you do? I thought United would organise some friendlies this season.”
Veys once drove from Manchester to one such friendly in 1975 — in pre-revolution Iran. “It’s not great this season, but I’m not at the point where I need to sit under the cashpoint and ask for money,” he sighs.
Sellers outside Old Trafford have fewer opportunities this season (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
At least Veys has cover from the elements. The fanzine sellers do not.
“We joke through gritted teeth that selling a paper-based product in Manchester’s rainy climate isn’t wise,” says Barney Chilton, long-term editor of the Red News fanzine. “Hold a fanzine in the air and the rain starts — and we’ve never seen consecutive games of rain like Chelsea and Sunderland.”
Chilton sells his fanzines on Sir Matt Busby Way, above the Bridgewater Canal.
“We should’ve jumped in the canal to dry off,” he laughs. “But there is a serious side; hours go into each mag and it’s heartbreaking when the weather screws it, as you don’t make up those lost sales. Protecting fanzines becomes an art — bin bags at the ready. You laugh and cry because printing is expensive and you’re nervous about covering costs.
“Yet fanzines remain important, and reassuringly different in this ever-changing and noisier era. They’re still needed, especially in a screen era, because you get time to reflect rather than just be drowned by the here and now. It’s all about celebrating fan culture, not dismantling or dissing it. You must be a stubborn idiot, though, to stand there soaked through — you do a lot of philosophising.”
“The lack of games is an unseen, rare new kick in the fanzine boxes. You need a few games to sell each mag and United being rubbish has impacted that. We sometimes had 35 home games (a season) and this year it could be 19. It’s odd. You pray the breaks will help the team, but I now study weather forecasts more than I did anything at school.”
Drinkers outside The Bishop Blaize in August (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
There are some positives to the situation. Recovery times between games are longer for players; travel is much reduced. A year ago today, United flew four hours to Istanbul in Turkey to play Fenerbahce in the Europa League on a Thursday night before then playing West Ham in London on the Sunday. They were duly beaten in the latter and manager Erik ten Hag was sacked.
When there’s only one game per week, United’s base schedule is much lighter.
The day after a match will be about recovery for those who played: that’s treatments, rest, massages — the non-pitch work. Those who don’t play or were substitutes will have an intense session to replicate the exertion if you’d played a match in terms of distance, high-speed running, accelerations. After that it is usually a day off for everyone. That means two down days per week for the whole squad, thus three days are disrupted by a single game.
Contrast that with United’s schedule last year, when they were often playing games on Thursdays and Sundays. The recovery day is still the one after the match for players, but staff must do much more during it. There’s a post-match debrief as well as a meeting about the next opponents. Then you’re looking ahead to that upcoming game, with a tactical, but not too intense, training session. Oh, and it could also be a travel day.
A matchday +2 this season is a day off and the quietest of the week; when you’re playing twice a week, it’s the busiest.
This season, United have a four-day lead into games, against one training session when there are two matches per weeks. And the main priority in that session was for players not to go too hard and get injured because they had not fully recovered from the previous fixture.
“The schedule completely shapes your season,” says one club source, who asked to remain anonymous to protect their position. “It shapes your work, training sessions, days off, nutrition and your work-life balance.
“Players spend far more time with their families, as there are far fewer overnight stays abroad, which are usually for the night before the game and the night of the game.
“It’s a novelty, but it’s not where anyone at the club wants to be.”
