Manchester United legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have revealed their recent experiences trying to get tickets to watch their former club play at Old Trafford.
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has revealed he had to resort to touts to get tickets to a match at Old Trafford. Scholes is one of United’s greatest ever players, but claims so much has changed at the club since he retired that he doesn’t know who to contact to get legitimate tickets.
The midfielder went on to make 718 appearances for United after coming through their academy. During the dominant era under Sir Alex Ferguson, he helped the club win 25 major trophies, including 11 Premier League titles, but he feels disconnected from the current era.
Scholes discussed the situation with former United teammate Nicky Butt on the podcast The Good, the Bad & the Football. Butt is also part of the famous ’92 group of players, which also includes the Neville brothers, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, with similar sentiments and experiences.
“It’s a completely different football club to the one we know,” Scholes said. “Nicky, I don’t know about you. You worked there not too long ago, and I don’t know anyone there.”
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Mr. Batt replied, “I don’t know anyone there.” Mr Scholes said: “If I wanted tickets, I didn’t know who to call. I’ve been asked for some tickets, but I didn’t know where to go.”
“I have a four-season ticket and I use it. My son uses it every week. But there are people asking for[tickets]. We have a Salford player who wants to go to the game this week and he has a few tickets. So we had to call in a tout. Is that even acceptable? To be honest, I know touts, I don’t know anyone at the club!”
Butt then relayed a story alleging that United Airlines threatened to strip him of his season tickets due to his infrequent use of them. “My son has the same one. If he doesn’t use it three times, it gets taken off,” he said.
“I got an email saying, ‘You’re getting your ticket revoked.’ So I called and said, ‘Can I talk to someone about this?'” And it’s just a switchboard, so they might not be a football fan, and they say, “Who am I talking to?” and I say, “Nicky Butt” and they say, “Okay, who is that?” I didn’t say it out loud, but I’d like to say, “I played about 450 games for this club and won about seven titles,” but that’s a different world. You won’t know where to go. ”
Mirror Football has contacted Manchester United for comment. Scholes also stressed that he does not expect to receive preferential treatment just because he is a former player.
“I’m not going to complain about it,” he said. “That’s the reality, that’s what happens. Just because you play for the club doesn’t entitle you to anything.”
This enraged Paddy McGuinness, who responded: “Wait a minute! You gave everything to the club, the games you played, the contribution you made to United throughout your career as a player.”
Scholes replied: “Yeah, but we just played for them. The last time I played was back 13 years ago. We don’t mind paying them, but we just don’t know who to call. It’s just a different club, a different football club.”
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