The air was thick with mutiny and malevolence as militant Manchester United fans marched on Old Trafford.
More than two thousand protesters, many lighting flares and carrying banners calling on the Glazers to sell up and get out of United, vented their anger towards the club's reviled owners. The latest anti-Glazer protest, organised by a fan group called 'The 1958', began at the Tollgate, a pub a mile away from Old Trafford, with fans marching to the ground an hour before kick-off.
Some 15 minutes later, the sizable crowd, marshalled along their route by a phalanx of riot police, made their way down the Munich Tunnel, which leads to the directors' entrance. As they marched, chanting “Joel Glazer's gonna die”, metal security shutters came down on the doors to the directors' entrance and other stadium entry routes, for fear of fans storming their way in, as they did almost a year ago, forcing the postponement of the game against Liverpool.
On that occasion, United, their security staff and the police were overwhelmed, as protestors gained access to the pitch, the changing-rooms and other areas of the stadium, succeeding in their objective of getting the Premier League fixture called off.
This time, however, United and the authorities were prepared, although, from the outset, The 1958 had insisted this latest demonstration was going to be peaceful and law-abiding. Given Joel Glazer has not attended a United game for three years, the chant about him carried little threat, yet showed the depth of hatred that endures towards the United co-chairman.
The chants switched to a more impassioned “Love United, stay outside”, a plea to those on the march to remain outside to show the depth of their ill-feeling towards the Glazers, who have used United to enrich themselves to the tune of £1billion.
Inside the stadium, the first sustained chants of “Love United, Hate Glazers” began a minute after kick-off, those inside the famous arena sharing the sentiment of those who remained outside.
The 1958 group, which describes itself on Twitter as “an underground group of Reds intent on upholding the values of Manchester United, its culture and traditions”, had called on fans to remain outside Old Trafford until the 17th minute of the game – a minute for every year of the contentious Glazer ownership of the world's biggest football club.
The smell from the flares let off outside Old Trafford was still thick in the air when Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead after seven minutes, the disenchantment of fans momentarily put aside as they celebrated the early strike, their pursuit of fourth place back on after Tottenham's shock defeat to Brighton earlier in the day.
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Yet it did not take long for United fans to refocus on the overriding message of the day, most of the stadium rising to their feet in the 11th minute when the strains of “Stand up if you hate Glazers” began in the Stretford End, followed by “We want Glazers out”.
Given the Glazers have treated United fans with contempt since they bought the club in 2005, there is little chance of the protests bringing about the radical change supporters are demanding.
After blowing a 2-0 lead, United's players did not escape the ire of fans who, with 20 minutes to go, chanted “You're not fit to wear the shirt”, Ronaldo breaking the mood of discontent with another hat-trick to seal the hard-fought win, taking his goal tally to 21 this season.
The Glazers have promised to improve their engagement with supporters, but after nearly two decades of draining the club's huge revenues to line their own pockets, loyal United fans know not to expect anything in the way of real change, which is why they will not give up the fight until their US owners are eventually sent on their way, however long that takes.
