Manchester United will provide free return coach transport for fans from Manchester to Bournemouth for the upcoming Premier League game on the south coast.
The game on Friday, April 20 is the latest match which has been shifted to a time that is potentially inconvenient for travelling United fans, many of whom will need to take a day off work to travel south and attend.
Transport costs are typically higher on weekday, and there are no public transport options available to take fans back north after the game for what is United’s furthest away league game of the season.
The first fixture between the clubs this season was shifted to a Monday night in December and saw Bournemouth return more than half their 3,000 allocated tickets.
United’s fan base is far bigger and there is no question the club will sell out of the 1,299 tickets allocated to visitors for a match set to kick off at 8pm GMT (3pm ET) at the Vitality Stadium. Those fans who are successful in obtaining one of these will be sent details of how to book the free travel, with different coach options on offer. The 11,307-capacity venue is the smallest in the league, meaning there are fewer tickets allocated than anywhere else.
United have been in talks internally to sanction the free travel since the fixture was announced last month. A coach from Manchester to Bournemouth would usually cost around £50, with train travel more expensive. A lot of United’s disabled fans, including multiple wheelchair users, are regulars on the club’s coaches.
It comes at a time when fixture changes and a lack of domestic cup football mean United will play on a Saturday or Sunday in only two of eight weekends between February 9 and April 10. The scenario has played out for much of the season: in the 12-week period between October 5 and Christmas Day, United played only one home match on a weekend.
In October, The Athletic reported that the club’s CEO Omar Berrada had spoken to the Premier League CEO Richard Masters, outlining the club’s concerns about so many fixtures being shifted. United stressed the cultural importance of matchgoing fans to the fabric of the English game and also requested a change in how the games were scheduled to ensure that, in future, matches around the festive period are selected for broadcast at a much earlier stage. This would enable fans to be informed of fixture changes during a time when they could have significant family commitments. United’s Fan Advisory Board and Fans’ Forum had also raised concerns.
The free coach travel to Bournemouth is set to be a one-off and came about after the club’s Director of Fan Engagement Rick McGagh worked with representatives from the Fan Forum and Fan Advisory Board to help push the travel initiative through.