Manchester United have banned 685 accounts and either sanctioned or warned 464 supporters following a ticket touting investigation.

United began their investigation in July, triggering widespread protests from supporters who feared they were about to get their season tickets confiscated and had not been told why there was a problem.

The club subsequently amended the wording of warning emails being issued, accepted they had underestimated how many fans shared account details and acknowledged their actions had caused ”distress” to some supporters.

However, they also defended their right to tackle the issue of touting and, in concluding their investigation, have confirmed:

468 cases were resolved after supporters responded with the relevant information. No further action was taken, as the information provided satisfactorily explained the activity identified

226 accounts received a final warning where misuse was identified beyond simply sharing account details, but we were satisfied it wasn’t done for financial gain

238 accounts had an initial season ticket ban reduced to a ban on home ticket forwarding and away match applications by the independent appeals panel, where there was a significantly higher level of misuse and the panel was not satisfied there was sufficient evidence of financial gain.

499 cases resulted in a season ticket ban that was upheld by the independent appeals panel. This ban will last for one season and then those supporters will be able to join the waiting list to apply for tickets again

73 cases resulted in a season ticket ban that was not appealed

113 season tickets were banned after repeated requests for information received no response.

In total, the club say: “Six hundred and eighty-five accounts have been subject to a ban, while 464 supporters received a reduced sanction or final warning.

“Bans were issued where there was significant misuse of the ticketing system for financial gain. This included the operation of organised ticketing networks, which were controlling, selling and distributing tickets from hundreds of accounts.”

Club sources say a number of cases that were shared on social media are not true and do not tell the whole story of specific situations.

They say innocent fans have not been punished – and that it is beyond doubt the club have identified and banned hundreds of touts and broken up large-scale organised networks.

United’s statement has not pacified many of their fans.

The 1958 group is to proceed with a planned protest before the Manchester derby on Sunday, with ticketing issues cited as a major reason for calling it in the first place.

“There is still no apology from the club at the way they’ve treated time served loyal fans,” said the group.

“The stress and aggravation caused has been immense for some and the fans impacted by the bans have still not received clear reasoning for them.”

The Manchester United Supporters Trust, which has been recognised by the club in recent months, also remained unhappy at the situation.

“This has been an extremely difficult period for hundreds of Manchester United supporters,” it said.

“While there is widespread support among fans for tackling genuine ticket touting, that cannot justify treating suspicious digital behaviour as proof of touting, imposing severe sanctions without sufficiently compelling evidence, or expecting supporters to defend themselves without properly disclosing the allegation, evidence and specific rules they are said to have breached.

“Considerable damage has been done to trust between the club and its supporters through this exercise.”

United, though, insist their actions were motivated by making more tickets available to genuine fans.

They also stress that until the appeals process was complete, sanctioned tickets will be sold ‘at season ticket prices’ on a match-by-match basis.

“The club is not profiting from this process,” added the club.

United are not the only ‘top six’ Premier League club to launch a widespread ticket touting investigation in recent months.

In March 2025, Manchester City banned 165 supporters after away supporters were identified in home areas at Etihad Stadium.

In July 2026, Liverpool issued 432 lifetime bans as part of their own ticket touting crackdown. In addition, more than £1.2m worth of assets were seized.

In September 2025, a BBC investigation uncovered a black market selling thousands of Premier League tickets, through companies based at a number of overseas locations. (BBC)

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