A piece of history for £125! United's unusual offer splits the fanbase
Manchester United fans can now literally own a piece of Old Trafford. Whether that is a brilliant idea or a tone-deaf cash grab depends on who you ask.
Details: According to CentreGoals, citing The Times, United are selling chunks of Old Trafford turf for £125 each. Season-ticket holders have been given "exclusive early access" to buy small clumps of grass cast in plastic after the club relaid the pitch for the first time in 14 years.
The old turf was dug up after United's final home game of last season against Nottingham Forest, with the club stripping the surface back to its foundations over the summer as part of a wider upgrade of the stadium, the first such work since 2012. Rather than letting the grass go to waste, United have turned it into memorabilia: plastic-encased squares of the hallowed lawn, offered first to their most loyal supporters. The initiative lands in a sensitive context: fans are already wrestling with rising ticket prices, and the club is pushing ahead with plans for a new 100,000-seater stadium after securing land around Old Trafford. For some, a £125 clump of grass is a cynical monetization of nostalgia. For others, it is a genuine collector's item from the ground that hosted Busby, Ferguson and generations of legends. One thing is certain: the club's commercial machine never sleeps, and if the boxes sell out, expect other giants to copy the idea before the season is over.
It's worth noting that selling pitch sections is not a new phenomenon: clubs like Barcelona and Tottenham have previously offered fans pieces of their old stadium turf, and they sold out rapidly.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
