MANCHESTER UNITED fans blocked the squad from leaving the Lowry Hotel in protest against the club ownership on Sunday.
The players and staff were staying in their usual Manchester base a couple miles from Old Trafford ahead of facing Liverpool at 4.30pm.
But a planned protest against the Red Devils’ owners, the Glazers, led to a stand-off with police at the entrance to the hotel just hours before the game.
Supporters chanted and lit flares next to the team bus as it waited for the squad.
And a demonstration featuring a large number of fans outside Old Trafford led to hundreds rushing onto the pitch.
Footage emerged online of fans chanting towards the Sky Sports television studio and cameras set up in the main stand.
One clip even showed a flare being hurled in the direction of the gantry, while protestors were also seen carrying the United corner flags.
Authorities managed to usher the crowds off the pitch but amid the chaos the match has been pushed back, but no revised kick-off time has been confirmed.
Sky Sports’ pitch side reporter Geoff Shreeves revealed players were yet to come out of their hotel rooms due to safety concerns.
Fans had turned out at both the Lowry and the stadium with flags and banners protesting the club ownership.
Recent weeks have also seen protests outside Arsenal and Chelsea’s stadiums against club owners and the European Super League.
And a group of United supporters entered the club’s training ground last month to stage a protest.
A billboard attached to Hotel Football, the establishment co-owned by Class of 92 legends such Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs, also called for change.
It displayed a quote from ex-defender and pundit Neville as the protest began, which read: “We have got to come together now… We have got to stop this, it is absolutely critical that we do.”
It is not thought that the Glazers were present in Manchester for Sunday’s game.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s squad stayed elsewhere and were pictured taking a morning stroll ahead of the game.
The protests come after years of discontent with the Glazers, magnified by the European Super League debacle.
United were among six English teams to sign up to the doomed breakaway plot, which sought to supersede the Champions League.
The Glazers have also faced large-scale criticism for unloading debt onto the club and failing to win trophies.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side sit second in the table ahead of the derby having last won the Premier League in 2013.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
