Several thousand Manchester United fans staged a protest against the Glazers’ and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ownership of the club before the 1-1 Premier League draw at home to Arsenal on Sunday.

Those who took part are unhappy at the direction in which the American family and the billionaire Ineos co-owner are taking the club. United have lost £300m in the past three years and will operate with a severely constricted budget in the summer transfer market, while the fans are watching a poor side under the management of Ruben Amorim. With a point United climbed one place to 14th, 21 points behind opponents who not so long ago were close rivals.

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The protest started at the Tollgate pub at about 3.15pm and supporters were asked by the 1958 fan group, a main driver in the action, to wear black to mark the club “slowly dying”. They marched the mile to Old Traffordalong Talbot Road, Warwick Road and Sir Matt Busby Way, arriving 20 minutes later, the route to the stadium blocked off to traffic by a sizeable police presence.

Some protesters held placards that read “death by 1,00 cuts” in reference to Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting measures. These are headed by up to 450 redundancies, including a high proportion of the 80-strong scouting department, and the closing of the club canteen, ending free lunches for staff. Those on the march chanted for the Glazers to sell the club and accused Ratcliffe of being no better an owner. “Your debt not ours,” they sang. Red flares were let off, alongside yellow and green ones, the colours of Newton Heath, the club’s original name before it became Manchester United in 1902.

“We are so much in debt, a debt-ridden football club,” said Steve Crompton, from the 1958 fan group. “These fans won’t put up with the way the football club are treating us. This club is on its knees, the Glazers have put us there and Ratcliffe isn’t helping. This is to both of them.

“It’s absolutely everything: we’ve got ticket prices, we’ve got them getting rid of concessions. These fans are angry, they hate what’s happening to our football club. This is a community that’s come out today to tell the Glazers and Ratcliffe that we’re not messing about.”

The anti-Glazers sentiment continued during the game, at which Ratcliffe sat behind Edward Glazer in the directors’ box.