A truly unforgettable trip to Old Trafford...

Well that was interesting. After a five hour journey to Manchester I left Old Trafford disappointed, but not because of what happened on the pitch - as nothing actually happened on it.

Instead I walked out of a half empty Old Trafford after what was described as a ‘suspect package’ was discovered attached to a gas pipe in the northwest quadrant of the stadium.

It turned out to be nothing more than an accidentally left training device by a private company, but as an AFC Bournemouth fan in the East Stand (see my view below) it was hard to understand what was going on while in the stadium - watching half of the crowd in front of s being ushered out by a troop of security personnel.

This resulted in chants from our fans ranging from 'your ground’s too big for you’ and 'we’ve got more fans than you’ in response. There were also some other perhaps non-child friendly chants that I won’t repeat here…use your imagination.

With the PA stating to the security team that there was an 'Operation Red Code’ going on, we were repeatedly asked to remain in our seats - and only being told the match was abandoned after nearly everyone around me were already well aware that we wouldn’t be seeing any football (thanks, portable radio). Even then we weren’t offered an explanation - likely because this may have caused a certain amount of panic.

There was some perhaps understandable annoyance from sections of our fan base in the decision to abandon the match of course, considering the long journey involved - but there’s no doubt in my mind that the right decision was made, especially if there was the chance lives were at risk.

Manchester United should also be applauded at how efficiently they got everyone outside of the stadium. Although I trudged away disappointed to not see my side in action, I was very happy to see that the safety of the fans was put first - rather than the demands for every match in the league to kick off at 3pm. This is the first time a match in the Premier League has ever been abandoned in such a way after all.

The match itself seems irrelevant in the grand scale of things now of course, even more so that Manchester United are now all but guaranteed not to finish 4th - unless they score nineteen past us without reply, something I think we can probably avoid (despite some impressive collapses this season).

After West Ham United’s defeat at Stoke City the Red Devils are also assured of playing in next season’s Europa League regardless of their result against us as well, something which I’m sure their fanbase are absolutely delighted about.

With the match now rescheduled to Tuesday night, Manchester United will likely put out a very youthful first eleven out against us too - a logical decision considering their FA Cup final showdown against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

This perhaps means that the final result in this fixture is ultimately pretty meaningless, but it also means that we’ll never never have a better chance to do the double over Manchester United - and cap off a memorable season with a historic victory. No pressure lads…