North-east Manchester United fans last night described the dramatic scenes at Old Trafford as the famous stadium was evacuated amid a bomb scare.
Some supporters missed out on seeing the Red Devils in action for the first time after an “incredibly lifelike” explosive device was discovered inside the ground.
The incident happened shortly before the 3pm kick-off yesterday, with emergency services surrounding the stadium, and helicopters circling overheard.
And it emerged last night the device was accidentally left in the ground by a private firm which had been carrying out a training exercise using sniffer dogs.
Two areas, the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand and the Stretford End, were evacuated initially, with fans in the remainder of the 75,000-seater stadium led out shortly afterwards.
Thousands of people were forced to leave their personal possessions behind, including wallets, credit cards and handbags as they rushed to clear the arena.
The fixture, between the Red Devils and Bournemouth, was ultimately called off.
Fans flooded on to the streets outside the stadium and were led into the surrounding car parks.
Among them were more than 100 avid north-east Manchester United supporters.
The regular trips are organised by Epic Events, with a chartered flight leaving from the Granite City for every home game.
Scott Bridgwater, events and marketing executive for the company, was on his way to the ground when the dramatic events first began to unfold.
The Westhill man said there were north-east fans all over the stadium.
“It all happened really quickly,” he said.
“People in the crowd were really worried – extremely worried. There wasn’t a panic but people were nervous and quiet.”
Army bomb disposal units descended on Old Trafford and carried out a controlled explosion.
Mike Wilson, of Epic Events, was not at the game but said fans had been happy to “trust the authorities” in the circumstances.
He added: “They understand that people travel from all over the world to follow Manchester United and they wouldn’t cancel a match lightly.
“At the end of the day, people would rather be safe than watch a football match.”
Many of the fans had travelled down for their first game, including youngsters Connor Lawless, 14, Mya Cruickshank, 11, and her younger brother, seven-year-old Alfie.
And lifelong United fans Ross and Susan Allerton had also made the trip to the hallowed ground for the first time.
The couple, who live in Newburgh, were celebrating Susan’s birthday.
Mr Allerton, who was sitting in the North Stand, said the pair first realised something was wrong when the referee and players rushed off the pitch in the middle of their pre-match warm-up.
He said: “A staff announcement came over the tannoy, calling for a ‘code red’ operation.
“We noticed the fans had started to leave the Sir Alex Ferguson stand.
“A friend texted me to see if I was alright.
“People were starting to panic, there was a girl behind us in tears being consoled by her dad, she was a teenager.”
Last night, Greater Manchester Police said the suspicious item which led to the evacuation “was a training device which had accidentally been left by a private company following a training exercise involving explosive search dogs”.