Students from a Dundee school who were caught up in the Old Trafford bomb scare have been left disappointed by Sunday’s match cancellation.
More than 40 Morgan Academy pupils were among the thousands of fans evacuated from Manchester United’s stadium after a fake explosive was found in a toilet within the grounds just 20 minutes before the expected kick-off time.
The Dundee students were quickly ushered from their seats following the supposed bomb’s discovery and led to the car park.
However, it has since transpired the device was a dummy and posed no threat to the public.
Alex Anderson, head teacher at Morgan Academy, commended the conduct of the students during the evacuation process.
He said: “Our pupils were exemplary – they remained very calm during it all.
“Everything went quite smoothly.
“Mr Bell, who accompanied the students, reported to me that it all happened very quickly. The stewards were excellent.
“I’m very disappointed for the kids. It’s a six hour journey there and a six hour journey back, and no football match in between.”
The school group had booked the trip through Premiership Experience, a company which organises league match packages for local authorities in Scotland.
They have now offered the school tickets to Manchester United’s first home game of next season as a replacement for Sunday’s match.
Questions are being asked about how the fake bomb, which belongs to Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd (SSMS), went unnoticed for such a long time.
It is understood SSMS was hired by Deacons Canines to help with sniffer dog training exercises.
SSMS managing director Chris Reid said: “It is a very unfortunate situation and the consequences obviously were that a lot of people were inconvenienced.”
The incident has been branded “shambolic” by Manchester’s police and crime commissioner.
Calling for an inquiry, Tony Lloyd, police and crime commissioner for Greater Manchester, said: “I think United have got to begin to put answers forward and I look forward to hearing what they have to say as soon as possible.
“Fiasco is the right word. It was shambolic.”
It is thought some fans might take action against United.
Litigation lawyer Mark Stephens said: “It struck me, there’s a complete raft of legal claims here.
“There’s going to be literally millions in terms of travel costs and disturbance costs which can be used against people if they were negligent in not counting back in and out the fake devices.”
Ed Woodward, United’s vice-chairman, said the club will “investigate the incident to inform future actions and decisions”.
The rearranged match against Bournemouth will now take place on Tuesday at 8pm.
United have offered a refund to all fans inconvenienced, as well as a free ticket for Tuesday.
