Manchester United supporters have raised concerns about the music played before matches at Old Trafford, and the club has now addressed those complaints.
Since the Ineos takeover, there's been a noticeable push to improve the matchday atmosphere at Old Trafford.
Last season saw Old Trafford display its first tifo during a Europa League match, and steps were taken to expand safe standing areas at the ground.
The Reclaim The Stretford End campaign spoke with United in Focus about how efforts such as flags, new music, and changes in fan culture have begun to reshape what it feels like inside the stadium on match days.
Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
During a recent Manchester United Fan Forum, questions were raised about the choice of music played at Old Trafford during the break.
One fan asked: "Who decides what music is playing before/HT? The other day they were blasting Nicki Minaj, Pitbull, David Guetta. It's embarrassing. Like ice hockey or something. Should be showcasing Manchester bands and old United classics. Hate to say it, but Elland Road do this well."
The club replied: "The pre-match playlist is made up from a range of current songs in the UK charts, fan favourites, Manchester music icons and some player requests (during the warm up period).
"Manchester bands such as the Stone Roses always feature heavily in the build up but we also have a very diverse crowd who will all have their own musical preferences."
"Take Me Home, Country Roads" has become the go-to pre-match song for Manchester United at Old Trafford, and Bruno Fernandes played a part in making it happen.
The club captain told the club's media channels that he pushed for the song after noticing its popularity both inside the dressing room and among supporters.
"I think it's a song that everyone knows in the dressing room, so it's a popular song for us in the dressing room, and the understanding we had from the outside was that it's one of the most popular songs for the club," he said. "I think the lyrics, at home, work well, so everything together, we thought it would be a good thing."
Fernandes also pointed out that player input was important to how things developed. "Obviously we don't want to make it as something we do because other teams do it," he said. "But we felt it's something that…we spoke with certain players and said 'what do you think about this? How would you feel about having this before the game? Would it give you a push?'"
He added: "Everyone in the stadium feels that song very much and it's a song that resembles United history as well. It was little mix of things that we thought might be a good thing to try."
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