Manchester United fans to fly ‘Ed Woodward out’ banner at Premier League clash with Burnley
It will also target the club's owners, the Glazer family
Manchester United fans have paid for a plane to fly a banner calling for executive vice chairman Ed Woodward to leave the club.
The banner will be flown over Turf Moor ahead of the clash with Burnley on Sunday, September 2 bearing the message ‘ED OUT – LUHG’, with the initials an abbreviation for ‘Love United Hate Glazers’ which relates to the club's American owners.
United supporters had hoped to have the banner flown over Old Trafford on Monday during the clash with Tottenham.
However, light restrictions - the match is kicking off at 8pm - forced them to put the protest back.
It is the first time United fans have carried out this stunt since a section of the support turned on former manager David Moyes in March 2014.
Then they flew a banner over Old Trafford during United’s game with Aston Villa, with the message 'Wrong One - Moyes out'.
But the move was unpopular amongst the majority of fans and backfired anyway as the team went on to beat Villa 4-1 that afternoon.
Moyes, though, only lasted a further four games after that.
It's unlikely the same will happen to Woodward, who has sanctioned a net spend of £302million for Jose Mourinho since he took over as manager from Louis van Gaal in 2016.
During the summer he bore the brunt of fans and Mourinho's frustration when the club failed to sign players the manager wanted during the summer.
United lost to Brighton on Sunday and Woodward was accused of undermining Mourinho by former player Gary Neville in the wake of the shock defeat at the Amex Stadium.
"If Ed Woodward was going to doubt Jose Mourinho, the time to doubt him was at the point whereby he should have said I'm not giving you a new contract last January," Neville said on Sky Sports Monday Night Football show,
"The minute he gave him a contract extension - which some may say was unnecessary halfway through a season - believing in the manager and showing the faith, he had to then buy him the centre-backs. He had to get (Harry) Maguire and (Toby) Alderweireld because they wouldn't have made those mistakes at Brighton."
