12th August, 2023
A group of Manchester United supporters are plotting a series of protests to make it clear they do not want Mason Greenwood to be reintegrated into the club’s plans.
The fans, who are all regular Old Trafford match-goers, intend to make their feelings clear outside the stadium before United’s opening game of the season at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
A banner has been made, in United’s colours, with the message: “Female Fans Demand No Greenwood Return – End Violence Against Women.”
“It’s time for the club to stand up and make the right decision,” one of the organisers told The Athletic, speaking on condition of anonymity due to fears of being targeted by Greenwood’s supporters.
“It’s time to say, ‘We have high standards at United about how we expect players to conduct themselves and, if you do not meet those standards, you need to be moved out’.
“This is a tipping point for the club. Are they going to side with commercialism and trophies and money? Or are they going to take the side of match-going fans, and the club being a social and community institution that we can be proud of, and proud to have as part of our identity?”
Greenwood, 21, has not played for United since he was arrested in January 2022 relating to a tape being released on social media of an alleged sexual attack.
He subsequently faced a police investigation resulting in charges against him for attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Greenwood denied all the alleged offences.
A trial date was set for the end of this year but the charges were dropped at the start of February and the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service said “a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction”.
United have been conducting their own investigation since that decision and an announcement is expected shortly on whether or not Greenwood has a future at the club. The protestors are bracing themselves for potential news that he will be given a chance to redeem himself.
In the scenario that Greenwood stays, United are understood to have discussed a phased process that would include encouraging the player to receive counselling, as well as the possibility of exposing him to a television interview in which he is challenged on the events that have brought him to this point.
Ultimately, the decision is expected to rest with United’s chief executive Richard Arnold, based on a report carried out by other club executives.