A mother from Urmston, Trafford, has spoken out after Manchester United restricted the season ticket account of her six-year-old son, Ruari, as part of the club's sweeping crackdown on ticket touting.

Katie, 39, said the restrictions have left her unable to apply for an away ticket for Ruari ahead of United's Premier League opener against Hull — a child she described as "football daft" who has held a season ticket since birth and once served as a match mascot at Crystal Palace.

A family built around football

Katie said 19 relatives and friends share a ticketing group so they can sit together in a singing section at Old Trafford. Because some family members are less comfortable with online systems, she handles much of their ticket administration, including away game applications — using shared devices and internet connections.

She said no tickets had ever been sold for profit, advertised, or passed to unauthorised third parties, and that no bots or automated software had been used. On the rare occasions when family members could not attend matches, their tickets were forwarded through Manchester United's official transfer system.

The club's position

In an email seen by the BBC, Manchester United told Katie that repeated access to Ruari's account — alongside an "extremely high" number of other ticketing accounts — indicated the accounts had been centrally controlled. The club said the "scale, frequency and pattern" of the wider activity had not been satisfactorily explained, and concluded that Ruari's account had been used or managed outside its authorised processes.

The email stopped short of accusing the family of reselling tickets or using bots. Manchester United told Katie on the afternoon of 21 July that the restriction would remain — roughly four hours after she first submitted her explanation. Katie said she believed the speed and wording of the response suggested it was an automated rejection.

An appeal still pending

Katie's initial appeal was turned down, and she has since escalated the matter to the club's appeals panel. Six family accounts in total are under restriction. A post on X in which Katie warned the decision would "break [Ruari's] heart" has been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

She said she had not yet told Ruari about the situation. "You can't put that on a six-year-old," she said. Ruari has previously travelled with his family to watch United in Seville, Istanbul, and Bilbao, and served as a mascot during a match at Crystal Palace last season.

Manchester United declined to comment on Ruari's individual case. The club said its anti-touting efforts last season recovered more than 14,000 tickets worth over £1 million, returning them to supporters through official channels. The club has previously acknowledged that some fans who had done nothing wrong may have been caught up in the wider operation.