HONG KONG: Yan Gang speaks for many Manchester United fans when he says: “We’ve been numbed by performances over the past few seasons.”
Manchester United once claimed to have more than 100 million followers in China, Yan among them, but like supporters of the club everywhere their loyalty is being put severely to the test.
As an illustration of United’s fall from grace in China and beyond, tickets for Friday’s friendly at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium against the city’s representative team were still available on Thursday afternoon.
Tickets also appeared on resale websites with their prices slashed 50 percent.
United were beaten 1-0 in Malaysia by a Southeast Asian XI on Wednesday and booed off, a fresh low in a dismal season for Ruben Amorim’s bedraggled men.
“Every season ends with the same old story with no sign of recovery,” said Yan, a supporter for 23 years and organizer of a United fans’ association in Shenzhen, just across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China.
Amorim’s side left for Asia on Sunday, hours after concluding their worst season since 1974, to play friendlies in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.
The Old Trafford club made no attempt to hide the motivation for flying across the world straight after a draining and demoralizing campaign that saw them come 15th in the Premier League and fail to lift a trophy.
“Tour fixtures drive significant additional revenue which help make the club stronger, allowing us to keep investing in success on the pitch,” chief executive Omar Berrada said.
This week’s Asia visit will generate about $10 million (£7.8m) for United, the BBC reported.
China has the world’s second-biggest economy and second-biggest population, making it a vital market.
United’s finances are under scrutiny with co-owner Jim Ratcliffe implementing steep cuts since buying a minority stake just over a year ago.
The club recently announced a further 200 redundancies were planned after 250 jobs were cut last year.
Ratcliffe claimed in March that the Red Devils would have “run out of money at Christmas” otherwise.
From Kuala Lumpur, where it was 32 Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) at kickoff on Wednesday, it is a four-hour flight to a similarly sticky Hong Kong.
July friendlies in the city between Tottenham and Arsenal, and Liverpool and AC Milan, sold out within hours of going on general sale.
No such luck for United for their exhibition match with the Hong Kong team, and with a day until kickoff they face the ignominy of playing in front of empty seats.
The 39-year-old fan Yan said that the United supporters club in Shenzhen has about 2,000 members.
That number has hardly grown in the past few years, he said.
Older fans make up the vast majority of members.
“I can’t think of any words we can use to attract new fans because the team has a bad record and no standout stars to recruit younger fans,” said Yan.
He Zhiyi, a United fan for more than a decade, is flying to Hong Kong from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu.
She had hoped to see the squad parade the Europa League trophy, but Amorim’s side lost 1-0 to Tottenham in the final.
With it went United’s hopes of sneaking into the Champions League, which would have brought badly needed revenue, prestige and pulling power.
“The team is all over the place – players, coaches and management are not moving in one direction,” said the 32-year-old He, a football content creator and author.
“It feels like the team is killing the enthusiasm of the fans, as if the romance can’t be sustained anymore.”
Zhang Chongqian, also from Chengdu, said United’s “spirit and traditions” have been lost.
“In recent years, our fans (in China) gradually stopped watching Manchester United or even football,” the 38-year-old lifelong supporter said.
Zhang will not join those fans abandoning his side, even after the poorest season in the club’s recent history.
“Manchester United have been experiencing a period of sinking,” he said.
“But there are still so many fans who will never give up on them.”
