David Dale has bought a ticket for the May 21 showpiece – but he’ll probably give it to his daughter and watch the game in a bar in Spain
19:35, 12 May 2025Updated 19:46, 12 May 2025
Manchester United fan David Dale with his daughter and fellow Red Louise Dale(Image: David Dale)
Manchester United fan David Dale fan has spent a small fortune watching his beloved Reds during an awful season – his reward is a ticket for UEFA Cup final in Bilbao and chance of glory.
But, despite forking out for the May 21 final, he’ll probably watch the game in a bar in Spain due to a ticketing ‘fiasco’.
The life-long United fan, 67, had already paid £9,000 for two executive memberships at Old Trafford for the largely miserable season about to come to an end, one for himself and one for his daughter and fellow die-hard United fan Louise.
As the owner of two exec memberships, which includes top seats in the North Stand as well as food and drink, United sent the loyal fan two codes to purchase two seats for the final against Tottenham Hotspur at the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao, northern Spain, from UEFA’s website.
He also splashed out 1,000 euro on a hotel and whopping 1,700 euro on flights to Bilbao via Frankfurt.
He purchased the first match ticket for himself successfully but he says the website crashed and since then, despite repeatedly trying, he hasn’t been able to purchase the second ticket for Louise, 43.
David, a retired arbitrator from Derby who started watching United including George Best and Bobby Charlton in the 1960s, said he’s probably going to give up his 230 euro ticket for Louise. He’s previously watched United win the Champions League twice, in Barcelona in 1999 and in Moscow in 2008.
Manchester United fan David Dale with his daughter and fellow Red Louise Dale(Image: David Dale)
He told the Manchester Evening News: “I keep trying and I keep getting this error message. We’re still going to go and if it comes to the crunch I will probably let my daughter go. I’ll let her have the ticket and find a bar or something. It’s just riling knowing that I have an authorised ticket to attend.”
He went on: “I’ve managed to get through on the phone to UEFA and they say it’s the club’s fault and the club tell me its UEFA’s fault. I’m in limbo. I have a valid code for a ticket but both United and UEFA say ‘it’s not our problem’. There’s a problem with the website and nobody seems to be bothered.”
When David complained to UEFA, its customer services team said in an email to him: “Please note that you received the code by your club and the connected rules are made by the clubs. We kindly ask you to reach out to the club.”
When he pressed further, UEFA said in another email: “Please note that the access codes are being distributed by the clubs. Should your code no longer work, we invite you to contact the club.”
Some 49,600 tickets are available for the final, with each finalist allocated 15,000 each for its supporters.
A spokesman for United confirmed the club issued two codes to David to redeem tickets via the UEFA ticket app. He added: “Unfortunately, every step after that is within the UEFA system, which is outside of our control. We very much hope that Mr Dale is able to resolve the situation with UEFA.”
The Manchester Evening News has contacted UEFA for comment.