Man Utd fan labelled 'greedy' escapes ban for attempting to sell his Barca tickets

A MANCHESTER UNITED fan has escaped a ban for attempting to sell his Barcelona match tickets for a grand after personally donating £1k to a cancer charity.

Season-ticket holder Stuart Taylor was viciously trolled online and abused over the phone after placing an advert for his tickets in Thursday’s edition of the Macclesfield Express.

But the opportunity to buy two of the “best seats“ in the house for the “once in the lifetime opportunity” at £500 each breach touting rules set by the Red Devils.

And a number of fans were quick to call for the 64-year-old to be banned from Old Trafford.

But SunSport can reveal Taylor, who lives in Derbyshire, was only issued with a warning after he decided not sell them upon learning he had breached club policy.

Taylor says the money from the sale was always intended to go towards The Christie, and to ensure they still got much-needed funds, he decided to make a donation out of his own pocket to the hospital.

'NOT MOTIVATED BY GREED'

Taylor said: “My actions were not motivated by greed as most people thought, but rather by compassion and to try and show my appreciation of the wonderful medical treatment and care my wife received from all the staff at the Christie Hospital during her illness.

“I fully understand that touting is a menace and a disgusting practice, and I fully support the club’s attempts to stamp it out.

“It is my fault that I was unaware of the club’s ticketing rules, and I certainly made a few mistakes along the way in attempting to raise some money for a good cause."

After a snap of the advert was shared online it soon went viral as irate fans slammed him for allegedly attempting to rip-off other supporters.

But the abuse did not just stay on Twitter. And his doubters wanted to know why he had not mentioned his intentioned charitable donation in the ad.

This was explained in an online response as to being due to a lack of space in the advert and he later told SunSport was also over wanting to keep his reason for sale private.

But that failed to stop the stick.

ABUSE

Taylor said: “I have had to block unknown numbers because the phone is ringing off the hook with supporters wanting to either buy the tickets or give me abuse.

“I spent most of Thursday attempting to speak to anyone who called me, sent an email or texted me to explain that the tickets were no longer available and the reason why.

“Most of the abusive people who cared to take the time to listen to my story ended up apologising for their initial abuse, once they understood that I was attempting to raise money for the Christie and had donated the £1,000 myself.

“In fact, a few also offered to make additional donations as a result of my story, which is marvellous.

“A few rather angry people chose not to believe me, but that’s life I guess.

“I have certainly learned a few lessons about raising money for good causes, and I am sure most people will want to support my efforts.”

Taylor added: “I would like to ask all the loyal United supporters to give a few pounds if they can to this great local hospital, we all know someone who has been touch by this dreadful disease and the Christie needs to raise £23m to fund a new unit to be based in Macclesfield.”

A GRAND GESTURE

Ticket touts or fans caught selling match tickets under their name are usually issued with a three-year ban by United.

SunSport contacted The Christie who confirmed Taylor’s donation – which was made hours before the tweet of his advert went viral.

A spokesperson for The Christie said: “We never disclose details of any donor without their prior consent.

“In this case, Mr Taylor has agreed that we can confirm that his donation of £1,000 was received yesterday morning (Thursday 21st March).”

The Christie charity provides enhanced services for the world-famous cancer hospital over and above what the NHS funds.

Gifts from the public make a huge difference to the care and treatment that The Christie is able to provide to our patients and their families.

For further information and to donate please visit www.christies.org.

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