Man Utd’s Red Cafe warm hub welcomes fans of all sides to Old Trafford for free pies and a chat

Manchester United have turned the The Red Café at Old Trafford into a warm bank and community hub in the weeks before Christmas - and are throwing their doors open to anyone who wants some company.

The club said it wanted to do something to help people who are lonely or struggling with the cost of living, and insisted that everyone is welcome – whether red or blue or not football fans at all. United opened the hub on 6 December and are hosting the final two sessions on 19 and 22 December, from 5pm to 8pm.

Brad Martin, hospitality and event delivery executive for the club, is present when the café is open and likes to spend his time chatting with visitors. He said: “We’ve had a lot of really interesting characters join us - being able to understand everyone’s uniqueness is really special. I think given all the issues that we’re facing in the world right now I think having warm hubs available is absolutely brilliant.”

Despite the bank being held at United’s stadium there’s no bias as to who can attend – even having Liverpool and City fans in.

Brad said: “Whilst we are a family club and our fans are at the forefront, we are very open to everyone in the community. Everyone is welcome, no matter their allegiance, whether they love football or not, they are absolutely all welcome.”

The hub offers a selection of warm pies and soup along with both hot and cold drinks to people, all of which are free of charge, as well as entertainment with board games and even somefrom the staff themselves. Brad said: “I did try a bit of magic on a card trick, I don’t think I’m going to quite my day job for that one!”

Jim Liggett, operations director at Manchester United, said: “We’ve had probably nearly a hundred people through the doors so far which is fantastic. But from my perspective if we help only person throughout this whole time it’ll be success.”

For the next sessions, people can arrive and register via the North Stand reception and will be guided to the Red Cafe and children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Jim said at this time the club currently had no plans to continue into the new year, but there will be a review after the final session is held, and he hopes that more can be done moving forward.