Manchester United’s season descended from poor to farcical when their must win last game of the season against AFC Bournemouth was cancelled following the discovery of an item in the stands that looked like a bomb.
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That led to supporters being evacuated from the 75,635-capacity stadium 20 minutes before kick-off.
Reid founded the company in 2011 having spent 32 years at the Metropolitan Police and admitted that he had been to blame after installing the device during a canine training exercise.
But United sources have confirmed the toilet cubicle in which the device was discovered in the north-west quadrant of the stadium, hung on the back of a door, was checked by security staff but the dummy bomb was not spotted.
Greater Manchester Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd called the incident a “fiasco” and demanded a full inquiry.
A police unit used a controlled explosion to destroy the mock bomb.
The incident left many spectators disappointed, including a fan called Moses who had travelled from Sierra Leone to watch his first match at Old Trafford.
“What’s particular troubling is that the false device apparently remained undetected on the club premises for a number of days and there is considerable concern about the performance of the previous security company involved”, she wrote.
The dummy bomb was left behind by a private firm, understood to be Security Search Management & Solutions Ltd, who conducted a training exercise for sniffer dogs last week.
The club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “Once a live situation was identified, the club and police had no option but to treat the matter as a potential terror threat”.
United are nearly certain to miss out on qualification for next season’s Champions League after local rivals Manchester City drew at Swansea City on Sunday, putting City three points ahead in fourth place and with a vastly superior goal difference. The current threat level of terrorism remains “severe” so we would not take any chances.
The English Premier League announced the match has been rescheduled for Tuesday night, when Manchester United and Bournemouth players will take the field once more – presumably with better results this time around. The match will be played on Tuesday.
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United are now in sixth and could only qualify for the Champions League if they win by 19 goals – a Premier League record.
