Father and son's nightmare after being 'turned away from Manchester United match over innocent mistake'

A father and son were left devastated after travelling from Belfast to watch Manchester United - only to be turned away from the stadium before kick off.

Lifelong fans Michael Mulholland and his 18-year-old son Jack made the 300-mile journey by ferry and coach to watch their club's Premier League fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday, April 30.

The tickets were purchased by Michael's wife as part of a package. They were a Christmas present the father and son had been looking forward to for months.

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After arriving at Old Trafford around two hours early, the pair went to go and take their seats in the stands. Michael claims he was able to pass through the turnstile easily, but when he looked behind him, Jack appeared to have got stuck.

The family believe Jack successfully scanned his ticket, but made the mistake of not passing through the turnstile quickly enough, causing it to lock before he could go through.

Amid claims security staff said they couldn't help, Michael went back through the turnstile and the pair tried to get help from management to get back in. After two hours of trying, the pair claim nobody was able to help them, and they were forced to abandon the game.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Jack's sister Shauna said her father and brother were left devastated.

"They booked a package and had travel to Dublin, then get the boat to Wales and then get a coach to Manchester where they stayed the night before," she said.

"My dad and brother got to the ground two hours before and my dad went through the turnstile fine, but my brother wasn't able to get through. The only thing we think could have happened is that he didn't go through