THE guy with the flyer was persistent. 

‘Mate, we are walking out in the 21st minute to protest 21 years of the Glazers. Will you join us?’ he asks earnestly, handing me a leaflet that announces: ‘Enough is Enough! Empty Old Trafford! Leave the stadium in the 21st minute. 21 years of failed ownership. Glazers OUT! Ineos OUT!’

More than 70,000 spectators leaving their seat and walking out of the stadium in the 21st minute have been quite the statement, especially live on Sky Sports. 

But as admirable as Saeed TV’s aim is (I discover later he is some sort of youtuber), it’s hard to see gain any traction.

‘Dad, we are not walking out of the match. It’s my first time in Old Trafford,’ I am told as we continue to meander up Matt Busby Way, a declaration from my 10-year-old that causes a fair bit of mirth among the crowd.

‘What’s wrong with the owners anyway?’ Dan enquires innocently, which leads to a bind. 

How deep down the rabbit-hole should I go with my ten-year-old on his first visit to the Theatre of Dreams. 

It’s probably not the time or place to try and explain leveraged buyouts and how much debt the Glazers have saddled the club with, £1.2 billion at the last count while taking millions out of it in dividends. Do I need to go further back and talk about Rock of Gibraltar’s unexpected success on the track and the concept of stud fees?

‘They are not putting enough money into the team and taking loads of money out of the club,’ is all I offer. 

‘When Manchester City need a midfielder, they can buy Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernandez while United have to make do with someone who was sitting on Chelsea’s bench.’

He doesn’t look convinced that’s much of a reason to walk out of a football but as the cathedral of consumerism that is the Manchester United megastore has appeared, he forgets about United’s disastrous ownership model – for now, at least.

During his doomed attempt to coax Jurgen Klopp to Old Trafford around 2014, Ed Woodward apparently told him that United was the sporting version of Disneyland. 

And to be sardined inside the megastore in the couple of hours before kick-off, you have to accept that the much-maligned former CEO may have been right about one thing. 

Think Arnott’s a couple of days before Christmas, just with a lot more people. You even need to pass through airport-like security before even entering and spend your dosh.

One of the common refrains among United supporters is why are the Glazers holding onto the club when they don’t even seem to care. 

Thirty seconds inside the megastore on match-day and you realise why the Americans are so keen to hold onto the asset they’re bleeding dry – and they probably care a great deal.

Even with the team languishing in the relegation zone, having won a single league game all season, people are keen to spend, spend, spend.

I see people wandering around with five or six different shirts, from different eras (I did succumb and bought Dan the black shirt from 95-96 season, because it reminds me of Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and better times!)

You can get a photo with a replica of a Premier League trophy. That’s just £10. Or Lego sets of Old Trafford or the Munich clock. 

That will just set you back £25.  For many in this shop, it seems allowing the club to empty their wallet is as much a part of the day as the actual football.

There are other parts of the ritual, which remain and have yet to be infected by the poisonous atmosphere around the club – and remind the three dads bringing their kids to Old Trafford for the first time of better days. 

Such as curry chips and battered sausage from Lou Macari’s chipper. And the customary photo in front of the statue of the holy trinity of Best, Law and Charlton.

The megastore was the one place that seemed immune to the toxicity in the air. Once outside again and all that could be heard was the moans and groans, mainly because Shea Lacey wasn’t starting.

Coming here since the 1990s, we have seen the skyline of Manchester transformed as it became a sleek, modern city. It seems the one place that hasn’t changed is Old Trafford. It has remained the same. 

Stuck in time. It looked sleek and modern in 1999, but now there is a tired, decrepit feel to the stadium – and not just because of the leaking roof. It could do with a lick or two of paint.

No wonder Big Sir Jim is determined to plough ahead with his plans to make a crudely-designed circus tent ‘the Wembley of the North.’ Not that there is anyone inside Old Trafford of the same mind.

Senne Lammens has just trotted onto the field with Tom Heaton and Karl Darlow to do their pre-match warm-up when the chants start, telling Jim Ratcliffe he can stick his new stadium up his posterior. 

It is a weird atmosphere, with all the chanting against the owners – both Glazers and Ineos – and nothing being sung in support of the players.

As my friend points out it must be so difficult for the team to show the best of themselves when things are this toxic in the stadium.

Dan has been to the Jodi Stand enough times on a Friday night to know there is plenty of choice and crude language at football matches, but still I nearly felt at covering his ears at some of the stuff being sung in Old Trafford last Sunday, especially that directed at CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.

We had hoped that things might have been different when the game kicked off, but within a minute, Aston Villa had scored.

And three minutes later, they had scored again when Lammens fumbled Alysson’s shot into Nicolas Jackson’s path. Maybe walking out in the 21st minute wasn’t such a bad idea.

The crowd’s ire had gone from the owners to the players now, with a sustained chant of ‘You are not fit to wear the shirt.’ United did rally and by half-time, it was 2-2. But the mood was still dismal as we queued for a quick beer.

The 1958 Group had asked fans not to buy booze, another protest against the owners. But it seemed nobody was paying much attention to that. 

One of the issues at United is that there seem to be too many splintered fan groups – there is also ClaimBackUnited and Fan Coalition ’58 – as well as Saeed TV, who seemed to be on his own solo run.

We didn’t feel bad about ignoring the booze ban, as everyone was doing it. And within a couple of minutes of the second-half, we saw the reason why. You need to fortify yourself to watch Diogo Dalot try to defend.

For much of the second-half, it seemed like Michael Carrick’s brief tenure was going to peter out in a forgettable defeat, as Villa seemed to manage the game perfectly. 

Dan and his friends were growing frustrated, pointing out the players weren’t doing what their coaches tell them to do on a weekly basis, leading me to conclude that maybe my son’s under-11 side are better-coached than United.

And then there was the chaotic and crazy final few minutes in stoppage-time. And a draw that came out of nowhere and was celebrated like a victory.

That was the thing. Even though the mood inside the stadium was toxic for most of the game, even though the team were two down inside four minutes and the season has been a disaster, everyone still came away from Old Trafford, happy and with a smile on their face.

Only football can do that. More than that, perhaps only Manchester United – despite everything – can do that.