Sierra Leone fan's Old Trafford heartache turns to Wembley joy

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - A Manchester United fan from Sierra Leone who saw his hopes of watching his first game at Old Trafford dashed by Sunday's dramatic abandonment, saw his despair turn to elation after other supporters clubbed together for him to attend next weekend's FA Cup final at Wembley.

Army experts blew up a suspect device at Old Trafford after tens of thousands of fans were evacuated ahead of Manchester United's final English Premier League game of the season, against Bournemouth.

For all the spectators at Old Trafford, which has a capacity of more than 76,000, it was a frustrating end to what should have been the final game of the season at United's world-famous ground.

But for one supporter, calling himself Moses, from Sierra Leone, it was all the more disappointing as this should have been his first time watching a match at the 'Theatre of Dreams'.

"This is Moses. He came from Sierra Leone to watch his first match at Old Trafford. He's distraught," posted Ian Stirling of the Manchester United Supporters Trust in a tweet that accompanied a photograph of a dejected-looking Moses.

But the trust ensured Moses's long journey from Africa would be worthwhile by finding the money to re-arrange his flights, put him up for the week and get him a ticket to the FA Cup final, with United up against Crystal Palace at London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

"Sadly they postponed the match -- I was so sad about that -- but they organised so I can stay another week and I'm excited about that!," Moses told the BBC.

Meanwhile Stirling said: "The lad's distraught... it's probably his only opportunity to come."

But with the trust stepping in to help Moses get to the Cup final, Stirling added: "So out of all the despair today, the lad's made up."

Another, unidentified, supporter said he and his friends had flown eight hours from Azerbaijan to watch the game.

He added they hoped the match would be played as soon as Monday, although this appeared unlikely after Bournemouth's players and management left Old Trafford on Sunday to head back to their south coast base.

Meanwhile local United supporter Johnny Escott, from Salford, Greater Manchester, said that despite initial confusion and concern, there was no "massive panic".

Escott, who had just taken his seat at the Stretford End when the evacuation of Old Trafford was announced shortly before the scheduled 3:00pm local time (1400 GMT) kick-off, told the BBC: "Everyone just looked at each other like 'Was that a mistake?'

"It was a bit scary but no-one really started to panic massively, I walked past a few kids who were crying but everyone seemed quite calm."