Thousands of die hard Manchester United fans miss the first act in Cristiano Ronaldo's sensational hat-trick to protest

At eight minutes past three, a roar from the Old Trafford crowd greeted the first act in Cristiano Ronaldo 's latest sensational United hat-trick. But thousands of his adoring fans were not there to see it. Instead, they remained outside the ground, forgoing the opportunity to watch one of United and football's greatest ever players in action.

Although the roar came from just yards away, it was drowned out by noise of a different kind. The sound of die hard Reds deciding to make a stand against the ownership of their club.

Instead of taking their seats at 3pm, they sung, lit flares, and made their voices heard, remaining outside until 3.17pm, a minute for every year the Glazer family have owned United since a controversial takeover in 2005.

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The afternoon of protest began at a popular pre-match watering hole for United fans, the Tollgate. As United fans regularly do, they marched from the boozer down Talbot Road, before turning right at the cricket ground and heading down Warwick Road.

It remained to be seen how many fans, who stump up their hard earned cash to follow their team, would take part and miss the start of the game. While the vast majority kept to their usual routine and headed in for kick off, thousands did elect to protest.

The Munich tunnel became a focus for them, with the symbolic colours of green and gold, which also happened to be the colours of the visiting team Norwich, being proudly displayed. Green and gold were the colours of Newton Heath, the team comprised of railway workers founded in 1878, which went on to become Manchester United.

It is that contrast between the humble routes of United, and the current