Health team reveals rodent problem at Man United’s Theatre of Dreams

MICE, uncooked chicken and out of date turkey are just some of the hygiene nasties that 
health inspectors have discovered 
at Premier League football grounds.

The two most recent environmental reports from teams in the top tier of English football have revealed some surprising findings.

An inspection of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, often referred to as the “Theatre of Dreams”, discovered that the club has previously had to deal with the presence of rodents. The report, which also found a broken tap and flaking pipework, instructed them to “continue to monitor and react to the mouse activity”.

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Chelsea FC, bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, were criticised for previously almost serving “cooked turkey saddles” that were out of date.

As a result they were warned that this was a serious contravention of hygiene laws.

Health chiefs also expressed concerns about the selling of stockpot and several frozen steak and mushroom pies that were not labelled correctly.

A follow-up inspection did find action had been taken though, and noted hygiene had become “generally excellent”.

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The information, which was obtained through Freedom of Information requests, also highlighted some other interesting discoveries.

Swansea City were guilty of serving ready cooked chicken that was still pink, leaving an open packet of ham in a kitchen and allowing some paté to go out of date.

At Fulham’s ground, Craven Cottage, an open box of bread rolls was left out under a wash basin, while Reading FC were told to clean out the dead insects and cobwebs in a drinks area.

But for many other teams in the league, such as Aston Villa, Wigan, QPR and West Ham, it was just smaller issues such as temperature control and general cleaning that were highlighted.

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And reigning champions Manchester City were given top marks, with the inspector writing there was “very good hygiene standards in place”.

In response to the report Manchester United said they had a “robust pest control system” and that if any incidents do occur they take “immediate and appropriate action”.