Football team appoints counter-terrorism manager

Manchester United football team is the first sports club in England to appoint a full-time counter-terrorism manager. The post was filled by a former inspector from Greater Manchester Police's specialist search unit and comes amid significant additional security measures introduced at Old Trafford on matchdays. Heightened security measures include the routine checking of vehicles as they enter car parks, and searching supporters at turnstiles. The news comes after Man United’s Premier League game against Bournemouth in May was postponed when the stadium was evacuated after a suspicious device, which turned out to be a fake bomb, was found in a toilet. The prop had been accidentally left behind following an exercise earlier in the week. The news also follows security expert Baroness Ruth Henig’s call in 2016 for licensing laws to be changed to force entertainment venues around the UK to undergo counter-terror training.