MANCHESTER United fans from Northern Ireland caught up in the Old Trafford evacuation have described the confusion and frustration caused by the security alert.
It emerged late on Sunday night that the suspicious item which sparked the evacuation was "a training device", police said.
Bomb disposal experts carried out a controlled explosion on the suspicious item which was described as an "incredibly lifelike explosive device" by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
Police said the device had been left by a "private company".
Brendan McConville, secretary of the Newry branch of the Manchester United Supporters' Club, and his wife Anne (63) were among a group of 45 who travelled to Manchester by coach to see the last game of the season on Sunday.
He described feeling "a bit of panic" as he saw crowds of soccer fans evacuating while they were still trying to get into the stadium.
"It was a very confusing situation because whilst we were trying to get in, the ground was being evacuated," he said.
"We were instructed to go away from the stadium to a car park, but as we were leaving people were still trying to go towards the grounds.
"Being from Northern Ireland, we wanted to get out of the way – we knew the important thing to do.
"We were getting phone calls from people at home who were watching at home and knew what was happening before we did."
He added: "You could see particularly among younger people they were getting a bit angry, but I think once the message got through people calmed down and had a laugh about it."
Mr McConville said club members spent about £170 each including match tickets to see the abandoned game against Bournemouth.
"It's a big expense. It's disappointing because we have gone to that expense and trouble to travel," the 67-year-old said.
Rhys McKelvey from Banbridge and his father, 51-year-old ambulance worker Gary, were in their seats in the east stand when the evacuation began.
"They had in police and dogs and they were searching all the rooms," he said.
"It was somewhat confusing. Nobody really knew what was actually happening. We only found out when we left the ground."
The Belfast Metropolitan College chemistry student and his father had travelled over to Manchester earlier that day to see the match.
"Everybody was a bit annoyed that they didn't get to see the game. I was annoyed especially, travelling over," the 21-year-old said.
Chris Annon, from Lisburn, told how a "code red" alert was announced while he was in the hospitality section of the south stand.
Speaking on Sundday while still in the stadium, he described seeing the crowds of fans leave their seats as each section of the stadium was evacuated.
"It's a very eerie experience. It's just weird to sit here," the 39-year-old catering firm worker said.
"There is very limited information which is frustrating – we got more information from Sky News than we did from United," he said.
"Everybody is very disgruntled. I think people are just disgusted with who or whatever has done this."
He added: "Obviously travelling all this way for something like this to happen is very disheartening."
