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The three sons of Malcolm Glazer made their first visit to Old Trafford yesterday(29th September 2005), following secret meetings with the FA in London on Tuesday. Television pictures showed them inspecting the stadium and pitch at their new franchise, but angry fans gathered at Old Trafford and the Glazers had to leave the ground under police escort, according to one unconfirmed report in a police van that burst through hastily erected barricades. When they met Premiership officials at the FA they gave an 'unequivocal commitment' to the collective selling of television rights, although whether that commitment covered foreign rights was not immediately clear. For the FA Brian Barwick said, 'We enjoyed a very constructive meeting in which they addressed the many important questions we had to ask them.' However for Shareholders United, Sean Bones said, 'We find them disgusting and repulsive and will continue to do everything in our power to accelerate their exit from Old Trafford.' The Glazers are, however, now in complete control of the club having acquired 98 per cent of the shares, allowing them to compulsorily buy out the rest.
Shareholders United
Only 120 season ticket holders failed to renew, but Shareholders United has insisted that it has never asked supporters not to attend matches. Breakaway club FC United claims to have 2,600 supporters and is seeking admission to the North West Counties League. For most fans, however, the draw of Old Trafford will prove too great and they will probably go on buying merchandise as well.
Red Devils To Be Bled White
Shocked Manchester United fans have learnt how much it is going to cost them to support their club after 'The Times' obtained documents outlining the plans of American tycoon Malcolm Glazer. The news came just after the announcement that the United board had been tripled glazed with three of Glazer's sons placed on it. Under the plans ticket prices are to rise by 54 per cent within five years. Next season second round Champions League seats will go up by 12.5 per cent and quarter and semi-final tickets by 25 per cent. United fans will be expected to pay an average of £46 for home games in 2010, just below the current cost of an average Chelsea ticket, the most expensive in the league. However, the average Manchester United fans earns £34,000 a year against the £48,000 earned by the average Chelsea fan. The objective is to increase club turnover to £245.6m by 2010, a 52 per cent rise on this season. This includes a 76 per cent increase in commercial revenues, mainly from sponsorships. It is also hoped to keep inflation of staff costs to 2.5 per cent a year. All this is necessary because Mr Glazer will be paying interest of 20 per cent a year on £210m of his preferred securities. This is four times the current interest rate. That sort of rate is only charged when one thinks an enterprise is at real risk of going belly up. The debt contracts also limit how much can be spent on players over the next five years. The covenants on the loans mean a maximum spend on players (excluding money raised from sales) of £27.3m a season in 2006 and 2007 and £26.3m a year from 2008 to 2014. No more Wayne Rooneys then. This perhaps explains the modest assumption of no more than third place in the Premiership and a quarter final place in the Champions League every three years, although even that seems ambitious with such a constrained transfer budget. United fans will have the thrill to look forward to of an annual exhibition match at Glazer's other franchise in Tampa Bay. The only good news for United fans is that the Office of Fair Trading is considering intervening in Mr Glazer's takeover to prevent excessive rises in ticket prices.
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