The Glazers have never been popular owners at Manchester United. The Manchester United Supporters Trust has been resolutely anti-Glazer since the family bought the club in 2005. The club’s proposed bond issue, on which we shall be providing a detailed analysis, has reignited that anger. Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of the Trust, told The Times ‘Now is the time for the Glazers to go. The bond issue is just rearranging the deckchairs and still leaves the club with huge debts, which they expect supporters to continue to fund.
The Glazers have never been popular owners at Manchester United. The Manchester United Supporters Trust has been resolutely anti-Glazer since the family bought the club in 2005. The club’s proposed bond issue, on which we shall be providing a detailed analysis, has reignited that anger. Duncan Drasdo, the chief executive of the Trust, told The Times ‘Now is the time for the Glazers to go. The bond issue is just rearranging the deckchairs and still leaves the club with huge debts, which they expect supporters to continue to fund. The day the Glazers put the club up for sale you can expect celebration on the streets of Manchester. Most supporters have had enough. Under their ownership the club has become liable for more than £260m in interest payments alone and the latest trading statement would have shown a substantial loss if it had not been for the sale of Ronaldo.’
Radio 5 did a vox pop with United fans outside Old Trafford before the match against Burnley yesterday. The fans were arguing that there were plenty of potential buyers out there. I am not sure that that is the case to the extent that it was: many of the sources of so-called ‘sovereign wealth’ have taken a hit from the global downturn. Nevertheless, the fans pointed out that United are an iconic club and an outstanding global sports brand. That means that anyone buying them would have to have deep pockets, but there have been rumours of a Far East consortium. However, the Glazers give every indication that they are in it for the long term and faced open hostility from fans when they first bought the club. It would probably take a really good offer to dislodge them and it is more than likely that any new owners would want to make a profit from the ‘franchise’. Arguably, Liverpool have suffered more from mistakes made by their ‘franchise’ owners.