Today in Sports
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
  • DMCA
  • Disclaimer
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Contact us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket
No Result
View All Result
Today in Sports
No Result
View All Result

The troubled story of how the Glazers captured the world’s biggest club – Man United News And Transfer News

March 28, 2025
in Football
0
Home Football
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


You might also like

Lamine Yamal named the best: La Liga awards young Barcelona star with prestigious honor

“In advanced talks” – Fabrizio Romano reveals a deal Andrea Berta is close to sealing for Arsenal

Transfer latest, Grealish future and England squads – The Game Football Podcast

1

Twenty years ago Manchester United was rocked by the Glazer family takeover that would ultimately mark the decline of the football club from a financial and playing sense.

The Americans arrived amidst fan fury but due to a series of fortunate circumstances for themselves, were able to complete the hostile takeover of the world’s biggest club in May 2005.

The Telegraph have gone into extensive detail of the story of how a debt-free, largely well-run United became a club saddled with huge outside debt and is still very much paying the price 20 years later.

Who were they?

The Americans were seen as “socially awkward” and the anthesis of what your typical football club owner of the mid 2000s was. They were in a landscape of predominantly British owners and big personalities and the Glazers were neither.

The Telegraph reports that the United board were “struck by their social awkwardness” and could not wrap their head around some of the things they did in the series of meetings before the takeover.

Despite making most of their money in property development, the Floridians also owned the NFL team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had won the highly coveted Super Bowl trophy two years before in 2003.

Someone present in the pre-takeover meetings claimed, “they were keen to show us their Super Bowl rings which they were wearing. It was not something that a chairman of a football club would do. It was hard to know what to say.”How did they do a deal?

The Glazers were able to make a move for United due to the fallout of the Rock of Gibraltar scandal which involved the manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Irish businessmen John Magnier and JP McManus, who were major shareholders in the club.

There was a dispute over the breeding rights of the highly successful racehorse, the Rock of Gibraltar, which finally led to Ferguson taking legal action against the club owners.

These events created a boardroom schism that gave the Glazers the chance to convince certain key members that the club should be sold to them. McManus and Magnier became spooked by the level of support Ferguson was attracting as “fan activism at Hereford [racecourse] and the threat to racing’s marquee event, Cheltenham.”

The club’s chief executive at the time David Gill was also on board and a relatively unknown Ed Woodward, “was among those trying to persuade the board in early 2005 to back the leveraged buyout plan”, in spite of huge board scepticism of the idea.

Nonetheless, “On May 12, 2005, the Irish sold their stake of 28.89 per cent to the Glazers for a profit of around £100 million. The Glazers controlled 76.2 per cent of the company and delisted the following month.”

On their first day at the club, the new owners had to leave clandestinely in the back of a police van, such was the fury and vitriol of the fans.

How the Glazers went about their dealings

The Americans quickly went about their business and started to erode the culture of the club that had been built up over decades.

One source told The Telegraph that many were taken aback by their “arrogant” treatment of the club’s shirt sponsors Vodafone at the time and that they were keen to play the field to get a bigger deal.

More than 200 companies were approached with the Glazers never wanting just “one option, they wanted multiple options who would be played off against one another.”

“United had interest from insurers AIG; the Malaysian Air Asia airline; online gambling house Mansion Bet; and LG Electronics, the Korean electronics manufacturer”, all of whom felt at one point they were in the lead.

“Indeed, Mansion, in April of the next year, was so indignant about its treatment it went public with what it alleged was ‘double dealing’ by United.”

What’s more, a Stretford End season ticket holder Andy Green, who also just happens to be the head of investments at Rockpool investments did some digging into who the Glazers actually were in 2010, five years after their takeover.

What he discovered was “truly extraordinary” and would paint a sad picture of what would eventually happen at United.

The Glazers knew a little about NFL and nothing of football but what they did know was “shopping malls and office blocks in anonymous American suburbs.”

“Green discovered that 63 of the 64 properties had CMBS mortgages on them. They had been leveraged to such a degree that after rental income the portfolio returned less than $10 million in profit before tax.” Many had also gone bust. Effectively the Glazers had bet big on the property market that had spectacularly collapsed by 2010 after the global recession of 2008.

As Green put it, “they are a rich family – but a rich family who live by maxing out the credit card.”

United now, after 20 years, know exactly what the Glazers are about with hundreds of millions of debt and dividends siphoned off from the club instead of being reinvested back where it came from.

Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social



Source link

Tags: biggestcapturedClubGlazersManNewsstorytransferTroubledUnitedworlds
Share30Tweet19

Recommended For You

Lamine Yamal named the best: La Liga awards young Barcelona star with prestigious honor

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 5, 2025
0
Lamine Yamal named the best: La Liga awards young Barcelona star with prestigious honor

Just days after Hansi Flick was named La Liga’s Coach of the Season, Barcelona is celebrating once again. This Thursday, Lamine Yamal was honored as the Best U-23...

Read more

“In advanced talks” – Fabrizio Romano reveals a deal Andrea Berta is close to sealing for Arsenal

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 5, 2025
0
“In advanced talks” – Fabrizio Romano reveals a deal Andrea Berta is close to sealing for Arsenal

Arsenal are reportedly in advanced talks to bring in Matteo Tognozzi to work under sporting director Andrea Berta.Fabrizio Romano claims talks are at an advanced stage for the...

Read more

Transfer latest, Grealish future and England squads – The Game Football Podcast

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 5, 2025
0
Transfer latest, Grealish future and England squads – The Game Football Podcast

Will England be the best prepared team at next year’s World Cup? Will it matter?As they head into a friendly with Andorra how many true tests of his...

Read more

NBA insiders say several Knicks players are ‘unhappy’ with the presence of assistant coach Rick Brunson

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 5, 2025
0
NBA insiders say several Knicks players are ‘unhappy’ with the presence of assistant coach Rick Brunson

A 51-31 record in the 2024-25 regular season was the Knicks’ best record in the last 12 years. New York finished as the #3 seed in the 2025...

Read more

Albanese reveals Juventus plot to snatch Donnarumma from PSG

by TODAY IN SPORTS
June 5, 2025
0
Albanese reveals Juventus plot to snatch Donnarumma from PSG

Juventus are reportedly devising a plan to lure Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to Turin.Although he’s only 26, the Italian has been playing his football at the highest...

Read more
Next Post
Colts GM’s comments add fuel to team’s QB controversy

Colts GM's comments add fuel to team's QB controversy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

The Opener: Seoul Sequence, Snell, MLBTR Chat

The Opener: Seoul Sequence, Snell, MLBTR Chat

March 19, 2024
Alex Pereira reveals new eight-fight contract got here together with UFC 300 primary occasion vs. Jamahal Hill

Alex Pereira reveals new eight-fight contract got here together with UFC 300 primary occasion vs. Jamahal Hill

February 22, 2024
The greatest Seattle Seahawks draft picks by decade: The 1970s

The greatest Seattle Seahawks draft picks by decade: The 1970s

March 29, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
Today in Sports

Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net. Soccer News, Basketball News, Baseball News, Golf News, Boxing News and More!

CATEGORIES

  • Athletics
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Boxing
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • MMA
  • NBA
  • NFL
  • Racing
  • Rugby
  • Soccer
  • Tennis

Recent News

  • LOOK: Tyrese Haliburton at Finals Media Day and other pictures of the day in the NBA
  • No Earps, no Bright and no Kirby: England’s troubled preparations made clear by Sarina Wiegman’s Euro 2025 squad
  • Pep Guardiola hails ‘incredible’ Juventus: “The most important club in Italy”
  • Contact us
  • Cookie Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • DMCA
  • Get the Latest Sports News and Updates on TodayInSports.net.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Featured News
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • More
    • Rugby
    • Golf
    • Boxing
    • Soccer
    • NBA
    • Racing
    • Cricket

Copyright © 2024 Today in Sports.
Today in Sports is not responsible for the content of external sites.