Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United set to continue for “at least five years”
The Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United is set to continue for at least another five years, it has been reported.
The news will disappoint disgruntled United fans staging an anti-Glazer protest ahead of a home fixture against QPR next Saturday afternoon.
Large sections of the United fanbase have long been opposed to the ownership of the Glazer family, who leveraged the club with a £500m debt (since reduced to £295m) when they took over in 2005.
Anti-Glazer sentiment came to the boil once again after United lost a home league opener for the first time in 44 years on Saturday – 2-1 defeat to Swansea that for many has exposed a weak squad suffering from under-investment.
Stats from Topsy reveal that the hashtag #GlazersOut has been tweeted over 100,000 times since Saturday, while #LUHG (an acronym for “Love United, Hate Glazer”) has been tweeted 13,741 times in the same period.
But the American owners, five brothers and one sister who took over following their father Malcolm’s death in May, have no plans to sell Manchester United, according to The Guardian, which reports the family is “intent on continuing” as proprietors of the club.
Last month the Glazers sold five per cent of the club (8m shares), generating around £88m in the process. Yet the Glazers have no intention to sell as they are satisfied with the direction of the club.
An investors’ presentation issued earlier this week made much of the club’s recent commercial growth – including a record kit sponsorship deal with Adidas – and low net spend in the transfer market. But crucially for disaffected fans, there was no mention of plans regarding trophies or future signings.
A slide from Manchester United’s investor presentation.
A lucrative kit deal with Adidas that will come into place from 2015-16 onwards is worth up to £75.5m per season to the footballing giants, while a sponsorship deal with Chevrolet is worth around £47m per season. Both are the biggest sponsorship deals of their kind in football.
The club currently has 35 global sponsors, including an official noodle partner (Nissin Foods Group) and an official tyre partner (Apollo Tyres).
Since the defeat to Swansea, the club have signed Argentinian left-back Marcos Rojo for £16m from Sporting Lisbon, but the transfer is unlikely to appease the opposition to the Glazers’ ownership or markedly improve the team’s title prospects.
