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Club Come here to laugh at United
- Thread starter Bale Force
- Start date
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He's always got Emmerdale to fall back on.
I think he has enough money on his own.
No need to rob his wife.
Fake news surely
Tortoise take:
So what? Manchester United also has debts of £1 billion; 20 years ago it had virtually none. One of the most successful and historic names in sport, business and culture is facing irrelevance on the pitch and a financial crisis off it. Low points in the club’s nightmare season have included
My kingdom for a horse. In 2003, then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson fell out with two major shareholders, the Irish billionaires JP McManus and John Magnier. The row was not over a player but the breeding rights of a star racehorse called Rock of Gibraltar.
Sharing is daring. Worried about brewing tensions, the United board sought out a more benign shareholder to balance out the racing magnates. They alighted on the US businessman Malcolm Glazer. What the board didn’t foresee was the Glazer family becoming majority shareholders in 2005 – thanks in part to the stake of McManus and Magnier.
Cash machine. The Glazers took control of United through a leveraged buyout that allowed them to borrow against the club’s assets. The buyout immediately saddled the club with £660 million of debt, a pile that has grown to more than £1 billion when hundreds of millions owed for players who have failed to live up to their transfer fees are included.
Thank you Sir Alex. Ferguson retired as manager in 2013 having survived the wrath of the Irish billionaires and overseen the most trophy-laden period in the club’s history.
Life in cartoon motion. But the political journalist and lifelong United fan Michael Crick compares Ferguson’s last eight years with the Glazers to a cartoon “when somebody runs off the top of a cliff and it takes them several seconds to realise that they’re no longer on firm territory”. That somebody is Manchester United.
The drop. In Ferguson’s last twelve seasons, United won seven league titles. In the twelve years since, it has had ten different managers and won none. Taking account of dividends removed from the club, the net amount invested in it under the Glazers is just £45 million.
In step Sir Jim. Just over a year ago, the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 27.7 per cent stake in United and was put in charge of sporting operations while the Glazers kept voting power and control of the board. But Ratcliffe has a mixed history in sport, struggling with Ben Ainslie’s sailing team and the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.
Downward spiral. Although restructuring by the Glazers has made United’s debt more manageable, Ratcliffe’s task to put the club onto terra firma runs through its performance on the pitch, given a good season confers all manner of benefits.
But United is hindered in its attempts to improve the squad by football finance rules that limit club losses and prevent teams trying to spend their way out of trouble. United has lost more than £300 million in the past three years, including £14.5 million paid to get rid its the last manager, Erik ten Hag, along with his staff and the club’s sporting director.
Even if Ratcliffe’s claim that Manchester United would have gone bust by Christmas without his cuts is overblown, the club is struggling to generate cash on a day-to-day basis.
And fans know it. Angry at rising ticket prices, impatient with United’s poor performances, and exhausted at the ownership situation, fans have launched sustained protests that organisers say won’t end until the Glazers sell up. This includes a joint demonstration with FC United of Manchester, a breakaway club founded 20 years ago by United fans unhappy with the takeover.
What’s more… Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to win the Premier League again by 2028, not an unreasonable aim for a club of its stature. But after this weekend, the possibility has never looked more remote.
How to ruin a football club
With its 4-1 defeat to Newcastle last weekend, Manchester United notched up an unwelcome achievement. Whatever happens in the rest of the season, the club will finish with its lowest points total since the Premier League was formed in 1992.So what? Manchester United also has debts of £1 billion; 20 years ago it had virtually none. One of the most successful and historic names in sport, business and culture is facing irrelevance on the pitch and a financial crisis off it. Low points in the club’s nightmare season have included
- Ruben Amorim, United’s manager, calling his team “maybe the worst” in its 147-year history;
- a ‘transformation plan’ ending free staff lunches and making up to 200 people redundant; and
- the announcement of a £2 billion stadium that has been likened to a circus tent.
My kingdom for a horse. In 2003, then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson fell out with two major shareholders, the Irish billionaires JP McManus and John Magnier. The row was not over a player but the breeding rights of a star racehorse called Rock of Gibraltar.
Sharing is daring. Worried about brewing tensions, the United board sought out a more benign shareholder to balance out the racing magnates. They alighted on the US businessman Malcolm Glazer. What the board didn’t foresee was the Glazer family becoming majority shareholders in 2005 – thanks in part to the stake of McManus and Magnier.
Cash machine. The Glazers took control of United through a leveraged buyout that allowed them to borrow against the club’s assets. The buyout immediately saddled the club with £660 million of debt, a pile that has grown to more than £1 billion when hundreds of millions owed for players who have failed to live up to their transfer fees are included.
Thank you Sir Alex. Ferguson retired as manager in 2013 having survived the wrath of the Irish billionaires and overseen the most trophy-laden period in the club’s history.
Life in cartoon motion. But the political journalist and lifelong United fan Michael Crick compares Ferguson’s last eight years with the Glazers to a cartoon “when somebody runs off the top of a cliff and it takes them several seconds to realise that they’re no longer on firm territory”. That somebody is Manchester United.
The drop. In Ferguson’s last twelve seasons, United won seven league titles. In the twelve years since, it has had ten different managers and won none. Taking account of dividends removed from the club, the net amount invested in it under the Glazers is just £45 million.
In step Sir Jim. Just over a year ago, the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a 27.7 per cent stake in United and was put in charge of sporting operations while the Glazers kept voting power and control of the board. But Ratcliffe has a mixed history in sport, struggling with Ben Ainslie’s sailing team and the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.
Downward spiral. Although restructuring by the Glazers has made United’s debt more manageable, Ratcliffe’s task to put the club onto terra firma runs through its performance on the pitch, given a good season confers all manner of benefits.
But United is hindered in its attempts to improve the squad by football finance rules that limit club losses and prevent teams trying to spend their way out of trouble. United has lost more than £300 million in the past three years, including £14.5 million paid to get rid its the last manager, Erik ten Hag, along with his staff and the club’s sporting director.
Even if Ratcliffe’s claim that Manchester United would have gone bust by Christmas without his cuts is overblown, the club is struggling to generate cash on a day-to-day basis.
And fans know it. Angry at rising ticket prices, impatient with United’s poor performances, and exhausted at the ownership situation, fans have launched sustained protests that organisers say won’t end until the Glazers sell up. This includes a joint demonstration with FC United of Manchester, a breakaway club founded 20 years ago by United fans unhappy with the takeover.
What’s more… Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to win the Premier League again by 2028, not an unreasonable aim for a club of its stature. But after this weekend, the possibility has never looked more remote.