Anti-Glazer sentiment among the Manchester United supporter base has been present ever since the Florida-based family of real estate moguls bought the club back in 2005. The backlash has grown especially strong in recent years, and another new boiling point has been reached as the club’s sale process has continued to drag on at a snail’s pace.
And thus a demonstration is planned outside Old Trafford, tomorrow night, at the stadium Megastore.
Overwhelming majority of United fans want to see a conclusion to this protracted sale process with the majority supporting a full sale – at least based on our soundings.
Protest planned on Tuesday to make that message clear https://t.co/s7JZVL6pUH
— M.U.S.T (@MU_ST) June 25, 2023
The protest will coincide with the club’s branding event- a public launch of the new Adidas home kit for the upcoming season.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust posted the following message on social media:
“The overwhelming majority of United fans want to see a conclusion to this protracted sale process with the majority supporting a full sale, at least based on our soundings. Protest planned on Tuesday to make that message clear.”
The focus will be on the needlessly protracted sale process, and how the lack of resolution there is impairing the club in the summer transfer window. Talk of a potential sale began last August, with the Glazers announcing in November that they are exploring options in regards to outside investment or even a full sale. The Glazer family has said absolutely nothing, publicly, since then.
We’re in the eighth month of this process, and we still don’t know when a conclusion will be reached.
A consortium led by Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim has offered a full buyout/takeover. British billionaire and INEOS founder Jim Ratcliffe has offered to buy the club in a majority share takeover, allowing the Glazers to stay on in a minority capacity.
You also have a host of hedge funds, investment banks and other mega-rich Wall St. types looking to buy in, but at a smaller level.
Given all the Anti-Glazer sentiment out there, I’m sure you can guess which potential solution is more popular among supporters.
There was a ton of Anti-Glazer backlash to begin with, but the glacial pace of the sale process, which has left Ratcliffe and Jassim waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting), has taken the collective anger up to heights never before seen.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.