Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Manchester United - sport or business or both?

The sports news and business news have both been dominated for the last few weeks with stories about my beloved Manchester United.

American tycoon Malcolm Glazer has bought the majority share holding in Manchester United and is now apparently the owner of my club.

I am not familiar with the complex financial intricacies of all this but one thing is very clear. Thousands of Man United fans are very worried about this take over and yesterday Eric Cantona - one of the icons of Manchester United - came out in support of the fans protests about Glazer's take over.
Eric said it was a sad day for the club.

It seems to me there is nothing but animosity towards Mr Glazer

The heritage of Manchester United football club is wonderful and most fans have a real affinity to the club. There are real concerns about the future of the club as a result of this take over. I even heard there are worries that the historic and majestic stadium Old Trafford, with all it's wonderful history might be re-named the Nike Stadium or something similar.

I advocate change on my blog all the time and breaking free of the comfort blanket is a regular statement to come out of my mouth, but there is just something about this take over that bugs me.

I have yet to read any reports or see any interviews on the TV or radio where someone supports this move - everyone seems to be against it!!

Am I missing something important? ... Or ..... Are we Man United fans just too settled in our comfort blanket?

Maybe some of my friends from America can throw some light on this guy Glazer and let me know if you think we Manchester United fans are right to be feeling nervous about his intentions.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think the whole thing is unfortunate. The big attraction, for me anyway, with Man U. is the history and tradition. My experience tells me that when it becomes more of a business than tradition, then things change quickly. Mr. glazer has won one super bowl in American football. His team has been less than average since with allot of turmoil and player defections. It became too much about money and business and not about the game. I hope this does not happen with Man U. I personally was shocked to see that it was happening. The UK does not need the NFL business mentality in the EPL. The EPL seems to be about passion and tradition, the NFL is about money and business and gluttony. I think it is sad if it goes in that direction. My fascination with soccer is for the purity of the game and the fans. Let's see what happens.

Trevor Gay said...

Thanks Rocky for that insight from America - it is good to hear your perspective about Mr Glazer.

The thing that is most at risk for Man United is the wonderful unique historic and affectionate brand that the club has built over its long and distiguished history.

I think you are correct - let us wait and see what happens.

Warm regards - hope you are well my friend

Trevor

Anonymous said...

Manchester United is not the only case in England. Chelsea, the current Premier champion is property of a Russian milloinaire. I think this is not a common thing in the other big football teams in Europe, at least in Italy and Spain. I think Barcelona or Real Madrid supporters would eat the owner if they saw a big loss of identity. Football is mainly about identity and that´s important to be kept.

My team Athletic Bilbao is not a business company, one of the few cases in European football. We keep the spirit of the "club".

business IT Manchester said...

yeap what happen let see!