Is Man United FC losing supporters?

Post by **Tel** » 10 Jun 2005, 07:10

I was thinking that if I was a MU fan I would be very tempted to stop supporting them since Glazier took over. He wants to get rid of one of their favourites in Rio Ferdinand and now he wants to raise ticket prices and put a limit on transfers.

I would be very peeved if I were a supporter.

lancelot · Post by **lancelot** » 10 Jun 2005, 08:23

Envi, I think that some 'fans' may well leave but the supporters will remain. Football in the UK is not a game, it is a lifestyle. I know guys who have supported teams throughout their whole lives, regardless of whether the team was once in the Premier and now plays third division, the loyalty stays the same. We saw this with Chelsea, they gained supporters even after all the doomsayers declared that English supporters of Chelsea would rebel against an overseas take over, this never happened.
The Glazer family want to make bucks, that is the only driving force behind any American company, they cannot even spell social or moral and loyalty is an unknown word.
They, the new owners, will get rid of all the older members of the board, Ferguson will be fired before the end of the next season if not before. Players will be put on the selling list and fans will be ignored. This is how the USA corporate world works.

Manchester United shareholders had initially been hesitant about selling to Glazer because his plans relied heavily on borrowed money.
From a recent interview:
And Cronan said there are already fears in Tampa Bay that the 76-year-old may have to sell the Buccaneers to raise extra funds for his planned takeover at Old Trafford.
"The speculation here is that he can own one or the other but not both," said Cronan.
"If he is absolutely serious about buying Manchester United it appears he is going to have to sell the Buccaneers.
"But Glazer's sons have pledged not to sell the team."

I put it to you that the last line is a blatant lie! Of course they will sell Tampa Bay!

This is his history at Tampa.
GLAZER AND TAMPA BAY
Bought Buccaneers for $192m in 1995
Brought in new coaching team
Ditched old mascot/changed team colour from orange to red and black
New $200m stadium in 1998
Won Super Bowl in 2003
Bucs now worth four times as much as in 1995

One driven force only, money, in this case it worked, for all my dislike of the US Corporates, they do have some financial wizards, but also some of the most devious and immoral criminals in the world. I think of ENRON. So why does Glazer want 75% plus !? Easy, he can then delist and transfer the full debt to the club! Figures vary from 500 to 700M British Pounds.

But I digress, the question is not whether the supporters will stay with MU, but will MU stay with the supporters!

Post by **Tel** » 10 Jun 2005, 09:20

Too true. It already looks like Glazier will get rid of the older ppl within MU...

Sojourn · Post by **Sojourn** » 10 Jun 2005, 10:22

Seeing the subject line of this thread and speaking for myself and the few ManU people in my circle... one word...

never

edit

Didnt have time to give a decent reply earlier. Here goes.

If you have a look at Chelsea's sucesses after welcoming (with open arms) the russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovitch (sp?) during 2003 (they topped the premirship for the first time in 40 odd years, if not more), and you have a look at Roman's passion for the game - then, compare all that to Glazer's greatest money making get-rich-quick-gamble, then I dont think it bodes well for the club over all.

In my opinion you need a person on the decision-making chair with a passion for the game to obtain results (read: trophies not pounds) like Chelsea did- only then the financial rewards he's after will follow. I can only pray that Glazer will take a page out of Roman's book and do things in the intrest of the game, an idle prayer as all indications (and his history) points towards radical restructure. I dont think he will (as with Tampa bay) change the teams colors or badges etc etc as those are trademarked. Why tamper with internationally recognised merchandise ?

As already indicated, I wont forsaken the club I've been supporting for the last 15 odd years, just because an American ursurper's at the wheel. I might even be inclined towards supporting him personally if the trophies dont dry up.

S

brabham wrote:To answer your question lancelot I doubt Man Utd will stay with the supporters. To an extent, as has been suggested; many supporters will not stay with Man Utd. The reasons therefore are, however, not so straight forward. ...\shortened

Good post brabham... (and Lance)

S

Post by **Tel** » 10 Jun 2005, 10:49

Imagine if Glazier changed the MU colours. 8O

Post by **ryanrich** » 10 Jun 2005, 10:56

Nike said in a conferrence that if Man U didn't pull up their socks they would be cancelling their sponsorship worth roughly 300 million pounds...

rand0mh3ro · Post by **rand0mh3ro** » 10 Jun 2005, 11:07

I would never stop supporting Man Utd. They'll get through this tough time. The true supporters will always stand by their team.

brabham · Post by **brabham** » 10 Jun 2005, 13:04

To answer your question lancelot I doubt Man Utd will stay with the supporters. To an extent, as has been suggested; many supporters will not stay with Man Utd. The reasons therefore are, however, not so straight forward.

Allow me to explain:

Many supporters are disillusioned with the whole takeover and how it was completed. These supporters are wholeheartedly against the Glazer campaign. They have pledged not to support the takeover by boycotting both matches and merchandise as sold by the club. It doesn't stop there though as some are even pledging to boycott club sponsors such as Nike, Audi and many others until such time as they either stop sponsoring Man. United or get dropped as sponsors. Even the club's own TV station MUtv is being boycotted.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a club like Manchester United has many fans and for every supporter that takes his/her money out of the club there will be many fans that will be more than willing to dish out extra. For every supporter who doesn't renew his season ticket there are 10 waiting to take his place. Whether this boycotting campaign will succeed is at this point a matter of opinion. Only time will tell.

Something else that is happening behind the scenes for most ABU fans is the formation of a new team called, tentatively at this time, FC United. A vote is currently underway amongst registered supporters to decide on a name for permanent use. The purpose of this club is not to take supporters away from MUFC, but instead to build up a cash fund with which the organizers hope to be able to buy Manchester United back from the banks when Malcolm Glazer's plans eventually fail and he together with the club is forced into administration. All supporters are being urged to pledge money to the cause and are even given founder member status of the new club 'FC United' for their efforts. The club will play as a non-league outfit in England and supporters are welcome to come watch all games. All profits from merchandise and match tickets are being stored in the buy back United fund.

Supporters groups such as IMUSA and Shareholders United are the ones behind the scenes taking care of the planning and co-ordinating of these activities.

In conclusion one might say that though the support will not be visible (at least not in the usual sense) it will still be there just in a very different way. Supporters still want the best for Manchester United and are merely showing their discontent with the current management at board level within the club. Every success the club achieves between now and the day Glazer is booted will be met with stifled cheering.

This kind of protest action will only serve to enhance the history of Manchester United football club just as the historic Munich disaster did and it is after all that history that has attracted so many as supporters of this great club.

Post by **Tel** » 10 Jun 2005, 13:16

Spoken from a true MU supporter.

So are you still supporting MU brabham?

brabham · Post by **brabham** » 10 Jun 2005, 13:24

I'll give you one guess.

lancelot · Post by **lancelot** » 10 Jun 2005, 13:39

An interesting and informative answer. My hope is for MU to go from strength to strength, the club is too good to be subjected to in fighting .

Sojourn · Post by **Sojourn** » 10 Jun 2005, 13:55

edited my initial post - S

lancelot wrote:An interesting and informative answer. My hope is for MU to go from strength to strength, the club is too good to be subjected to in fighting .

@ lance - Agreed !!

Post by **Tel** » 10 Jun 2005, 14:13

lancelot wrote:An interesting and informative answer. My hope is for MU to go from strength to strength, the club is too good to be subjected to in fighting .

I would have to agree with that too...