Just over 12 months ago Manchester United, the Manchester United, lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. Had it not been for a ludicrous VAR decision, it would have been 4-0.
Through the dark winter Manchester afternoon, flecks of green and gold could be seen among the 70,000 home fans who – as they always do – filled Old Trafford. The colours of founders Newton Heath, worn in protest at the most unpopular owners in football.
Throughout yet another reminder of how far one of the giants had fallen (they had already lost at home to Brighton and Crystal Palace) chants against the despised Americans were frequent.
From the frank: ‘We want Glazers out’ to the more graphic ‘Build a bonfire’, animosity towards the stay-away family, who bought the club in the first deal of the century in 2005, loaded it with debt and used it as a personal ATM for close to two decades before milking it again in the second deal of the century earlier this year, was loud and clear.
After the game Gary Neville spoke for many of them. ‘It’s down to the Glazers,’ he said, outlining their continued ‘ultimate failure’.
Earlier last year there had been protest marches, a constant theme throughout the cash draining, dividend swiping era of misery.
In a loss to Bournemouth last year chants against the despised Glazers were frequent
Had it not been for a ludicrous VAR decision, it would have been a 4-0 defeat at Old Trafford
Green and gold are often worn in protest at the most unpopular owners in football
In 2021, United’s home match with Liverpool was called off when 200 fans broke into the ground in the wake of the collapsed European Super League plans which were, unsurprisingly, initially backed by the Glazers.
Outside, thousands had let off green and gold flares. Rarely, since 2005, had a match passed without supporters making their feelings known.
And then, at the turn of this year, all that changed. In February, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS officially announced as co-owners, paying £1.25bn for a 27.7 per cent share of a club the Glazers had stolen in its entirety for £790m.
Ratcliffe, a lifelong supporter from nearby Failsworth and Britain’s richest man, would be handed control of football operations. As things transpired, he got the keys to pretty much everything else.
It has been a bumpy ride. There was an unlikely FA Cup Final win over City but there has been more pain than pleasure. Ratcliffe, who did not rise from council house to industry leader for no reason, was appalled by the club’s books. Despite record revenues, United were not making anywhere near what they should.
A vast and often savage range of cost-cutting measures followed. Around 250 staff were made redundant, the Christmas Party was cancelled and the disabled supporters’ club was told to expect its £40,000 budget to be cut in half.
Erik ten Hag was backed then sacked, while lauded new sporting director Dan Ashworth spent longer on gardening leave than he did in his role and then ticket prices were hiked.
Now, all of a sudden, the focus is on Ratcliffe and INEOS. At United’s last home loss, a chastening 3-2 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest there were boos but anti-Glazer sentiment was barely audible.
After the game Gary Neville spoke for many of them. ‘It’s down to the Glazers,’ he said
In 2021, United’s home match with Liverpool was called off when 200 fans broke into the ground in the wake of the collapsed European Super League plans
On talkSPORT, callers are asking if Ratcliffe knows what he is doing and are not questioning the still-majority, newly-silent owners. Across the Atlantic they may barely be able to wipe the smiles off their faces.
Yes, INEOS have made early mistakes, but this is an inherited problem, and those responsible for bringing this great club to its knees no longer appear to be being held responsible.
The signs were there from day one. Having completed a deal that saw them load £525m of debt on their purchase the Glazers were heading north, from London to Manchester, to finally embark on a tour of Old Trafford.
But, in a move that seems highly symbolic close to two decades later, sources have disclosed that they first took a detour.
Before observing the vast cathedral to which they now had the keys, a landmark of the game recognisable to hundreds of millions across the globe, they chose to instead to divert to the head office of a mobile phone company on an industrial estate in Berkshire.
At the time, Vodafone were Manchester United’s shirt sponsor, and the Americans – who would go on to face accusations that commercial growth trumped all else (including football) – wanted to say hello. Start as you mean to go on.
Once they got to Manchester, they met execs and had dinner in the Platinum Suite, but word of their arrival had spread and angry crowds quickly gathered outside. They left in the back of a police van, pelted with bricks.
Ahead of a first interview with MUTV, it was made clear that there was little they could say that would win the fans over. That the indefensible could not be defended.
In February, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS officially announced as co-owners, paying £1.25bn for a 27.7 per cent share
There was an unlikely FA Cup Final win over City but there has been more pain than pleasure
According to insiders, who asked not to be named, in the early years the approach was laissez-faire. ‘Everyone thought they were going to flip it and only be there for a couple of years,’ said one. ‘No such luck.’
A disgruntled group of fans who vowed never to set foot in Old Trafford until the Glazers were gone set up rebel club FC United. It remains in existence, and is still attracting crowds of close to 2,000.
Chief executive David Gill was tasked with being a point of contact with Joel Glazer, the most heavily-involved family member. While Joel had the final say on transfers, the Gill-Sir Alex Ferguson axis was left to get on with it, and on-the-field success continued.
In 2013, Gill departed, and everything changed. Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward stepped into the chief exec role.
The commercial side took over. Ahead of the club being listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, Woodward had told potential share buyers in the US to not ‘think of this as a sports offering…this is a digital media play’.
It had been hoped the money raised was to go on paying off the debt, that remained on the balance sheet and that was subject to eye-watering interest payments. It was not.
The Glazers became more involved. Invoices over certain amounts had to be signed off by Joel Glazer. ‘If we needed a cleaner in the North Stand Joel had to give it the green light,’ one ex-staffer recalls.
The asset needed to be sweated. Big resource was poured into the commercial department and the deals poured in relentlessly, like Manchester rain. Nothing was off limits. Official mattress and pillow provider, percussion therapy, electronic styling partners and so on.
It has been a bumpy ride. Erik ten Hag was backed then sacked this season
Lauded new sporting director Dan Ashworth spent longer on gardening leave than he did in his role
As a result, turnover grew quickly, and United are seen within football as pioneers on this front. But margins were diminishing thanks in no small part to a ballooning number of staff.
Ferguson had consistently told his players to remember, before they stepped out onto the pitch, that they were representing not just the fans, but the 600 members of staff who worked there.
That figure came close to doubling before Ratcliffe arrived. ‘I went in there not long before INEOS came in,’ said one ex-player. ‘The staff were packed in like sardines. The offices at Old Trafford weren’t big enough for them.’
In 2014, the same year that patriarch Malcolm died, the Glazers trousered £129m from selling 12m more shares. Banking and advisory fees around the sale came from the club’s coffers. Outrageously, none of the money that was made followed suit.
Twelve months later it emerged that, not content with the way things had gone, the six children were to pocket £15m every year via a dividend system. No other Premier League club had such a system.
The dividend was contentious, and they knew it.
Mail Sport understands that the comms team was strongly urged to try and bury any sign of it by the Glazers. When figures were made public each quarter, they appeared close to the bottom.
United fans with a keen eye for numbers, such as head of investment Andy Green, and the likes of football finance guru Kieran Maguire, were the bane of those involved when they sifted through the figures and unearthed the payments.
At United’s last home loss, a chastening 3-2 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest there were boos
Chief executive David Gill was previously tasked with being a point of contact with Joel Glazer, the most heavily-involved family member
That milking went on. In 2017 more shares were sold. Again, the club picked up the tab for selling them while the Glazers got the cash. Following the agreement with Ratcliffe, the Glazers agreed to a three-year freeze on the dividends. Few would put it past them to quietly restart them further down the line.
Meantime, occasional face lifts were carried out at crumbling Old Trafford but the stadium, once one of the finest in the country, began to decay.
‘If they’d have spent £40m each year then it would still be one of the best grounds in the country,’ one insider said. ‘Instead it’s falling to bits and wasn’t even part of the Euros bid.’
On the field there was also decay. Following Ferguson’s departure in 2013 the Glazers appointed five managers, often lurching from one extreme to another. There has been no Premier League title in more than a decade.
Six years passed without silverware. Money has been spent on players but there has been no overarching strategy. The waste has been astonishing, recruitment abysmal.
They would never say so, because relations are cordial, but Ratcliffe and his team inherited nothing short of an expensive basket case with a great commercial department. At 72, this is a man in a hurry. He wants to see results in his own lifetime and not in someone else’s.
While the optics were dreadful, the brutal departure of Ashworth paints a clear picture around how things have changed. ‘With the Glazers they tended to procrastinate and sit on things,’ one source explained. ‘You can’t say things are not more dynamic now.’
Redundancies are always painful and there is a private acceptance that some could have been handled with more sensitivity. Cuts to the wider budgets, which include the cancelling of the Christmas Party and stripping of Wembley privileges for many staff, appear unnecessary.
In 2013, Gill departed, and everything changed. Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward stepped into the chief exec role
Occasional face lifts were carried out at crumbling Old Trafford but the stadium, once one of the finest in the country, began to decay
But INEOS would argue the opposite. That they are necessary because a club with United’s revenue should be making money, not losing it. Spending close to £1bn servicing a historic debt has not helped.
‘Jim is not here to make money and that is the major difference,’ said one source close to the negotiations. ‘It’s now football first. Everything is geared at being successful on the pitch. They haven’t been able to say that at Manchester United for a long time.’
It is a fair point. On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed final payment of the $300m Ratcliffe had pledged to invest following his deal. It has also been a long time since money went in from an owner, rather than out.
While some United fans were relieved that the Glazers opted for a local, rather than what was effectively a nation state, others were left feeling like they had once again put their own pockets before the club’s best interests.
As Mail Sport’s recent piece from Doha outlined, had they chosen Sheikh Jassim’s offer for all of the club, which had valued it at slightly less than Ratcliffe’s bid for a quarter stake, this may well have been a very different 12 months.
The Qataris had the cash lined up to build a new stadium. The debt was going to be lifted on day two. The Glazers would have been gone.
Instead, any new stadium appears to rely heavily on public funding for infrastructure, with a decision not likely on what to do until at least next summer. The debt remains, as do the Glazers.
And here is the kicker. One key change since Ratcliffe’s involvement is the quieting of the noise against them. But even better – if Ratcliffe and his flak-taking generals do turn this ship around and sail it into successful waters it will make the club more valuable – and the Glazers still own more than half of it.
