United fans grab hope in battle against Glazer

Influential Manchester United fans group Shareholders United believe they have found a "silver bullet" which could kill off Malcolm Glazer’s hopes of taking over the Old Trafford outfit.

Glazer is currently in discussion with his financial advisors JP Morgan over whether he can raise sufficient funds to table an £800m (€1,159m) bid for United.

The American businessman, owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL franchise, was widely believed to be behind the "preliminary approach" to the club confirmed to the Stock Exchange by Red Devils chief executive David Gill last Monday and which has sent large sections of the United support into a near frenzy.

Already, long-serving Old Trafford director Maurice Watkins has had his car vandalised in retaliation for a million share he sold ending up in Glazer’s hands, while last Thursday’s reserve team encounter with Birmingham was disrupted by a pitch invasion conducted by the "Manchester Education Committee".

A meeting of the Independent Manchester United Supporters’ Association will be held in Stretford tonight to formulate a battle plan for the weeks ahead, while SU members plan to demonstrate outside the Stock Exchange tomorrow afternoon.

By that time, they hope JP Morgan are digesting the latest twist to the saga.

Leading City institutions sympathetic to SU’s position have informed the organisation that Glazer may face insurmountable problems in raising the finance required to complete a purchase unless he can buy the club outright.

And that scenario is an impossibility as long as SU can retain a 5% stake in the club.

“Under the Companies Act, a plc cannot give financial assistance in the acquisition of its shares, while private companies can, if they go through certain procedures,” read an SU statement.