United fans call for board resignations

Irate Manchester United fans tonight stepped up their protest against Malcolm Glazer’s takeover.

More than 500 supporters packed into the tiny hall to vent their anger at Glazer’s takeover and call for the resignation of Red Devils chief executive David Gill and chairman Sir Roy Gardner.

Aside from the clamour for Gill and Gardner to go, amid claims their position is untenable given their previous opposition to Glazer’s involvement, it was agreed to step up the calls for a boycott of all club merchandise and sponsors products and the cancellation of MUTV subscriptions.

Various means of challenging Glazer’s buy-out were also outlined, with a major rally now planned for the Apollo Theatre in Manchester on Monday, 30.

However, it was decided to limit protests surrounding Saturday’s FA Cup final to a renewed call for supporters attending the game to wear black, ironically the colour kit Ferguson’s men are due to wear.

The meeting occured just hours after Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had broken his silence on the issue.

Ferguson refused to answer any questions on the Glazer issue at his pre-cup final press conference yesterday, but chose the League Managers’ Association website to claim Saturday’s clash with Arsenal would ‘give them an idea of what Manchester United is about’.

Ferguson had claimed Glazer would be watching on TV as United look to win their first trophy since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner seized control last week.

After initial scare stories that Ferguson may quit in the summer, it is now looking increasingly likely the Scot will stay in charge.

However, according to former United director Greg Dyke, the club’s illustrious manager may be responsible for their present predicament.

Dyke is convinced Irish racing magnates John Magnier and JP McManus bought a 29% stake in the club ‘to teach Alex Ferguson a lesson’ – and in doing so made it vulnerable to a takeover.

He also believes the Glazer family will find it very difficult to fund the £540m (€784.27m) debt they have taken on and they will have relinquished control at Old Trafford inside five years.

Dyke told BBC Radio Five Live: “You go back to the whole affair of Alex Ferguson and Rock of Gibraltar - without that the Irish wouldn’t have bought their block of shares.

“My guess is it wasn’t a business investment at all, it was them teaching Alex Ferguson a lesson not to take them on, which they did pretty successfully.

“There was always going to be trouble when two shareholders had 29% each because with one phone call you have effectively bought the club.”

That proved to be the case when the Irish pair stunned the United support by selling their stake to Glazer seven days ago.

Dyke, who was on the board when the 1998 takeover attempt by BSkyB was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, fears the club’s cashflow will not be enough to service the debts taken on by Glazer.

“It could be that he has a trick that we don’t know about but you can’t conceivably see how he can fund that debt,” Dyke added.

“He’s clearly bought this on borrowed money, some borrowed at quite high rates, which require an enormous debt repayment and I don’t think the cashflow of Manchester United can sustain that.

“One year or two years out of the Champions League and the cashflow dries up. In five years’ time I doubt whether the Glazer family will own Manchester United.”

Dyke believes the American tycoon’s ambitions to sell United’s TV rights separately are a non-starter, and the Sky bid now looks attractive compared to the Glazer takeover.

He added: “We knew when I was on the board if you could sell your own rights you would get a lot more money but I can’t see that happening, though they may think they can get away with that.

“As for the Sky bid, if the alternative had been a takeover by a bunch of Americans who know nothing about football, who would borrow vast sums of money on the back of Manchester United, I’d rather have BSkyB.”