Fans raise Glazer fears

Furious Manchester United supporters have warned of grave consequences for the game if they fail in their bid to boot Malcolm Glazer out of Old Trafford.

Fans turned out in force at a public meeting in Ardwick yesterday organised by the ‘Not For Sale’ coalition of independent fans’ groups and fanzines.

They vowed to channel their opposition to Glazer’s controlling stake in the club against United’s chief corporate sponsors – and urged fans to dump their Nike gear in special ‘amnesty’ bins outside the venue.

United fans believe it is not only their club which is at risk from the kind of takeover instigated by Glazer, which has plunged the club into massive debt.

Labour MP Tony Lloyd, a lifelong United fan who was one of the founder members of the Independent Manchester United Supporters’ Association (IMUSA), said: “Mr Glazer is not just going to change one club or change the game in Britain.

“Potentially he is going to change the way football operates around the world. It is going to have a huge impact not just on Manchester United supporters but on virtually every supporter at every level.

“This is about much more than Manchester United, it is about the whole of football.

“We have got to make sure those who really built the game of football and their clubs – those who dream and invest in football – have their rights heard. And we have got to make sure we use this (meeting) as a stepping stone.”

Lloyd has already tabled a motion in parliament calling for football clubs to be made exempt from certain laws relating to corporate governance.

Lloyd believes that clubs must belong to supporters and receive protection from predatory interests seeking to take control purely for profit-making purposes.

Lloyd added: “I am devastated by the idea that someone can come along and say, now it is all mine … and your interest is just snuffed out like that.

“A football club is not about market mechanisms. It is about dreams and memories like [the air disaster in] Munich 1958 and the European Cup in 1968. It is about the things we will dream of in years to come, and that is why it belongs to the supporters.

“I called upon the Football Association to take some action with regard to Malcolm Glazer and the FA told me they had no power to do so … we have got to appeal to the authorities for a change in the law.”

Some supporters have refused to renew their season tickets and intend to turn their attention to a new non-league outfit called FC United.

The new club, which will be owned by a supporters’ trust, will be set up with the intention of providing a focal point for disenfranchised United fans’ groups during the ensuing battle against Glazer.

Andy Walsh, chairman of IMUSA, warned Glazer: “You won’t get a penny off anyone in this room and we will make sure you don’t get a penny off any football fan. We mean business and we will win.”