Dead hand of the immovable Glazers keeps strangling Manchester United

Leaky Old Trafford roof was almost a too perfect sign of neglect by owners who love the money but don’t seem to like the club.

Manchester United co-owner Avram Glazer in the stands during the Emirates FA Cup semi-final match at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday April 21, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Coventry. Photo credit should read: Nigel French/PA Wire.

In February, the NFL players’ union carried out its second annual survey of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and let’s just say it wasn’t pleasant reading. Tampa Bay players reported that the changing room was “not clean, constantly smelly and has a persistent bug issue”. The sauna was described as “dirty and/or mouldy”. This barely a decade after an MRSA outbreak infected three Buccaneers players, two of whom never competed again.

In addition, players complained about being forced to pay $90 for childcare on match days (most teams offer this for free), being charged $1,750 a season for the privilege of having their own hotel room on away trips and being made to sit at the back of the plane while club staff travelled first class. Most of the blame for this state of affairs was laid squarely at the team’s ownership, whom the survey ranked 29th out of the 32 NFL franchise owners, and who go by the name of the Glazer family.