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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1008/1008808_glazer_protesters_were_right.html

Glazer protesters 'were right'
Stuart Brennan - Comment
11/ 6/2007


I'LL bet those United fans who protested about the Glazer takeover feel really stupid now.

How many times have you heard that said over the past fortnight?

Actually, those United fans who protested long and hard about the occupation of their club feel more justified than ever that they were right to stand up to what amounts to an insidious threat not just to Manchester United, but to English football, and even European football, in particular.

The fact that United have just won the Premiership in thrilling style, have splashed out on three players who could boost them from top English team to a European super-power once more, and continue to play in front of packed houses, is irrelevant.

The argument was never about that.

If you truly think that the Glazer takeover was a good thing, try asking the people who can no longer afford to go and watch their beloved team, on top of 12 per cent price increases in 2006, 14 per cent price increases in 2007, and the introduction of the compulsory automatic cup ticket scheme.

And then consider where this is leading. Talk to people in the Glazer camp and one thing becomes crystal clear - the economic cleansing of Old Trafford is not yet over.

There will be more price increases, more ways of screwing every last penny out of the support, until there is a threat of empty seats. Then the Glazer family will either ease off or cut and run.

United's response is that ticket prices still represent good value for money, and that there is a 14,000-strong waiting list for season tickets.

That last point is a sickening reminder of where United fans now stand. If you don't like it, clear off because we will find someone else to take your place.

United are no longer interested in their traditional fan base. Your average Joe from Stretford turns up at five to three, cheers on the team and then goes home for his tea and a couple of pints in his local boozer. All you get out of that particular economic unit is the price of his ticket.

But if you can get rid of him, and replace him with an economic unit called Henry from Surrey, the club also gets money from his Megastore shopping spree, dining at Red Cafe, museum visit, hotel stay and so on.

Shackles

It makes perfect business sense in the short term, get rid of the old fans, bring in McFans.

And if, or when, the football boom starts to grind to a halt as the yuppies find a new craze, it is the traditional support to whom United will turn, to find that they have discovered the joys of FC United, bird- watching, or DIY on a Saturday afternoon.

When the battle raged over the rights and wrongs of the takeover two years ago, the pro-Glazer lobby said that the family would bring a wealth of business nous, a pedigree of sporting success with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and would free the club from the shackles of reporting its every move to the Stock Exchange.

Those people are now smugly pronouncing themselves right, but that was never the issue.

The title success this season was achieved despite the Glazers, not because of them. It was entirely down to the genius of Sir Alex Ferguson and the enduring quality of the likes of Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

And the money that has been splashed on Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves is not the Glazers' money. They have not put a penny into Manchester United - the money the club has been spending has been from its support, is a result of last year's windfalls from the sales of Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jon Obi Mikel, and from the unexpected bonanza from the sale of overseas TV rights.

What the Glazers have done is take £44m OUT of the club, to pay some of the interest on the debts they incurred to buy United. That money could have been used to peg back prices.

It is curious that at a time which should have been one of great exhilaration for United fans, and then bringing in interesting new players, the internet was full of cries of anguish.

I wrote an article two years ago which claimed that the Glazer era might just coincide with a new era of trophy success, but that many of the club's traditional support would be left with their noses pressed against the window, watching the party going on in what used to be their house.

This is not a `told-you-so' but a warning - the situation will continue to get worse.