MANCHESTER, England — Not to suggest that some Manchester United fans are unhappy, but the message on a placard here would be difficult to misconstrue. It read, "Glazer, watch your back!"
Ever since American sports baron Malcolm Glazer announced Monday that he had secured enough shares to take control of the most fabled name in British football, known as soccer in the U.S., supporters have been in an uproar. And supporters is probably too mild a word for the devotion some feel for the Red Devils.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday May 21, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 48 words Type of Material: Correction
Manchester soccer team -- An article in Thursday's Section A about the reaction of fans in Manchester, Britain, to the takeover of their local football club by an American businessman said the team had won the "treble" of three championships in 1998. Manchester won the treble in 1999.
"He's going to ruin it, isn't he? It is all about money, all the riches in the world, everything. What can the fans do? He's got full control. No matter what they do, what he says goes," said Ian Diggle, 25, an elevator engineer in a hardhat working on a downtown street a few miles from Old Trafford, the fabled home of Manchester United.
The fans' angst should get a full airing tonight, at a meeting in the Central Methodist Hall. One item for discussion is whether supporters should just walk away from Glazer's Manchester United and launch a new club in the city, which some would like to call FC (Football Club) United.
"He needs the goodwill of the supporters, and he doesn't have that," said Sean Bones, vice chairman of Shareholders United, a 31,000-strong fans' group that has turned vehemently against Glazer's $1.5-billion acquisition of the club.
Bones charges that the massive loans the American tycoon took out to finance the deal will cost about $240,000 a day in interest, money that would have to be wrung out of the club in higher profits.
"Glazer won't be given a chance to win the support of the supporters," Bones said. "We will do every blocking we can to try to affect the revenue."
One of the chief complaints against Glazer, the 76-year-old billionaire owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is that he has not come to Manchester to face the skeptics. He apparently plans to hand over day-to-day management to his son Joel, who will be installed at the Old Trafford stadium headquarters. His statement that Joel is an "avid fan" met with derision on this side of the River Mersey.
Shareholders United's first order of business, it says, will be to demonstrate at Saturday night's contest in Cardiff, Wales, and then to encourage a boycott of the main corporate sponsors of Manchester United, including Nike and Vodafone.
Another even more extreme group, the Manchester Education Committee, has made veiled threats.
