THE new owners of Manchester United last night set foot inside Old Trafford for the first time amid angry demonstrations by supporters objecting to their £800 million takeover of the club. There was heightened security around the stadium, including 8ft steel barricades at the directors’ entrance, as Joel, Avi and Bryan Glazer had a guided tour of their new property, including a walk around the pitch. There was no sign of their father, Malcolm.
Joel, the son leading the takeover, also gave an interview to MUTV, the club station, which is to be broadcast at 6pm tomorrow and will give fans the first direct insight into the Glazers’ plans for the asset that they acquired last month. He is due to address staff today.
Their arrival at Old Trafford was keenly awaited by hostile supporters after it emerged that the brothers were in London on a clandestine business trip. After a four-hour visit, they left under heavy police protection with the chants of angry fans ringing in their ears.
The brothers had earlier given an “unequivocal commitment” to the collective selling of television rights by the FA Premier League during their first grilling by football administrators about their motives.
The Glazers secretly met officials from the Premier League and the Football Association on Tuesday, when they outlined their intentions. They went on to offer assurances about their long-term backing for the club during a private dinner in the Churchill Room at the House of Commons with Richard Caborn. The Sports Minister said that they showed “no shortage of enthusiasm for the task ahead”.
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Despite having their faces plastered across newspapers since they bought United, the brothers kept their whereabouts secret for two days. During this time they passed through the FA headquarters, a four-star hotel in London’s busiest shopping district and the epicentre of UK politics.
Yesterday the Glazers were forced to break cover as news of their visit leaked. They were in London for a meeting with Vodafone, the mobile phone operator, which has a £9 million shirt sponsorship deal with United. On Tuesday morning they had met executives from Nike about the club’s £303 million merchandise deal. The support of corporate partners is key to the success of the Glazers’ business plan, condemned by the outgoing plc board as “potentially damaging”.
After Nike, the Glazers’ charm offensive turned to the football regulators, starting with an “open exchange” with Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive. There has been concern that the Glazers would break the collective TV agreement between the top 20 clubs in an effort to fund the takeover, which will saddle United with an initial debt of £374 million. Scudamore was reassured after several hours of talks, which took in lunch at the Montcalm Hotel, off Oxford Street.
“There is a great deal of common ground. Crucially, on the matter of collective selling of our television rights, we have received an unequivocal commitment to continue on the current basis,” Scudamore said. “Since the formation of the Premier League (in 1992), Manchester United has played a key role in shaping its fortunes and I am confident that its new owners will continue this.”
The Glazers moved on to Soho Square, where they met Brian Barwick, the FA chief executive, Geoff Thompson, the chairman, and David Davies, the executive director. Barwick is understood to have held an “aggressive” line of questioning about whether they were owners for the long haul and whether they truly understood United’s place in the English game.
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Barwick is thought to have been impressed with Joel, who led the 90-minute discussion. “It’s important that the FA understands the objectives and future plans they have for a club of the stature of United,” Barwick said. “We enjoyed a constructive meeting in which they addressed many important questions.”
Joel, whose family owns 98 per cent of United’s shares, described the meetings as “really positive”. He said: “There’s been a lot in the UK press about us in the last 18 months and this has been an invaluable chance to tell the men who run the game what the truth is. I hope they are reassured by our experience in sport and our passion to keep Manchester United successful.”
Supporters’ groups remained unimpressed. “Malcolm Glazer and sons are enemies of the supporters,” Sean Bones, a spokesman for Shareholders United, said. “We find them disgusting and repulsive and will continue to do everything in our power to accelerate their exit.”