Manchester United news and links

Nick Harris in the Independent:

The Glazer revolution at Manchester United is six months old this week, and on the face of it little has changed, at least not with much fanfare, transparency or disclosure of intent from the secretive sons - Joel, Bryan and Avi - who are running England’s biggest club to make a buck for their father, Malcolm.

Appearances can be deceptive. Since 17 May, when Glazer’s stake ticked past 75 per cent of the club, giving him the power to do what he pleased with United, he has removed 23 non-playing staff, including senior executives. Two people volunteered to go, one took early retirement and 20 were forced into redundancy.

Two fans’ groups, The Independent Manchester United Supporters Association and Shareholders United, have been booted off the Fans’ Forum, which seems odd for a club that had taken such pride in Article 1.1 of its own charter, which says it “consults supporters on a regular basis”.

There is no public AGM any more, indeed no AGM, because the only shareholders are the Glazers. They completed their compulsory purchase of all shares they did not already own on 27 September. The share certificates of any refuseniks are worthless. If they want their cash now, they have to apply for it.

United’s accounts used to be unveiled at a press conference where the club’s chief executive, David Gill, would talk about the results and answer questions. Now the only onus on the Glazers is to file the basics at Companies House by the end of April.

It is also believed that the Glazers have held no board meetings since taking over, certainly not face-to-face with Gill and Nick Humby, the club’s finance director. The club will not elaborate, saying: “It’s an internal matter.” Gill has a weekly conference call to America.

Huge hikes in ticket prices are in the pipeline - they are expected to rise nine per cent overall next season and 54 per cent over five years. The club say only that prices have not been set yet.

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