If the Glazer family wanted to know - or for that matter even remotely cared about - how unpopular they are with a huge number of Manchester United supporters, then they should have looked at social media’s reaction to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s apparent interest in buying the club.
It was, on the whole, positive. This, in case you cannot recall, is a man who once threatened to shut down a Scottish petrochemicals plant - putting over a thousand jobs at risk - unless the trade union representing the employees agreed to job cuts, a wage freeze, harsher redundancy terms and the scrapping of the final salary pension scheme.
Man of the people, it seems, is our Jim. The notion he would give the commoners a say in the running of the club seems far-fetched. But at least he is a dyed-in-the-wool Manchester United supporter … so much so that he tried to buy Chelsea not long ago.
“I’m a season ticket holder at Chelsea, have been for years, although I’m a Manchester United fan really,” he said. And he is very much a billionaire of principle, it seems. A staunch supporter of Brexit, he once promised to build an automotive factory in Wales, only to renege in favour of a site in France. As long ago as 2015, Ratcliffe said “the UK would be perfectly successful as a standalone country”. That is working out well.
And Ratcliffe is such a patriot, he upped sticks to Monaco, saving himself more billions in tax payments. Unlike some other billionaires who have owned football clubs we could name, Ratcliffe is not overly shy of publicity, hence his spokesperson’s declaration that he would be interested in buying Manchester United. He would not be alone on that score, that is for sure.
The idea that those who talk about it don’t get it done but those who don’t talk about it do get it done, is not necessarily correct. Ratcliffe has bought football clubs in France and Switzerland, has funded an America’s Cup sailing challenge, is a lead partner in the Mercedes Formula One team and, of course, took over the Team Sky cycling franchise. Clearly, he can put his money where his mouth is.
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But if the Glazers did decide to sell up, Ratcliffe would find himself in the midst of some very serious competition. Manchester United might be terrible on the field right now but they remain a commercial behemoth, a sporting institution of remarkable global appeal. Offers would come from far and wide.
Ratcliffe also has a reputation for never paying over the odds for anything and such is United’s allure, the Glazers would - in the extremely unlikely scenario of them wanting to sell - demand considerably more than the club is officially valued at (just over $2.2billion according to share prices in New York on Thursday). All in all, then, a Ratcliffe takeover seems unlikely.
But the fact that the remote possibility has been lauded as some sort of dream scenario tells you all you need to know about how unbearable the Glazer regime has finally become. And whether it is Ratcliffe or not, if they have a smidgeon of self-awareness and decency, they will sell up.
