After 17 years, Manchester United are finally on the market and the roundly detested ownership of the Glazer family appears to be coming to an end. But what does a good, and realistic, outcome for United supporters look like? What can a football fan reasonably expect of an owner of their club in 2022?
The simpler days of the local businessman (always a man) chairing the board, putting their hand in their own pocket to build a new stand or to sign a new player, compares favourably in fans’ minds to a world of sovereign-wealth funds, oligarchs or American “sports entrepreneurs”. Yet the reality of those days was never as good as our sepia-tinted collective memories suggest, and all recent transactions for Premier League clubs indicate it will be financially driven buyers looking to acquire England’s leading clubs. Even local lad Sir Jim Ratcliffe is motivated more by his belief that top-flight teams will continue to grow in value, than his support for United. After all, he tried to buy Chelsea.
