Manchester United is a term which is known to football fans all over the world. It is a football club, an English football club to be precise. It is based on Old Tafford, United Kingdom. They are also known as the "Red Devils" of England. It is one of the most famous and popular football club with more than 300 million supporters all over the world. 300 million can be roughly estimated as 5% of the total population! They are the most successful and influential club and ever since the 1990s they are rumored to be the richest clubs in existence. The club had a humble beginning during the initial stages and was even closed down on number of occasions due to mounting debts.
Being initially called the Newton Health Y&R, it was said to be sponsored by a health club. Five European trophies have been credited to them ever since the club came into existence. This included one international cup, one European super cup, two European champion's cup, one cup winner cup. They were bestowed with 12 domestic cups and 16 premier league cups too. They were also relevant in finding and establishing Europe's G-14 football club. Malcolm Glazer who was an American businessman had invested on Manchester United in 2005. He had paid a staggering $1.47 billion just for a 28.7% share on the team. It was after a year long battle in the courts that he could ultimately get his hands on the team.
He had faced difficulties in claiming the club, due to the facts the takeover had made the club poorer by $850 million. Also he being a businessman, fans did not like the idea of a business man holding the reins of one of the most successful football clubs of the world. They had hoped for someone who had adequate knowledge about the sport to invest on the club. Escalating prices of the tickets also angered the fans as the club often received hefty sums from advertisements and sponsorship dealings. A vast majority of the fans even went to the extent of not renewing their season tickets for the forth coming matches of the Manchester United. Songs disrespecting Glazer and his sons can still be heard on many matches played by Manchester United.
Fans worldwide have been largely discontent by the takeover of the club by Malcolm Glazer. He had played significantly no role in the upcoming of the football club. His children were the ones who enjoyed director posts of the club for sometime. Despite these shortcomings, the club has surged forward under his guidance. He had spent quite large sums of money on the club and even more in roping the world's best football players into the club. The club had won two major cups in 2008 itself, the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League. It is to be noted that the Glazer group does not interfere with the daily business dealings of Manchester united and have left such activities to David Gill, the chief executive of Manchester united. Steep increase in the prices of the tickets had prompted many faithful followers to stay away from the club matches.
Majid Al Ahmedi is an experienced football writer and webmaster. You can visit his Man United fan site for more news and discussion about Manchester United and English football.
