When the Glazers bought Manchester United in 2005 they saddled a healthy business with £525m of debt, as part of their £790m takeover, according to The Guardian.
Since then they have reportedly paid £700m back to service the debt. That’s a lot of interest on arrears of £525m, you might think.
But here’s the jaw-dropping bit. Manchester United are still £411m in debt!
That’s £114m paid off from the original debt and the rest, some £586m of Manchester United’s revenue, has disappeared into thin air – the interest vacuum.
And reports this week state that these same people will now be payed £15m per year as a dividend for their shares. This is an absolute disgrace.
If the Glazers had come in and loaded the club with debt! short-term, in order to save it from going bust, it would be easier to swallow.
But this was a bullishly healthy, money-making machine that they have drained for a decade.
The Glazers don’t have any background in football. They may even struggle to name all of the players in the United squad.
Imagine where Manchester United would be now if they had access to all the funds they had generated over this period? Surely much closer to Barcelona and Real Madrid, if not abreast with them, as the strongest football team in the world.
And all that money which could have gone into the stadium, training facilities and transfers, has been sucked into the bottomless pit of debt created by these ruthless businessmen.
It’s almost impossible to sugar coat – this current regime is unhealthy for the club. It’s as if the liquidators are in, slowly stripping the company assets.
It should make any football fan, let alone Manchester United fans, absolutely sick to the core.
Perhaps it would be best for UEFA and FIFA to tighten their belts even further and ban clubs from having debt at all.
Because, if such edicts existed, the Glazers would have to use a far greater portion of revenue generated to get Manchester United back into the black, or be forced to sell – to the absolute delight of most.
Furthermore, it would perturb these football criminals from coming into a game adored by millions (but not them) and milking clubs for all they are worth.
Don’t be fooled by the outlay on players over the last year or so. This is simply a way of protecting their investment.
Previous attempts to oust The evil Glazers have been unsuccessful because they own a whopping 80% of the company. But surely there has to be a new prolonged campaign to get rid of the scourge of the football world.
Anyone who loves Manchester United despises the Glazers. Time to get them out.
