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It’s nearly 20 years since the American tycoon Malcolm Glazer bought his first stake in Manchester United – now his family’s controversial tenure at the club could finally be coming to an end.

Chants of “Love United, hate Glazers” are regularly heard at Old Trafford and news that the owners are exploring a sale will delight many United supporters.

Here, Sky News tells the story of the Glazers’ ownership of the Premier League club and explains why the family have been so unpopular with fans – even attracting criticism from one of their own star players, Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the club with immediate effect earlier today.

Malcolm Glazer. Pic: AP
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Malcolm Glazer took control of Man United in 2005. Pic: AP

Glazers buy Man Utd – and saddle club with debt

Malcolm Glazer owned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an American football team that were then the Super Bowl champions, when he began his investment in United in March 2003.

At the time, United had dominated the Premier League and were one of the most successful clubs in the world, winning an array of silverware under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Glazer took full control of United in June 2005, but the deal was hugely unpopular with fans because it was financed primarily through loans secured against the club’s assets.

Within a year of the leveraged buyout, Glazer had two strokes and his six children – Avram, Joel, Bryan, Kevin, Darcie and Edward – ran United, all of them sitting on the board of directors.

Avram Glazer (L) and Joel Glazer
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Avram Glazer, left, and Joel Glazer are executive co-chairmen of Manchester United

The Glazers’ £790m takeover loaded United with debt that is now around £500m. The club were debt-free before the takeover.

Fans have been enraged by the more than £1bn it has cost the Glazers to service the debt, while cashing in themselves by receiving dividends from the club.

Man United fans protest over Malcolm Glazer's proposed takeover in 2004
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Man United fans protest over Malcolm Glazer’s proposed takeover in 2004

Fan protests and FC United formed

The Glazer family’s first visit to Old Trafford ended in ugly and violent scenes in June 2005 as police clashed with supporters who had effectively barricaded United’s new owners inside the stadium.

Joel, Avram and Bryan Glazer reportedly had to be smuggled down the players’ tunnel and out of the ground in two police tactical aid vans for their own safety.

Police clear a barricade to allow a van, supposedly carrying Joel Glazer, to leave Old Trafford in 2005
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Police clear a barricade to allow a van, supposedly carrying Joel Glazer, to leave Old Trafford in 2005

The Glazers’ controversial takeover prompted a group of disaffected Man United supporters to form a new football club.

FC United began their first season in 2005-06 and now compete in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.

Sir Alex Ferguson lifts the Barclays Premier League trophy

Success on the pitch

Under the continued management of Sir Alex, United initially remained successful under the Glazers’ ownership, winning five Premier League titles in seven seasons between 2007 and 2013.

With star players Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, United enjoyed a prolific three-year spell from 2007 to 2009, winning three Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy and the League Cup.

But fans’ anger at the Glazers remained.

Man United fans wave green and gold scarves in protest at the Glazers in 2010
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Man United fans wave green and gold scarves in protest at the Glazers in 2010

Green and gold scarf campaign

In 2010, United fans began donning yellow and green scarves to protest against the Glazers’ ownership.

United are known for their famous red shirts, but the club was originally founded, in 1878, under the name Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club, which played in a bold yellow and green strip.

At the height of the protests, former United player David Beckham put on a green and gold scarf that was thrown on to the pitch during his return to Old Trafford with AC Milan in 2010.

David Beckham wore a green-and-gold scarf when he returned to Old Trafford with AC Milan in 2010

That night, Joel and Avram Glazer were inside the stadium but Beckham later distanced himself from the protest, saying the ownership of United was “not my business”.

Red Knights takeover bid

A group of wealthy supporters were expected to make a bid of about £1bn for United in 2010, despite United insisting the Glazer family owners would “not entertain any offers”.

The Red Knights group, which included former Football League chairman Keith Harris and Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neil, said that one of its priorities was to reduce debt levels at the club.

The proposed bid was put on hold after the group said media speculation of “inflated valuation aspirations” had hampered its plans.

Many fans want the Glazer family to sell up

Post-Ferguson problems

Since Sir Alex called time on his illustrious managerial career nearly 10 years ago, United’s form has gone downhill.

Despite appointing high-profile managers such as Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, the club has failed to win the Premier League since 2013 – while spending more than £1bn on players in that time.

United have also not won a trophy since their Europa League triumph in 2017.

To make matters worse, arch rivals Manchester City and Liverpool have enjoyed huge success as they regularly compete for Premier League and Champions League titles.

Malcolm Glazer. Pic: AP
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Pic: AP

Malcolm Glazer death

Malcolm Glazer died in 2014 at the age of 85, having never visited Old Trafford during his ownership of the club.

Although he was a controversial figure in Manchester, tributes poured in from the US, where the businessman was hugely respected for turning Tampa Bay from a laughing stock into a Super Bowl-winning franchise.

After Glazer’s death, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: “Malcolm Glazer was the guiding force behind the building of a Super Bowl-champion organisation.

Manchester United fans protesting outside Old Traford against the club's ownership by the Glazers

European Super League anger

The Glazers attracted more fury from United fans after taking a leading role in attempts to form a European Super League last year.

United, along with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, caused outrage with their plans to join the breakaway competition, in which the founding members would be exempt from relegation.

The six English clubs had planned to set up the league with Spanish sides Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid and Italy’s AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus, in a group that some nicknamed the “dirty dozen”.

Soccer Football - Manchester United fans protest against their owners before the Manchester United v Liverpool Premier League match - Manchester, Britain - May 2, 2021 Manchester United fans on the pitch in protest against their owners before the match Action Images via REUTERS/Carl Recine TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Fans stormed the Old Trafford pitch in May 2021

The proposal led to protests from football fans across England, with several hundred storming the Old Trafford pitch before United were due to play Liverpool, meaning the game had to be postponed.

After the clubs backed down Joel Glazer, who had been announced as a vice-chairman of the European Super League, “apologised unreservedly” to fans, saying: “We got it wrong.”

His brother Avram refused to apologise after Sky News confronted him in Florida.

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Sky News questions Avram Glazer over Man Utd

After the scandal, United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward announced he would be leaving the club, having been an unpopular figure with fans after a series of expensive signings with precious little success.

Neville brands Glazers ‘scavengers’

Former Man United captain Gary Neville – who was a player at the club in 2005 when the Glazers took over – has been a vocal critic of the owners in recent months.

After the European Super League fiasco, Neville branded the Glazers “scavengers” who “need booting out of this football club and booting out of this country”.

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Gary Neville on the Glazers

“We have got to come together,” he told Sky Sports.

“It might be too late, there’ll be people at Manchester United, fans 15 years ago who will say it’s too late.

“It’s never too late, we have got to stop this. It is absolutely critical we do.”

Neville has claimed Old Trafford is “rusting”, with £1bn needed to rebuild the stadium, and the club is in a “mess”.

“When a business is failing and it’s not performing, it is the owners of that business [who are to blame],” Neville said after United were beaten 4-0 by Brentford this season.

“It is really simple. It is failing miserably.

“They took about £24m out of the club two months ago and they have now got a decrepit, rotting stadium, which is second-rate when it used to be the best in the world 15-20 years ago.

“You have got a football project where they haven’t got a clue.”

Neville said there has been a “toxic culture and atmosphere created at the club over a 10-year period” after the departures of Sir Alex and former United chief executive David Gill.

“It is a mess and it cannot carry on,” he added.

Cristiano Ronaldo during a Manchester United game

Ronaldo criticism

The latest high-profile criticism of the Glazers came from one of Manchester United’s very own star players.

Ronaldo launched a blistering attack on the club’s owners during an interview with Talk TV host Piers Morgan.

The Portugal star, who returned to United last year after 12 years away, claimed the Glazers “don’t care about the club” and said it was a “marketing club”.

“They will get money from the marketing – the sport, it’s, they don’t really care, in my opinion,” he said.

Ronaldo also claimed United had not progressed as a club since the departure of Sir Alex in 2013.

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Ronaldo defends explosive interview

“Nothing changed. Surprisingly,” he said.

“Not only the pool, the jacuzzi, even the gym… Even some points, the technology, the kitchen, the chefs, which is, I appreciate, lovely persons.

“They stopped in a time, which surprised me a lot. I thought I will see different things… different, as I mentioned before, technology, infrastructure.

“But, unfortunately, we see many things that I used to see when I was 20, 21, 23. So, it surprised me a lot.”

Since the interview last week, the club’s lawyers had reportedly been looking at ways to bring Ronaldo’s time at the club to an end and on Tuesday it was announced that he was leaving “by mutual agreement, with immediate effect”.

Talk of sale and interest from Britain’s richest man

Bloomberg reported in August that the Glazer family were considering selling a minority stake in United and preliminary discussions had been held about bringing in a new investor.

It also emerged that one of Britain’s richest men, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan and a proven investor in sport through his Ineos company, had expressed an interest in buying the club.

Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe expressed an interest in buying Manchester United

In October, he revealed he had met the Glazer family and was told they were not interested in selling Manchester United.

“I met Joel and Avram, and they are the nicest people,” Sir Jim said.

“They are proper gentlemen, and they don’t want to sell it. It is owned by the six children of the father and they don’t want to sell.”

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‘Liberation day is here’: But what will it mean for global trade?

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'Liberation day is here': But what will it mean for global trade?

“Liberation day” was due to be on 1 April. But Donald Trump decided to shift it by a day because he didn’t want anyone to think it was an April fool.

It is no joke for him and it is no joke for governments globally as they brace for his tariff announcements.

It is stunning how little we know about the plans to be announced in the Rose Garden of the White House later today.

It was telling that we didn’t see the President at all on Tuesday. He and all his advisers were huddled in the West Wing, away from the cameras, finalising the tariff plans.

Follow the events of Liberation Day live as they unfold

Three key figures are central to it all.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is the so-called ‘measured voice’. A former hedge fund manager, he has argued for targeted not blanket tariffs.

Peter Navarro is Trump’s senior counsellor for trade and manufacturing. A long-time aide and confidante of the president, he is a true loyalist and a firm believer in the merits of tariffs.

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His economic views are well beyond mainstream economic thought – precisely why he appeals to Trump.

‘Stop that crap’: Trump adviser Peter Navarro reacts to Sky News correspondent’s question over tariffs

The third key character is Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary and the biggest proponent of the full-throttle liberation day tariff juggernaut.

The businessman, philanthropist, Trump fundraiser and billionaire (net worth ranging between $1bn and $2bn) has been among the closest to Trump over the past 73 days of this presidency – frequently in and out of the West Wing.

If anything goes wrong, observers here in Washington suspect Trump will make Lutnick the fall guy.

What are Donald Trump’s tariffs, what is ‘liberation day’ and how does it all affect the UK?

And what if it does all go wrong? What if Trump is actually the April fool?

“It’s going to work…” his press secretary said when asked if it could all be a disaster, driving up the cost of living for Americans and creating global economic chaos.

“The president has a brilliant team who have been studying these issues for decades and we are focussed on restoring the global age of America…” Karoline Leavitt said.

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‘Days of US being ripped off are over’

Dancing to the president’s tune

My sense is that we should see “liberation day” not as the moment it’s all over in terms of negotiations for countries globally as they try to carve out deals with the White House. Rather it should be seen as the start.

Trump, as always, wants to be seen as the one calling the shots, taking control, seizing the limelight. He wants the world to dance to his tune. Today is his moment.

But beyond today, alongside the inevitable tit-for-tat retaliation, expect to see efforts by nations to seek carve-outs and to throw bones to Trump; to identify areas where trade policies can be tweaked to placate the president.

Even small offerings which change little in a material sense could give Trump the chance to spin and present himself as the winning deal maker he craves to be.

One significant challenge for foreign governments and their diplomats in Washington has been engaging the president himself with proposals he might like.

Negotiations take place with a White House team who are themselves unsure where the president will ultimately land. It’s resulted in unsatisfactory speculative negotiations.

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Treasury minister: ‘We’ll do everything to secure a deal’

Too much faith placed in the ‘special relationship’?

The UK believes it’s in a better position than most other countries globally. It sits outside the EU giving it autonomy in its trade policy, its deficit with the US is small, and Trump loves Britain.

It’s true too that the UK government has managed to accelerate trade conversations with the White House on a tariff-free trade partnership. Trump’s threats have forced conversations that would normally sit in the long grass for months.

Yet, for now, the conversations have yielded nothing firm. That’s a worry for sure. Did Keir Starmer have too much faith in the ‘special relationship’?

Downing Street will have identified areas where they can tweak trade policy to placate Trump. Cars maybe? Currently US cars into the UK carry a 10% tariff. Digital services perhaps?

US food? Unlikely – there are non-tariff barriers on US food because the consensus seems to be that chlorinated chicken and the like isn’t something UK consumers want.

Easier access to UK financial services maybe? More visas for Americans?

For now though, everyone is waiting to see what Trump does before they either retaliate or relent and lower their own market barriers.

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Democrat Cory Booker rails against Donald Trump and Elon Musk during marathon Senate speech lasting more than 17 hours

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Democrat Cory Booker rails against Donald Trump and Elon Musk during marathon Senate speech lasting more than 17 hours

A senior Democrat has taken to the Senate floor to speak against US President Donald Trump – with the 17-plus-hour speech still ongoing.

Cory Booker, a New Jersey senator, began speaking around 7pm (midnight in the UK) and said he intended to disrupt the “normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able”.

Referring to Mr Trump’s presidency, he said: “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our country is in crisis.”

As of 5pm in the UK, Mr Booker was still speaking, having spoken for more than 17 hours. He has remained standing for the entire duration, as he would lose control of the floor if he left his desk or sat down.

Read more: Who is the Democrat making a marathon speech against Trump?

As of 4pm, Cory Booker has held the Senate floor for more than 16 hours. Pic: Senate Television / AP
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As of 4pm, Cory Booker has held the Senate floor for more than 16 hours. Pic: Senate Television / AP

Other Democrat senators have joined Mr Booker to ask questions so he can rest his voice, including Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

At the start of his speech, Mr Booker said: “These are not normal times in our nation. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate.

“The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Overnight, he referenced Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Read more:
‘Liberation day’ is coming – one number to keep in mind
Prosecutors directed to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione

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“You think we got civil rights one day because Strom Thurmond – after filibustering for 24 hours – you think we got civil rights because he came to the floor one day and said ‘I’ve seen the light’,” he said.

“No, we got civil rights because people marched for it, sweat for it and [civil rights leader] John Lewis bled for it.”

Only Mr Thurmond and Republican Senator Ted Cruz – who spoke for 21 hours and 19 minutes against the Affordable Care Act in 2013 – have held the Senate floor for longer than Mr Booker.

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Luigi Mangione: What we know about man charged with murdering healthcare boss Brian Thompson

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Luigi Mangione: What we know about man charged with murdering healthcare boss Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione could face the death penalty over the killing of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson.

The 26-year-old has pleaded not guilty to New York state charges of murder as an act of terrorism and weapons offenses.

New York does not have the death penalty for state charges, and so he could face life in prison without parole if convicted in that case.

But he also faces federal charges over Mr Thompson’s killing – and US attorney general Pamela Bondi has directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Mangione has not yet been asked to enter a plea to the federal charges.

Here’s what we know about him.

Wealth, private school and Ivy League education

Mangione was born and raised in Maryland and has links to San Francisco and Hawaii.

His social media lists him as being from Towson, a well-to-do area to the north of the city of Baltimore.

He is the grandson of a wealthy property developer and philanthropist and the cousin of a current Maryland state legislator.

He attended Gilman School – a private all-boys school in Baltimore. The school’s annual fees are up to $37,690 (around £29,000) and it boasts alumni including NFL stars and former senators.

After graduating in 2016, Mangione went to the University of Pennsylvania, one of America’s elite Ivy League schools.

According to his social media, he studied computer science and launched a group named UPGRADE (UPenn Game Research and Development Environment).

A university spokesperson said he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees there.

He later co-founded his own computer game company, which focused on small, simplistic games.

Luigi Mangione Pic: LinkedIn
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Mangione went to a prestigious Ivy League university. Pic: LinkedIn

‘No complaints – a great guy’

According to his LinkedIn page, Mangione moved to California in 2020 and worked for the car-buying website TrueCar. The firm’s boss said he left last year.

Mangione currently lists himself as from Honolulu on LinkedIn, with pictures on Instagram showing him on the Hawaiian island.

In the first half of 2022, he reportedly lived at Surfbreak, a co-living space aimed at remote workers in Honolulu’s Waikiki neighbourhood.

“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for Surfbreak’s owner, told the AP news agency.

“There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”

Mr Ryan said Mangione left to get surgery on the US mainland for chronic back pain he suffered from since childhood.

Document reveals back condition

Mangione wrote about his health issue online, saying he has spondylolisthesis – a condition where one of the bones in the spine slips forwards.

Sky News’ Data and Forensics team obtained a 14-page document uploaded to his Google Drive account in 2021.

He details the severity of his “injury” as “low grade two” and goes into fitness goals, diet advice and notes about the condition.

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The suspect’s notes say he has back condition spondylolisthesis

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His X banner image shows a back X-ray

It’s unclear if the condition is linked to the motive, which police have not publicly identified, but it gives context about his health issues.

Analysis of his Goodreads profile also shows he read books including Crooked: Outwitting The Back Pain Industry and Getting On The Road To Recovery, and Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic At The Root Of Most Chronic Disease – And How To Fight It.

A banner image on his X account also features an X-ray of a lower back with screws.

Law enforcement officials told NBC News they are looking at whether the X-ray is Mangione’s or from a relative and whether it’s connected to the shooting.

‘Violence is necessary to survive’

Mangione appears to have had an active social media presence.

His X account regularly shared and reposted pieces about topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), philosophy, and the future of humanity.

His Goodreads account also gave a four-star review to Industrial Society And Its Future – by notorious US terrorist Theodore Kaczynski.

The piece, which rails against technological advancement, became known as the Unabomber Manifesto after its author began a mail bombing campaign which lasted nearly 20 years.

Three people were killed and dozens were injured before Kaczynski’s arrest in 1996.

The Goodreads review said: “When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution.

“‘Violence never solved anything’ is a statement uttered by cowards and predators.”

Luigi Mangione. Pic: Facebook
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Luigi Mangione. Pic: Facebook

Why are some calling Mangione a ‘hero’?

A search of social media sites such as Reddit reveals a thread of people who are sympathetic to the suspect.

Highly rated comments on the site include: “Screw the McDonald’s employee that ratted him out” and “Only a matter of time till shirts with #FreeLuigi start popping up”.

To many, these are shocking comments about someone accused of carrying out a cold-blooded killing. But what’s behind them?

Many in the US pay thousands in expensive insurance premiums to cover themselves and their family, while others rely on the Medicare federal insurance programme.

Support for Mangione appears to come from resentment over this and accusations that companies go to great lengths to avoid paying for treatments in order to maximise their profits.

“He got charged with murder quicker than insurance companies deny claims”, said a comment on Reddit with nearly 7,000 likes.

One post that went viral on X before the suspect’s arrest was from Anthony Zenkus, a Columbia University professor.

He wrote: “We mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.”

Read more from Sky News:
Shooting prompts US healthcare debate

The attacker was then filmed walking up slowly behind Mr Thompson and opening fire outside the Hilton hotel.
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Police shared this picture of the suspect following the shooting. Pic: NYPD


A chart shared widely on X claims to show denial rates by UnitedHealthcare exceed those of competitors, using data from consumer finance website ValuePenguin. This is consistent with publicly available data from 2023 analysed by Sky News.

Other people online appear to be angry about what they say is the disparity between the resources put into Mr Thompson’s case and how less well-off people are treated.

One comment on Reddit with 4,000 likes says: “The murdered guy in death, like in life, is still sucking up a huge undeserved and unwanted portion of resources.

“How many underprivileged people’s murders are going unsolved because NYPD and the feds are spending millions on this overpaid, rich, morally questionable millionaire’s murder.”

Arrested in McDonald’s with ‘ghost gun’

Mangione was detained in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said.

He was arrested in Altoona, around 230 miles (370km) west of New York, after a tip-off from a McDonald’s employee who recognised him from the police appeals.

Mangione also had a fake New Jersey ID matching one used by the suspect to check into a hostel before the killing, said New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch.

He was found carrying a “handwritten document” that Ms Tisch said “spoke to both his motivation and mindset”.

Joseph Kenny, New York’s chief of detectives, said it appeared to show “some ill-will towards corporate America”.

Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 (£7,840) – $2,000 of it in foreign currency.

‘Message’ on bullets

Brian Thompson, 50, was chief executive of UnitedHealthcare – the fourth-largest public company in the US behind Walmart, Amazon, and Apple – and was paid about $10m (£7.8m) a year.

It’s the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans and manages insurance for employers and state and federally funded programmes.

Mr Thompson – who was married with two sons – was shot on 4 December as he was walking to a New York hotel where his company was holding an investors’ conference.

SN screengrab from CCTV showing murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue Pic: NYPD/Reuters
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CCTV showed a person shooting Mr Thompson from behind. Pic: NYPD/Reuters

As Mr Thompson walked towards the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue, a gunman appeared behind him from between parked cars.

He was shot in the back and calf and died from his injuries.

The words “defend”, “deny”, and “depose” were written on the cases of bullets found at the scene – similar to the title of a book that criticises health insurance companies.

Mr Thompson’s wife said he was an “incredibly loving father to our two sons” and a “loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest”.

UnitedHealthcare called him a “highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him”.

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