THE
STORY OF
MAn UTD“We didn’t want to speak out” – a former player
offers his perspective on condition of anonymity
The Glazers aren’t the only owners to share a ‘complex’ relationship with their club’s fans
98 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com
THE TAKEOVER
WHAT THE PLAYERS MADE OF IT ALL
“I looked around Wembley during the 2010
League Cup Final and saw the United end with our
fans – 30,000 to 40,000 of them. Green-and-gold
scarves were everywhere; it looked like Aston Villa
against Norwich. For the first time since the Glazer
family takeover, I thought to myself, ‘Our fans are
really not happy here.’ The players spoke about it
privately, but never publicly. That would never
have been approved.
The green-and-gold scarves appeared at the start
of 2010. I first started seeing them when fans asked
us for autographs. I thought, ‘Why is a Norwich fan
asking me for an autograph?’ I knew fans were
wearing them in the stadium, but they didn’t stand
out at first.
Over the months the numbers grew. David
Beckham was pictured with one around his neck
after United played AC Milan. Some fans saw him as
a protestor, but I think a scarf was thrown to him
and he put it around his neck.
He was a Milan player and didn’t realise they were
a form of protest.
I respected the fans’ right to protest but it
was hard for any of the players to speak out
during the takeover. We weren’t encouraged to and
most weren’t really that interested, or didn’t
understand what was going on. The squad was
assured that everything was going to be fine and
that was the end of it.
We realised that a lot of fans were against it but
people are reluctant to speak out against their
bosses. The players concentrated on football, not
finances. Some had come from countries where
football is run really badly.
They thought United was the best-run club they’d
ever been at – and they were probably right. The
manager assured us that everything was going to be
all right and that was enough for the players.
He said that he and David Gill would remain at
the club and that their roles wouldn’t change. Both
were trusted and respected by the players. Gill was a
strong character – the only person I saw stand up to
Ferguson and tell him he was wrong. I think even
the manager appreciated that sometimes.We could see the manager was getting some
criticism at the time of the takeover, both from the
media and even our own fans. So did David Gill, who
had people turning up to his house. Both of them
wanted the club to carry on as normal, and that’s
exactly what happened.
From a player’s perspective, there were very few
changes after the takeover because I think Sir Alex
took it upon himself to protect both his staff and the
players. The only change for us players was the
extra commercial work after training. It went from a
couple of players doing something once or twice a
week to something happening every day.
There was a diary for all of that and loads of
footballs to sign – they were lined up along a
corridor. But signing footballs, many of which were
going to charity, is hardly a chore, is it?
I don’t think every player loved the commercial
work, but what could they say? They were all being
paid very well and a lot of the money coming in was
from the club’s commercial success, which the
Glazers were driving forward.WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?
THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE
Ex-safecracker George Reynolds was welcomed
by fans of basement boys Darlington in 1999.
He promised Premier League football and built
a new stadium before promptly threatening
and banning anybody who dared to criticise
him. Reynolds became unpopular with Quakers
fans as the team stagnated, stepping aside
after the club went into administration in 2003.
He was banged up for tax evasion two years
later. Darlo dropped out of the Football League
in 2010 and went bust in 2012.
THE EXPLOSIVE DON OF ZAGREB
“I’m going to stick YouTube on my d**k,” said
Zdravko Mamić in 2007. It was the irascible
Dinamo Zagreb chief’s response to clips of fans
calling for his head. In 2011 Dithe Bad Blue
Boys, Dinamo’s ultras, stormed a press
conference to confront the former businessman
and agent about his mismanagement of the
club (despite the team winning nine league
titles in a row during his tenure). Assault,
embezzlement, match-fixing: you name it,
Mamić has at some point been accused of it.JESUS COMMITS A CARDINAL SIN
Jesus Gil, the long-serving former owner of
Atlético Madrid, wasn’t all bad. The sight of the
rotund former mayor of Marbella riding around
Madrid on the back of an elephant to celebrate
Atléti’s 1996 Double triumph certainly registers
in the ‘plus’ column. But Gil – now deceased –
committed one act for which fans can never
forgive him: in 1992 he shut down the club’s
youth team because there was “no point” in it,
forcing young Atléti fan Raúl to defect to rivals
Real Madrid. Oh well.