Duncan Drasdo
11th November 2005, 12:53
[1] COMMENT
[2] IMUSA/SU:MUST Pre-Christmas Event
[3] WIN AN iPod nano - NEW ICONMATCH GAME LAUNCHED
[4] MUST have Christmas gifts
[5] WHAT THE PAPERS SAY - ROUND UP
[1] COMMENT
You may have read this week (see What the papers say round up below) that Glazers lawyers have intervened to try to prevent us registering as the Manchester United Supporters' Trust. We do not accept their objection and will contest it retrospectively. However this will not actually stop us relaunching as MUST - the independent Manchester United Supporters' trust.
MUST is now moving forward pursuing a purely positive agenda preparing for the time when the Phoenix Fund can form the focus of a supporter led consortium to buy back Manchester United - with the long term ownership of the club progressively and irreversibly moving into the hands of supporters. The Phoenix Fund will be made up of many components - not just the members' money currently earning interest in our brokers account. That is simply an interim solution to keep those funds together while we develop more ambitious projects. It is likely we will only need to raise perhaps £10 - 50m towards a supporter led consortium, perhaps even less. Obviously the more supporters contribute initially the quicker the transition into supporter ownership is.
However things work out for the Glazers' business plans the future price of United will be significantly less than that which the Glazers were forced to pay and very likely a fraction of that price. Even if the Glazers somehow avoid doing much more long term damage to the business the fact is that Manchester United was valued at £260m (equivalent to £1 per share) at the time that the Irish stakebuilding started to artificially boost the price on the basis of mounting takeover speculation. The clever Glazers ended up effectively bidding against themselves as they shifted the share price higher and higher before launching their bid at £3 a share. No wonder they had to go to the hedge funds - the loan sharks of corporate finance - to get much of the money they needed at extortionate rates of up to 20% interest.
It is important to stress the difference between supporter ownership and running of the club. A supporter owned MUFC would still be run by professional management (not a committee of supporters who own it) but the major difference would be that every penny we put into Manchester United would go to OUR club rather than the Glazers, their bankers or indeed anyone else. A policy of reinvesting the profits back into the club - the team, the stadium and maintaining fair prices for all has to be better for the long term health of Manchester United Football Club.
********************************
[2] IMUSA/SU:MUST Pre-Christmas Event
IMUSA and Shareholders United (MUST) have joined forces to bring you a day of pre-Christmas entertainment and fun.
Get yourselves down to Zumeba on Oxford Road (opposite the BBC) from 3pm on Sunday 20th November for a feast of excitement including live music, quiz, auction, raffle, loads of food and drink and lots of other stuff.
It's only £5 to get in (pay on the door) and after that it's up to you how many items you bid on the auction, or how many raffle tickets you buy.
See you there!
If you need a map to find the venue, click here
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-2.23942&GridN=53.47270&client=public&lon=-2.23942&lat=53.47270
***************************************
[3] WIN AN iPod nano - NEW ICONMATCH GAME LAUNCHED
Our latest iconMATCH game is launched today with the prize of an iPod nano for the winner.
Following the success of our initial iconMATCH game, we are pleased to announce the launch of our second game, with the fantastic prize of an iPod Nano on offer.
http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/
Once again, every player who 'pays to play', and correctly matches five United faces to names, will get an entry to the draw for the iPod on 13/12/2005. Remember that you can practice as many times as you like for free. Visit
https://secure.iconmatch.com/client/?GameID=2
for more details, and to play the game.
**********************************************
[4] MUST have Christmas gifts
With only 6 weeks until Christmas isn't it about time you started thinking about what to buy the United fan in your family? Well, here's an idea that will help you and at the same time earn a small commission for SU-MUST.
Recommended Book of the Week
The Birth of the Babes: Manchester United Youth Policy, 1950-57 - Tony Whelan & Cliff Butler
(with forward by Sir Alex Ferguson) £9.06
The emergence in the 1950s of talented footballers such as Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton was a result of the first truly comprehensive scouting and coaching operation English football had known. As a player Matt Busby had learned through bitter experience of the 'sink or swim' approach that prevailed at most football clubs and realised that the harnessing of the full talents of footballers required a more involved approach. In "The Birth of the Babes", current Manchester United Academy coach Tony Whelan examines not only the roots of Matt Busby's socialism, his approach to the care of his players, but illustrates the system of scouts, coaches and trainers that made Manchester United a prototype for the youth systems of today. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and memorabilia culled from the private collections of many of the youth players of the time, "The Birth of the Babes" is essential reading for anyone interested in the pre-Munich era when United took English football by storm.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1901746453
Try these other great United related books from Amazon and earn a small commission for SU-MUST.
Stocking fillers (under £5)
Justyn Barnes's Little Book of Manchester United £2.99
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0233999957
Hanky Park's anti Glazer single 'We'll Never die' - £3.99
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=B000AO9OA8
Best Buys (under £10)
The Men in Black : Further Exploits of Manchester United's soccer mob
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1903854490
The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson - £5.59
Michael Crick's often critical, warts 'n' all biography of, arguably, the greatest football manager in British football history.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0743429915
Latest 'Blockbusters'
Manchester United Miscellany - John White - £6.99
More than a book of lists or compilation of trivia, the painstakingly researched miscellany will bring hours of reading pleasure to any United fan.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0233001433
Manchester United in Europe: Tragedy, Destiny, History - Ken Ferris - £6.99
Manchester United's quest to win the European Cup was forged amidst the charred remains of an Elizabethan airliner that crashed on take-off at Munich's Riem Airport on 6 February 1958.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1840188979
Visit http://www.shareholdersunited.org/shop.php for more great ideas for United related Christmas gifts from Amazon.
***********************************************
[5] WHAT THE PAPERS SAY - WEEKLY ROUND UP
Ballack not Utd bound
Michael Ballack will not leave Bayern Munich for Manchester United - or anyone else - during the January transfer window.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20989
Fifa president Sepp Blatter Again Backs Manchester United Supporters Against Glazer
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, Blatter gave his support to the United fans who have strongly opposed Malcolm Glazer's takeover at Old Trafford.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20970
Glazers banking on winners
MALCOLM GLAZER and his sons may have bought Manchester United from two horseracing magnates, but they were the ones taking the gamble.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20862
Managers told to get out of bed with agents
Club staff banned from holding shares in agencies
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20948
David Conn: The problem at Hearts is the trouble with British football
Vladimir Romanov admits to mixed motives for his controversial takeover but it's really a sign of the times
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20947
Chelsea's pitch not Abramovich's
For all the dramatic new-age-messiah rhetoric being spewed ad infinitum about Mr Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch does not even own the ground at Stamford Bridge that happens to be English Premiership club Chelsea's home in London. And if that is but one aspect of football's Byzantine complexities in the age of wanton commercialisation underscoring the fact that the astute Briton still has what it takes to roll in the stuff poured out by others, the flip side of the coin is that Mr Abramovich's largesse is just a loan.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20938
Uefa president accuses clubs of greed
Lennart Johansson, the Uefa president, has called for leading clubs to stop being so "greedy" in their demands for a larger share of cash from football.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20911
Fergie's £10m To Rebuild His Side (Only £15m short of Wigan's Transfer Kitty -Ed)
Fergie to strengthen his Manchester United squad in January with two new players after being given a £10million war chest by the Glazer brothers.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20903
Nike Considering Exit Clause In Their £300million Deal with Glazer's United
"Nike are concerned with what is happening at Old Trafford and they are looking at two specific areas - performance and profile.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20876
Glazer regime now attacks own fans
United's lawyers have written to the Financial Services Authority, objecting to the use of the words "Manchester United" in Manchester United Supporters Trust, on the basis that they are an official trademark.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20832
Supporters still need to pin their faith in trusts
Carrie Dunn, communications officer of Trust in Luton (TiL), explains why her work is even more challenging now than when the club's future hung in the balance
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20850
Revealed: the first Keane tape in cold storage Revealed: the first Keane tape in cold storage
United are secretly hiding a second MUTV interview with Roy Keane in which he criticised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with such venom that Sir Alex Ferguson ordered it should never go out on air.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20828
[2] IMUSA/SU:MUST Pre-Christmas Event
[3] WIN AN iPod nano - NEW ICONMATCH GAME LAUNCHED
[4] MUST have Christmas gifts
[5] WHAT THE PAPERS SAY - ROUND UP
[1] COMMENT
You may have read this week (see What the papers say round up below) that Glazers lawyers have intervened to try to prevent us registering as the Manchester United Supporters' Trust. We do not accept their objection and will contest it retrospectively. However this will not actually stop us relaunching as MUST - the independent Manchester United Supporters' trust.
MUST is now moving forward pursuing a purely positive agenda preparing for the time when the Phoenix Fund can form the focus of a supporter led consortium to buy back Manchester United - with the long term ownership of the club progressively and irreversibly moving into the hands of supporters. The Phoenix Fund will be made up of many components - not just the members' money currently earning interest in our brokers account. That is simply an interim solution to keep those funds together while we develop more ambitious projects. It is likely we will only need to raise perhaps £10 - 50m towards a supporter led consortium, perhaps even less. Obviously the more supporters contribute initially the quicker the transition into supporter ownership is.
However things work out for the Glazers' business plans the future price of United will be significantly less than that which the Glazers were forced to pay and very likely a fraction of that price. Even if the Glazers somehow avoid doing much more long term damage to the business the fact is that Manchester United was valued at £260m (equivalent to £1 per share) at the time that the Irish stakebuilding started to artificially boost the price on the basis of mounting takeover speculation. The clever Glazers ended up effectively bidding against themselves as they shifted the share price higher and higher before launching their bid at £3 a share. No wonder they had to go to the hedge funds - the loan sharks of corporate finance - to get much of the money they needed at extortionate rates of up to 20% interest.
It is important to stress the difference between supporter ownership and running of the club. A supporter owned MUFC would still be run by professional management (not a committee of supporters who own it) but the major difference would be that every penny we put into Manchester United would go to OUR club rather than the Glazers, their bankers or indeed anyone else. A policy of reinvesting the profits back into the club - the team, the stadium and maintaining fair prices for all has to be better for the long term health of Manchester United Football Club.
********************************
[2] IMUSA/SU:MUST Pre-Christmas Event
IMUSA and Shareholders United (MUST) have joined forces to bring you a day of pre-Christmas entertainment and fun.
Get yourselves down to Zumeba on Oxford Road (opposite the BBC) from 3pm on Sunday 20th November for a feast of excitement including live music, quiz, auction, raffle, loads of food and drink and lots of other stuff.
It's only £5 to get in (pay on the door) and after that it's up to you how many items you bid on the auction, or how many raffle tickets you buy.
See you there!
If you need a map to find the venue, click here
http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?GridE=-2.23942&GridN=53.47270&client=public&lon=-2.23942&lat=53.47270
***************************************
[3] WIN AN iPod nano - NEW ICONMATCH GAME LAUNCHED
Our latest iconMATCH game is launched today with the prize of an iPod nano for the winner.
Following the success of our initial iconMATCH game, we are pleased to announce the launch of our second game, with the fantastic prize of an iPod Nano on offer.
http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/
Once again, every player who 'pays to play', and correctly matches five United faces to names, will get an entry to the draw for the iPod on 13/12/2005. Remember that you can practice as many times as you like for free. Visit
https://secure.iconmatch.com/client/?GameID=2
for more details, and to play the game.
**********************************************
[4] MUST have Christmas gifts
With only 6 weeks until Christmas isn't it about time you started thinking about what to buy the United fan in your family? Well, here's an idea that will help you and at the same time earn a small commission for SU-MUST.
Recommended Book of the Week
The Birth of the Babes: Manchester United Youth Policy, 1950-57 - Tony Whelan & Cliff Butler
(with forward by Sir Alex Ferguson) £9.06
The emergence in the 1950s of talented footballers such as Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton was a result of the first truly comprehensive scouting and coaching operation English football had known. As a player Matt Busby had learned through bitter experience of the 'sink or swim' approach that prevailed at most football clubs and realised that the harnessing of the full talents of footballers required a more involved approach. In "The Birth of the Babes", current Manchester United Academy coach Tony Whelan examines not only the roots of Matt Busby's socialism, his approach to the care of his players, but illustrates the system of scouts, coaches and trainers that made Manchester United a prototype for the youth systems of today. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and memorabilia culled from the private collections of many of the youth players of the time, "The Birth of the Babes" is essential reading for anyone interested in the pre-Munich era when United took English football by storm.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1901746453
Try these other great United related books from Amazon and earn a small commission for SU-MUST.
Stocking fillers (under £5)
Justyn Barnes's Little Book of Manchester United £2.99
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0233999957
Hanky Park's anti Glazer single 'We'll Never die' - £3.99
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=B000AO9OA8
Best Buys (under £10)
The Men in Black : Further Exploits of Manchester United's soccer mob
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1903854490
The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson - £5.59
Michael Crick's often critical, warts 'n' all biography of, arguably, the greatest football manager in British football history.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0743429915
Latest 'Blockbusters'
Manchester United Miscellany - John White - £6.99
More than a book of lists or compilation of trivia, the painstakingly researched miscellany will bring hours of reading pleasure to any United fan.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=0233001433
Manchester United in Europe: Tragedy, Destiny, History - Ken Ferris - £6.99
Manchester United's quest to win the European Cup was forged amidst the charred remains of an Elizabethan airliner that crashed on take-off at Munich's Riem Airport on 6 February 1958.
http://www.shareholdersunited.org/ama.php?id=1840188979
Visit http://www.shareholdersunited.org/shop.php for more great ideas for United related Christmas gifts from Amazon.
***********************************************
[5] WHAT THE PAPERS SAY - WEEKLY ROUND UP
Ballack not Utd bound
Michael Ballack will not leave Bayern Munich for Manchester United - or anyone else - during the January transfer window.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20989
Fifa president Sepp Blatter Again Backs Manchester United Supporters Against Glazer
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, Blatter gave his support to the United fans who have strongly opposed Malcolm Glazer's takeover at Old Trafford.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20970
Glazers banking on winners
MALCOLM GLAZER and his sons may have bought Manchester United from two horseracing magnates, but they were the ones taking the gamble.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20862
Managers told to get out of bed with agents
Club staff banned from holding shares in agencies
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20948
David Conn: The problem at Hearts is the trouble with British football
Vladimir Romanov admits to mixed motives for his controversial takeover but it's really a sign of the times
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20947
Chelsea's pitch not Abramovich's
For all the dramatic new-age-messiah rhetoric being spewed ad infinitum about Mr Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch does not even own the ground at Stamford Bridge that happens to be English Premiership club Chelsea's home in London. And if that is but one aspect of football's Byzantine complexities in the age of wanton commercialisation underscoring the fact that the astute Briton still has what it takes to roll in the stuff poured out by others, the flip side of the coin is that Mr Abramovich's largesse is just a loan.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20938
Uefa president accuses clubs of greed
Lennart Johansson, the Uefa president, has called for leading clubs to stop being so "greedy" in their demands for a larger share of cash from football.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20911
Fergie's £10m To Rebuild His Side (Only £15m short of Wigan's Transfer Kitty -Ed)
Fergie to strengthen his Manchester United squad in January with two new players after being given a £10million war chest by the Glazer brothers.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20903
Nike Considering Exit Clause In Their £300million Deal with Glazer's United
"Nike are concerned with what is happening at Old Trafford and they are looking at two specific areas - performance and profile.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20876
Glazer regime now attacks own fans
United's lawyers have written to the Financial Services Authority, objecting to the use of the words "Manchester United" in Manchester United Supporters Trust, on the basis that they are an official trademark.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20832
Supporters still need to pin their faith in trusts
Carrie Dunn, communications officer of Trust in Luton (TiL), explains why her work is even more challenging now than when the club's future hung in the balance
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20850
Revealed: the first Keane tape in cold storage Revealed: the first Keane tape in cold storage
United are secretly hiding a second MUTV interview with Roy Keane in which he criticised Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with such venom that Sir Alex Ferguson ordered it should never go out on air.
http://forum.suforum.org/showthread.php?t=20828