Sean B
23rd December 2005, 02:43
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 22 DECEMBER 2005
SU BECOMES A MUST
SHAREHOLDERS UNITED has completed its conversion from a limited company to an industrial & provident society, overseen by and registered with the Financial Services Authority, in common with all other supporters trusts under the Supporters Direct umbrella.
As part of this process, SU has also changed its name to MUST – the independent Manchester United supporters trust. We were prevented from calling ourselves ‘Manchester United Supporters Trust Limited’ because the club under the Glazers objected to our use of their registered trademark ‘Manchester United’ - they claimed this might confuse and mislead people that our organisation was somehow affiliated to or endorsed by United. We are happy to confirm this is not the case – not yet anyway.
All our 33,000+ members automatically become members of MUST, which remains a one-person/one-vote, not-for-profit organisation, but now with mutual status.
MUST’s aims and objectives remain the same – to give the fans a say in the running of their club and to achieve a collective ownership stake to make sure that voice is heard. That day is coming closer.
We always said that the Glazer business plan was aggressive and over-optimistic. Recent events have undermined it even further:
* Vodafone terminated its sponsorship early - finding a new deal at a higher price is not proving easy
* United failed to progress beyond the CL group stage – up to £15m in lost revenue
* Attendances down and demand for tickets has fallen alarmingly at Old Trafford
* NIKE is rumoured to be unhappy with the declining returns on its merchandising deal and is likely to terminate next year
Overnight, United went from being the most profitable, debt-free club in the world to the most debt-ridden in football history. The £650m which Glazer borrowed to buy United is costing around £300,000 PER DAY (and rising) for SEVEN YEARS – without counting the cost of actually repaying the debt itself. The club and the fans are expected to fund all of this. But with his revenue & profit targets looking like a distant dream, how can Glazer possibly find the money to service & repay these huge debts as well as rebuilding the team?
We know which will come first. Glazer cannot be directly held responsible for what has happened on the pitch so far this season. But the club’s finances, weighed down with debt and underperformance, will have a huge negative effect on the playing side before too long.
The future
MUST will be announcing a series of revenue-sharing deals & fundraising projects in the New Year, after our official re-launch in mid-January. Some are already in place (e.g. our ground-breaking telecom deal with bd1, part of the Blue Diamond Group – see www.mustmobile.com). We are confident of raising tens of £millions in the coming years, building on the several £million that our members have already contributed.
What are we going to do with this money?
Buy our United shares back – and more. It is becoming clear to many (perhaps even the Glazers) that their leveraged deal to buy United is not going to work and the club will be coming back onto the market – perhaps within the next year or so.
MUST on its own will not raise the funds required to buy back Manchester United from the Glazers. But ours will be a significant contribution to the warchest which is being put together by those who cannot sit by while our club passes into the control of the hedge funds and the banks. MUST is still working with Nomura Investment Bank, and other wealthy United-supporting parties, building for the day when we have the opportunity to reclaim our club from this financial folly.
This time, the fans will not be denied.
For more information, please contact:
Nick Towle (Chair) 07770 226681
Oliver Houston (Vice-Chair) 07855 097753
Sean Bones (Vice-Chair) 07743 001164
Total recorded attendances at OT this season (from the official MU site) for all 14 home games (not just PL):
= 881,136
Capacity at OT for those 14 games @ 67,800 = 949,200
Total attendance as % of capacity: 92.82%
Lost revenue to date @ average £30 per ticket £2,041,920
We can assume that, based on previous years attendances, this decline was not in the business plan. There is a significant drop in the cup games since even last year – e.g. there was almost a full gate in the 3rd round tie against non-league Exeter in Jan. 2005.
Demand for tickets to United games has up to now always outstripped supply – two years ago, we were told by the club, demand was average 12,000 over capacity for every home game. This season? Close to zero. How to tell - look at the MU website before every home game. Tickets are always available, sometimes on general sale at the gate on matchday (unheard of for many years). Executive packages are regularly offered at half price and it is no longer difficult to get tickets for a game (other than the big ones - Arsenal, Pool, Chelsea and City). This trend is likely to continue with a team in transition and a club weighed down by debt.
SU BECOMES A MUST
SHAREHOLDERS UNITED has completed its conversion from a limited company to an industrial & provident society, overseen by and registered with the Financial Services Authority, in common with all other supporters trusts under the Supporters Direct umbrella.
As part of this process, SU has also changed its name to MUST – the independent Manchester United supporters trust. We were prevented from calling ourselves ‘Manchester United Supporters Trust Limited’ because the club under the Glazers objected to our use of their registered trademark ‘Manchester United’ - they claimed this might confuse and mislead people that our organisation was somehow affiliated to or endorsed by United. We are happy to confirm this is not the case – not yet anyway.
All our 33,000+ members automatically become members of MUST, which remains a one-person/one-vote, not-for-profit organisation, but now with mutual status.
MUST’s aims and objectives remain the same – to give the fans a say in the running of their club and to achieve a collective ownership stake to make sure that voice is heard. That day is coming closer.
We always said that the Glazer business plan was aggressive and over-optimistic. Recent events have undermined it even further:
* Vodafone terminated its sponsorship early - finding a new deal at a higher price is not proving easy
* United failed to progress beyond the CL group stage – up to £15m in lost revenue
* Attendances down and demand for tickets has fallen alarmingly at Old Trafford
* NIKE is rumoured to be unhappy with the declining returns on its merchandising deal and is likely to terminate next year
Overnight, United went from being the most profitable, debt-free club in the world to the most debt-ridden in football history. The £650m which Glazer borrowed to buy United is costing around £300,000 PER DAY (and rising) for SEVEN YEARS – without counting the cost of actually repaying the debt itself. The club and the fans are expected to fund all of this. But with his revenue & profit targets looking like a distant dream, how can Glazer possibly find the money to service & repay these huge debts as well as rebuilding the team?
We know which will come first. Glazer cannot be directly held responsible for what has happened on the pitch so far this season. But the club’s finances, weighed down with debt and underperformance, will have a huge negative effect on the playing side before too long.
The future
MUST will be announcing a series of revenue-sharing deals & fundraising projects in the New Year, after our official re-launch in mid-January. Some are already in place (e.g. our ground-breaking telecom deal with bd1, part of the Blue Diamond Group – see www.mustmobile.com). We are confident of raising tens of £millions in the coming years, building on the several £million that our members have already contributed.
What are we going to do with this money?
Buy our United shares back – and more. It is becoming clear to many (perhaps even the Glazers) that their leveraged deal to buy United is not going to work and the club will be coming back onto the market – perhaps within the next year or so.
MUST on its own will not raise the funds required to buy back Manchester United from the Glazers. But ours will be a significant contribution to the warchest which is being put together by those who cannot sit by while our club passes into the control of the hedge funds and the banks. MUST is still working with Nomura Investment Bank, and other wealthy United-supporting parties, building for the day when we have the opportunity to reclaim our club from this financial folly.
This time, the fans will not be denied.
For more information, please contact:
Nick Towle (Chair) 07770 226681
Oliver Houston (Vice-Chair) 07855 097753
Sean Bones (Vice-Chair) 07743 001164
Total recorded attendances at OT this season (from the official MU site) for all 14 home games (not just PL):
= 881,136
Capacity at OT for those 14 games @ 67,800 = 949,200
Total attendance as % of capacity: 92.82%
Lost revenue to date @ average £30 per ticket £2,041,920
We can assume that, based on previous years attendances, this decline was not in the business plan. There is a significant drop in the cup games since even last year – e.g. there was almost a full gate in the 3rd round tie against non-league Exeter in Jan. 2005.
Demand for tickets to United games has up to now always outstripped supply – two years ago, we were told by the club, demand was average 12,000 over capacity for every home game. This season? Close to zero. How to tell - look at the MU website before every home game. Tickets are always available, sometimes on general sale at the gate on matchday (unheard of for many years). Executive packages are regularly offered at half price and it is no longer difficult to get tickets for a game (other than the big ones - Arsenal, Pool, Chelsea and City). This trend is likely to continue with a team in transition and a club weighed down by debt.