Manchester United fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Norwegian team manager hired three years ago, after the English football club lost 4-1 against Watford on Saturday Nov. 20, its fifth defeat in the first seven matches of this season’s Premier League. The dismal score, which is infuriating the club’s fans, will make it more difficult for this major club to qualify for the European Champions’ League.
A few days earlier, ManUnited said it is about to finalize the details for the establishment of a Fans’ Share Scheme and a Fans’ Advisory Board to “reset the relationship” between the English football club and its fans, who protested on Saturday Nov. 20, criticizing the ways in which it has been managed since the rich American Glazer family took over its control in 2005. They forced the club’s megastore to shut down after throwing flares in front of it.
ManU fans also protested earlier this year against its plan to join a proposed European Super League.
The share scheme would allow the club’s fans to build up over time “a meaningful stake in Manchester United,” the company said on Monday Nov. 22, announcing “advanced talks with MUST,” which stands for the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust. The scheme would allow fans to have the same voting rights per share as the Glazer family, but the company said there were still significant legal and regulatory complexities that still needed to be worked out.
The shares would likely be sold by two Glazer family trusts. Reports indicated last month that The Glazer family was envisaging the sale of 9,500,000 shares at $17.50 each, after another large disposal of some of their holdings earlier this year. The move would reduce its over stake in ManU from 75 percent to around 69 percent. After reaching a 52-week peak of $20.86 in late September, the company’s share price has since declined to around $15.
ManUnited, which currently scores sixth in the English Premier League, reported an adjusted net loss of £12.5 million (€14.9m-$16.8m) for its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 49.2 percent down from the same period of 2020. Total revenues went up by 16.1 percent to £126.5 million (€150.4m-$170.4m), boosted by a jump of 1,009 percent in matchday revenues to £18.8 million (€22.3m-$25.3m) as its home games were played in front full-capacity crowds.
Broadcasting revenues declined by 9.0 percent to £43.3 million (€51.4m-$58.3m), but commercial revenues went up by 7.9 percent to £64.4 million (€76.5m-$86.7m) on higher revenues from merchandising, apparel and product licensing that were partly offset by a decrease in sponsorship revenues of 0.5 percent to £36.3 million (€43.1m-$48.9m). Adidas is the club’s official kit sponsor, and the club recently signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with TeamViewer.
The club ended the quarter with higher net debt of £439.7 million (€522.5m-$592.1m), but its board decided nevertheless to pay a small dividend to the company’s shareholders on Jan. 7. The issue of new share would help refinance the company.
