Shareholders United is a pressure group whose members are shareholding supporters of Manchester United F.C.. The group wants the football club to remain independent.
The group believes that fans can demonstrate their commitment to the club by owning shares in it. It maintains that the best interests of the club are served by supporters who, it claims, understand and care about the club more than any business conglomerate. Shareholders United also claims that the cost of going to see matches would be made prohibitively expensive if the club were taken over.
The group was founded in 1998 as 'Shareholders United Against Murdoch', to stop a proposed takeover by Australian media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. His bid for control of the club was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. The group then changed its name simply to Shareholders United, and began to defend Man United against any other takeover.
In 2004, the American businessman Malcolm Glazer made an attempt to buy the club, but was rebuffed because of the large amount of borrowing his bid would rely on. The PLC felt he would mortgage the club's future to pay for his bid. This was seen as a victory for Shareholders United, but Glazer has launched further takeover bids, most recently on 14 April 2005. It is thought that these have a greater chance of being successful.
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Last updated: 05-17-2005 17:52:01
