Manchester United vs Manchester City

Lore & Background

The club was formed as Newton Heath LYR Football Club, the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot in Newton Heath, in 1878. It split from the railway company in 1892 and changed its name to Manchester United after being saved from bankruptcy in 1902. The club was the subject of takeover bids from Robert Maxwell in 1984 and Michael Knighton in 1989, before going public in 1991. Malcolm Glazer's stake was announced in September 2003; by the end of 2003 he had increased his shareholding to around 15%, and by October 2004 it neared 30%.

In May 2005, he acquired John Magnier and J. P. McManus's 28.7% stake, pushing his own to around 57%, then took control of 75% of shares, delisting the company from the London Stock Exchange. Within a month, the Glazers took 98% ownership via Red Football, forcing a squeeze-out of the remaining 2%. The final purchase price totalled almost £800 million. Most of the capital came in the form of loans secured against the club's assets, incurring interest payments of over £60 million per annum.

The remainder came in the form of PIK loans, which were later sold to hedge funds. In January 2010, the club carried out a £500 million bond issue; the PIKs stood at around £207 million by March 2010 and were paid off in November 2010. In August 2012, the Glazers sold shares in an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Reader's Guide

Some Manchester United fans opposed Glazer's takeover, particularly once they realised the level of debt the club would have to take on. Fans took to the streets to protest. Disgruntled fans launched F.C. United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and played in the sixth tier National League North from 2015 to 2019. Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust have worked on ways of returning ownership to supporters, including a failed attempt in 2010 to purchase the club in a billion-pound takeover bid alongside a group of wealthy fans dubbed the 'Red Knights'. Other organizations such as the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association and The 1958 have made additional attempts to varying success.