Man Utd agree to fans owning meaningful shares in club

Forum 1 year ago

Man Utd agree to fans owning meaningful shares in club

Manchester United are believed to have agreed to a fan share scheme that intends to give supporters influence in the running of the club.

Co-chairman Joel Glazer first promised to enter talks with fans regarding owning shares in the club in the wake of the European super league scandal over a year ago, with the protests that erupted over the failed breakaway attempt demanding change in the way United do things.

As of April this year, talks had not managed to find an agreement. But The Guardian has now reported a breakthrough on an agreement that was put to members of the Manchester United Supporters Trust in a ballot on Tuesday.

The proposed scheme is expected to be accepted by MUST members based on 99% stating that they would in an exit poll. If accepted by fans, it will go to the United board, but the club has been described as ‘hopeful’ it will be accepted, suggesting that could merely be a formality.

The crucial aspect of the fan share scheme is that those issued to supporters would be new Class B shares, which match the type of shares the Glazer family owns. Class B shares carry 10 times the voting power of the Class A Ordinary shares that are owned by most shareholders.

When co-chairman Avram Glazer sold more than £70m worth of shares in 2021, reducing his personal stake in the club by around 10%, he exclusively relinquished Class A Ordinary shares. The Glazer family’s overall stake in United is just under 75%.