MANCHESTER UNITED are close to agreeing a new fan share scheme in a bid to make amends for their part in the European Super League scandal.
According to the club, discussions with the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) have been underway for many months to get the scheme up and running.
A statement released by the club yesterday reads: “We are in advanced talks with MUST about a Fans’ Share Scheme which would open a path for fans to build, over time, a meaningful ownership stake in Manchester United.
“This would give fans a strong collective voice within our ownership structure and help cement a new spirit of long-term partnership between fans and the club.
“There are significant legal and regulatory complexities being worked through, together with MUST and expert advisers.
“As well as making progress on the Fans’ Share Scheme, we are also creating a Fans’ Advisory Board as a new channel for board-level dialogue with supporters and this is close to launch.”
The share scheme and advisory board were proposed by co-owner Joel Glazer at a fans’ forum last June in response to protests about his family’s ownership.
Glazer suggested that the share scheme and advisory board would help to “reset the relationship with our supporters [and] strengthen the club as a whole”.
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It came to light that Glazer had played a major role in the club’s involvement in the controversial Super League, which saw fan protests amp up in April this year.
United, along with the other five Premier League clubs involved, withdrew from the proposed competition within just 72 hours of its announcement.
There was heavy backlash from fans, pundits, players and government ministers, who condemned the clubs’ actions and proposed sanctions for the clubs involved.
United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal all agreed to pay a £25m fine and take a 30-point deduction if they attempted to revive the plot.
A group of 20 protestors invaded the United training ground to protest the Glazers’ ownership of the club, with the players having calm them down.
Their match against rivals Liverpool was then in jeopardy after a further Old Trafford protest involving around 10,000 fans almost spilled out of control.
Around a hundred fans stormed Old Trafford’s grounds before kick-off and others blocked the entrance to the Lowry Hotel, stopping the players from leaving.
And the new fan share scheme has been officially announced seven-months later to appease the club’s supporters, capping off a difficult year at Old Trafford.
The details surrounding the fan ownership scheme should be formally agreed by the end of the year, but will then be subject to a ballot of ‘MUST’ members.
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