MUST | Sign For United | Fan Ownership

Ali Dia

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MUST STATEMENT ISSUED TO MEDIA TODAY:

MUST APPEALS TO GLOBAL FANBASE FOLLOWING AMBER LIGHT FOR FAN SHARE SCHEME


In a first ever meeting between Joel Glazer and the Manchester United Fans’ Forum - in which there was a frank exchange of views - it was revealed that Manchester United is in talks with MUST (the Manchester United Supporters Trust www.imust.org.uk) about a potentially revolutionary new Fan Share Scheme which, if it goes ahead, would allow fans to buy shares in Manchester United with the same super-voting rights as those previously held exclusively by the Glazer Family.

Joel Glazer was held to account on a series of issues including debt, dividend payments, tickets prices, lack of investment in the stadium and lack of engagement with supporters for 16 years.

MUST is cautious about whether this Fan Share Scheme will meet their own tests before they give it approval as despite the huge concession on voting rights that this proposal signals as ever the devil is always in the detail.

In particular, despite Joel Glazers’ assertion that this will be “the largest fan ownership group in world sport”, MUST is concerned that there is a risk that the scheme will limit the number of such Fan Shares made available so reducing the opportunity for this to achieve a meaningful collective fan ownership stake - and ultimately with the potential to result in a change in control of the club.

For that reason - MUST is today signalling their intention to recruit the millions of members of Manchester United's huge global fanbase to unite behind their campaign and sign up to their pre-launch “Sign For United” campaign site at www.SignForUnited.org so they can be part of the campaign when it launches in the next 10 days.

The aim of the campaign is to demonstrate the huge appetite amongst United support for a better model of ownership which embraces the fans at its heart and in so doing compel the club to deliver a really revolutionary Fan Share Scheme which will both excite the fans and also exceed their demand for shares.​
 

Ali Dia

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i won’t. It’s really only a novelty for me. I can see why some people would buy shares to own part of the club though.
I hear you. That’s a totally acceptable stance. How do we know we aren’t just paying for/papering over the glazers sloppy mistakes of the last 16 years. What happens if the club is sold? Where does the money from the new shares go. Can we vote in future. There’s loads of questions to be answered before I’d put a few k in as it’s a lot of money to me but yeah it’s something I can see myself doing if it’s a genuine initiative by the glazers to involve the fans at board level.
 

Tom Cato

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Very curious to find out more about the shares offered. If it makes sense I'm going in with 6 figures.
 
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I hear you. That’s a totally acceptable stance. How do we know we aren’t just paying for/papering over the glazers sloppy mistakes of the last 16 years. What happens if the club is sold? Where does the money from the new shares go. Can we vote in future. There’s loads of questions to be answered before I’d put a few k in as it’s a lot of money to me but yeah it’s something I can see myself doing if it’s a genuine initiative by the glazers to involve the fans at board level.
I’ve got a few shares in companies with voting rights, and never voted as I can’t be arsed. That’s not to say I agree with the glazers, but I know full well if I had a few shares, the chances of me exercising my right to vote is minimal as I’d never get my admin in order.

in addition, I don’t think it’s a good investment decision - and I’m afraid to say, I don’t have money to invest that I don’t think is going to do much for me.

I would rather see a small number of far richer fans buy significant shares and be able to put across their views than a million fans owning £50 each (indicative figures obviously).
 
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'MUST is cautious about whether this Fan Share Scheme will meet their own tests before they give it approval as despite the huge concession on voting rights that this proposal signals as ever the devil is always in the detail"


No chance in hell the Glazers will establish anything that can override what they want. Glazers will always retain ultimate control.

This might get a few positive headlines, but anyone trusting these cnuts is a mug
 

Ali Dia

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I’ve got a few shares in companies with voting rights, and never voted as I can’t be arsed. That’s not to say I agree with the glazers, but I know full well if I had a few shares, the chances of me exercising my right to vote is minimal as I’d never get my admin in order.

in addition, I don’t think it’s a good investment decision - and I’m afraid to say, I don’t have money to invest that I don’t think is going to do much for me.

I would rather see a small number of far richer fans buy significant shares and be able to put across their views than a million fans owning £50 each (indicative figures obviously).
Not trying to be argumentative but every 50 quid the fans put in is hypothetically 50 quid less power the glazers have.

I could see how they would be a very risky investment. The glazers have shown time and time again that they are spoofers when it comes to sport. They are reactionary and they are clearly learning on the job….
 

Tom Cato

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@Tom Cato do you think they’ll make money for investors or is it just to have a big stake in something you love?
https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/Man Utd/dividend/ - Manchester United do pay out dividends annually. But the key factor for any investor here would be stock valuation and potential profit on sale.

My motivation personally is to own a reasonably sizeable stake in the club I love, with the potential to see the investment go up in value following success on the pitch.
 

Ali Dia

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https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/Man Utd/dividend/ - Manchester United do pay out dividends annually. But the key factor for any investor here would be stock valuation and potential profit on sale.

My motivation personally is to own a reasonably sizeable stake in the club I love, with the potential to see the investment go up in value following success on the pitch.
I can see a lot of the ex players going big in on this too.
 

crossy1686

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'MUST is cautious about whether this Fan Share Scheme will meet their own tests before they give it approval as despite the huge concession on voting rights that this proposal signals as ever the devil is always in the detail"


No chance in hell the Glazers will establish anything that can override what they want. Glazers will always retain ultimate control.

This might get a few positive headlines, but any trusting these cnuts is a mug
How do you get customers to spend more money? Give them what they want.

They will listen to the fans but only when it suits them. It's no different than McDonalds bringing back the szechuan sauce due to customer demand on social media. Anyone thinking the fans will get to decide anything fundamental at United when they don't own the club is a bizarre fantasy at best.

And this isn't a dig at the Glazers, at least they've agreed to listen moving forward, which is a step in the right direction. But they're not going to do anything groundbreaking except copy other businesses that have done the same. We might even get a bit of the "we listened to you, it went tits up, now will you let us just run this thing?" treatment at some point also. Like when the fans were asking for 442 and Fergie played and we dropped points to Blackburn. Everyone shut up after that.
 

crossy1686

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https://www.marketbeat.com/stocks/NYSE/Man Utd/dividend/ - Manchester United do pay out dividends annually. But the key factor for any investor here would be stock valuation and potential profit on sale.

My motivation personally is to own a reasonably sizeable stake in the club I love, with the potential to see the investment go up in value following success on the pitch.
United's stock price has barely moved in the last 16 years, sports teams don't make anywhere near enough money to be big movers in the stock market. You'd most likely lose money as would anyone thinking that United is good investment.
 
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Not trying to be argumentative but every 50 quid the fans put in is hypothetically 50 quid less power the glazers have.

I could see how they would be a very risky investment. The glazers have shown time and time again that they are spoofers when it comes to sport. They are reactionary and they are clearly learning on the job….
i think you’ve missed my point. Individual fans really won’t yield any power - the same number of shares concentrated across a few shareholders would be far more impactful.
 

crossy1686

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based on the premise that new owners would try to buy up as much stock as possible. I could be wrong. It’s far from my area of expertise. I’m just assuming that’s where the real money would be made
I'm not 100% familiar with the United stock but I am with the stock market so bear with me a second.

I think any new owners would have to buy the 'A' option shares or 'insider shares', which are the one's with voting rights, that currently aren't available on the stock market as the Glazers and board own them. The stock market has been flooded with pretty much worthless shares that's just owning a stake in the club with no say in what happens regardless of how many you own, this is pretty common. So as far as I know, new owners wouldn't affect the price much, only PR would affect United's stock price and no one outside of the UK with money really cares about a football team.
 

Tom Cato

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United's stock price has barely moved in the last 16 years, sports teams don't make anywhere near enough money to be big movers in the stock market. You'd most likely lose money as would anyone thinking that United is good investment.
It's a good investment the day the club is sold. Typically I only invest in companies with a more volatile potential, so this is purely a affectionate ownership stake.

A general rule of thumb, get in early and risk taking a loss, or don't get in and watch the boat sail. Just don't spend money you can't afford to lose.

There is a potential for a LOT of buzz if the ownership stake takes off globally and enough people get interested. So its a maybe-maybe scenario.
 

Valencia's Left Foot

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United's stock price has barely moved in the last 16 years, sports teams don't make anywhere near enough money to be big movers in the stock market. You'd most likely lose money as would anyone thinking that United is good investment.
Not so sure about that...see Gamestop or AMC. Fans investment into United will be based upon emotion which could in turn drive the price much higher than United's actual worth.
 

crossy1686

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It's a good investment the day the club is sold. Typically I only invest in companies with a more volatile potential, so this is purely a affectionate ownership stake.

A general rule of thumb, get in early and risk taking a loss, or don't get in and watch the boat sail. Just don't spend money you can't afford to lose.

There is a potential for a LOT of buzz if the ownership stake takes off globally and enough people get interested. So its a maybe-maybe scenario.
I could literally talk stocks all day but I would never invest in United unless there was more volatility and price action. It's moved sideways in a $4 range for 16 years with very low volume. Even on a sale the club wouldn't move much, in fact it would probably go down from the people who bought the rumor and sold the news.
 

crossy1686

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Not so sure about that...see Gamestop or AMC. Fans investment into United will be based upon emotion which could in turn drive the price much higher than United's actual worth.
Well if we can convince the American public that their childhood was somehow positively affected by United, and United is being shorted to death, we might be in with a shout
 

owlo

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21%. Must vote as a block. Would be amazing and revolutionary
 

Ali Dia

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I see. There are definite questions that would need to be answered before Id throw money at it but I remain interested. I doubt too many protesting fans would be interested in shelling out for shares without voting rights or any representation on the board. If it’s just a glorified whip around to help the glazers fix the stadium/their image after they’ve taken their hundreds of millions out then that’s not going to go down well and the fans will surely keep protesting. I’m hoping it’s a new dawn. Yes I know I probably sound naive. It’s potentially the biggest news at the club in years or else it’s just another PR exercise.
 

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Manchester United mkt cap as of today is $2.71 bn, debt - $630 million. Glazers must restructure the club ownership. No more class A and class B shares crap. Club issues new shares and raises $1 bln to clear the debt and form $370 million {£265 million) transfer kit. Furthermore, Glazers should put $700 million to $1 billion worth of their own shares for sale; their share must go under 50%. I’m sure there are a lot of high net worth Man Utd fans who could be interested in buying a seat in the Board. Also, MUST should have presence in the Board with veto right on certain decisions. It’s all doable. Glazers will cash out billion dollars but will lose power. Not a bad proposal, otherwise they will receive a total war with the fans.
I predicted this. I am genius.:cool::D