Al's Toy Barn Old Trafford
Joel Glazer sets fan forum date (4th June)
- Thread starter UnitedSofa
- Start date
Andy hasn’t got a clue what was said and is waiting to find out, bless him.
Spreading misinformation is not to be taken lightly. I'm glad @Roane has learnt from his misdemeanor. You'll do well not to be an enabler.
"Potentially substantial" 
Cheers officer
I love news that could potentially be substantial but also with a chance it's absolutely not substantial. Nothing in-between for me please.
Email following the Fan Forum
Email from the club:
As you may be aware, Joel Glazer, the club’s Executive Co-Chairman, today took part in a special meeting of our Fans’ Forum to listen to the views of supporters and set out his vision for a new era of dialogue and consultation with fans.
We want to share with you some of the main points from the meeting, in which Joel also discussed his ambitions for the club, along with his intentions for investment in Old Trafford and the training ground.
He said: “Our goal is to win every competition we compete in, and we will continue to invest in our Academy and in the transfer market to support the manager in an effort to meet the club’s goals.
“As a club we have devoted a lot of time and resources over the last several years updating and further developing our vast global scouting network to adapt to the modern football environment. This is a project that should provide a foundation for long-term success in the years to come.
“In addition, as you all know, we have also been focused on growing and developing our women’s team in line with the traditions and values of the club, and we are committed to continuing that process.
“Old Trafford is at the heart of Manchester United and while we have spent over £100m over the last 10 years on infrastructure projects, we will now accelerate the process of planning much more significant investment and upgrades to the stadium…rest assured, we will consult with supporters throughout the process to end up with a result we can all be proud of.
“The same goes for our training ground. Preliminary planning work is already under way and there will be significant funding available to further enhance our facilities and ensure they remain world class.”
Proposals to strengthen fan representation and the role of fans at the heart of the club were outlined, with a view to further refinement with MUST and the Fans’ Forum. These include:
• Creation of a Fan Advisory Board to consult with the club’s senior leadership and owners, in addition to a strengthened Fans’ Forum.
• The Board will be made up of representatives from the Forum and key fan groups to ensure the fans’ perspective is embedded within the club’s decision-making processes.
• The club has initiated a direct dialogue with MUST with the aim of identifying a mutually beneficial Fan Share Scheme involving a new class of shares which will each carry the same voting rights as the shares owned by the Glazer family. This would establish a foundation for supporters to build a meaningful ownership stake and create a new spirit of partnership with the club.
Joel also addressed the topic of the club’s self-sustaining model: “We want this club to always be successful and win trophies. To compete for trophies requires significant investment. The commercial growth at the club has helped deliver the revenue which ultimately underpins that investment in a sustainable manner. That approach has allowed us to have among the highest net transfer spend in world football over the last 5 years and have one of the highest wage bills. Also, as a direct result of our commercial business, we have kept ticket prices affordable for all fans and not raised season ticket prices in over 10 years This is an area that we as a club are very proud of.”
Following the meeting, Joel Glazer said:
“I was pleased to join the Fans’ Forum to listen to the views of supporters, address their questions, and share ideas on how we can improve the way we work together.
“As owners, we want exactly the same thing as the fans – a successful team and a strong club – and we want to work in partnership to achieve those objectives.
“Fans are the lifeblood of Manchester United and I am personally committed to ensuring that they are given an enhanced voice, through the creation of a Fan Advisory Board and a Fan Share Scheme.
“The club has been in discussions with MUST regarding a fan share scheme for a number of months and has already sought external legal advice on options. Discussions will now intensify, with the aim of agreeing a plan before the start of the new season.”
As you may be aware, Joel Glazer, the club’s Executive Co-Chairman, today took part in a special meeting of our Fans’ Forum to listen to the views of supporters and set out his vision for a new era of dialogue and consultation with fans.
We want to share with you some of the main points from the meeting, in which Joel also discussed his ambitions for the club, along with his intentions for investment in Old Trafford and the training ground.
He said: “Our goal is to win every competition we compete in, and we will continue to invest in our Academy and in the transfer market to support the manager in an effort to meet the club’s goals.
“As a club we have devoted a lot of time and resources over the last several years updating and further developing our vast global scouting network to adapt to the modern football environment. This is a project that should provide a foundation for long-term success in the years to come.
“In addition, as you all know, we have also been focused on growing and developing our women’s team in line with the traditions and values of the club, and we are committed to continuing that process.
“Old Trafford is at the heart of Manchester United and while we have spent over £100m over the last 10 years on infrastructure projects, we will now accelerate the process of planning much more significant investment and upgrades to the stadium…rest assured, we will consult with supporters throughout the process to end up with a result we can all be proud of.
“The same goes for our training ground. Preliminary planning work is already under way and there will be significant funding available to further enhance our facilities and ensure they remain world class.”
Proposals to strengthen fan representation and the role of fans at the heart of the club were outlined, with a view to further refinement with MUST and the Fans’ Forum. These include:
• Creation of a Fan Advisory Board to consult with the club’s senior leadership and owners, in addition to a strengthened Fans’ Forum.
• The Board will be made up of representatives from the Forum and key fan groups to ensure the fans’ perspective is embedded within the club’s decision-making processes.
• The club has initiated a direct dialogue with MUST with the aim of identifying a mutually beneficial Fan Share Scheme involving a new class of shares which will each carry the same voting rights as the shares owned by the Glazer family. This would establish a foundation for supporters to build a meaningful ownership stake and create a new spirit of partnership with the club.
Joel also addressed the topic of the club’s self-sustaining model: “We want this club to always be successful and win trophies. To compete for trophies requires significant investment. The commercial growth at the club has helped deliver the revenue which ultimately underpins that investment in a sustainable manner. That approach has allowed us to have among the highest net transfer spend in world football over the last 5 years and have one of the highest wage bills. Also, as a direct result of our commercial business, we have kept ticket prices affordable for all fans and not raised season ticket prices in over 10 years This is an area that we as a club are very proud of.”
Following the meeting, Joel Glazer said:
“I was pleased to join the Fans’ Forum to listen to the views of supporters, address their questions, and share ideas on how we can improve the way we work together.
“As owners, we want exactly the same thing as the fans – a successful team and a strong club – and we want to work in partnership to achieve those objectives.
“Fans are the lifeblood of Manchester United and I am personally committed to ensuring that they are given an enhanced voice, through the creation of a Fan Advisory Board and a Fan Share Scheme.
“The club has been in discussions with MUST regarding a fan share scheme for a number of months and has already sought external legal advice on options. Discussions will now intensify, with the aim of agreeing a plan before the start of the new season.”
To be fair I'm actually impressed by the responses. On other fora I've been on there would have been a meltdown with out questioning the content. Kudos to the lads on here
You had a few going!
Fair play.Tweet
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I'll believe it when I see it when it comes to all that. Show us the pudding.
Meh means nothing to me.
Did he announce Sancho?
Number 1 around fan ownership is huge - before season commences too. Shame they didn’t commit a portion of the money raised to go directly into the club.
Short of the Saudi’s offering several billion, they’re clearly not leaving any time soon no matter how much we storm OT. At least the protests have forced them to cede some ground, so if we’re stuck with them we need to at least continue to hold them accountable to not let the club rot. Personally I think the outcome of the forum was positive, but it doesn’t mean a lot until those words turn in to actions.
Point 8 by itself is inexcusable. This is a debt they put on the club.
No, but they did announce the meeting was sponsored by El Paso Nacho's.
What a load of bollocks. Nothing will change.
We will do that and we will do that and we will do that.....And it will all be clear what will be done once they appoint the next accountant as the chairman
Complete PR exercise.
Let's get back onto them first thing next season.
Let's get back onto them first thing next season.
Actions speak louder than words. I'll believe it when I see it.
They were never going to make that sort of commitment. With so much uncertainty around the future of the game right now it would be madness to commit to a massive cash injection.
Won't commit to servicing their debt and feels their dividend payments are fair. They can f*ck off. Scum.
Some reasons for cautious optimism, but its all talk until there is action and actual change.
I'm not going to pretend like I understand how to run a large business and what the debt actually means in terms of it's impact on United, as they've been very content to just operate with a ton of debt with no intent on paying it off for 16 years now, but yeah the rest is fine. Dividend payments shouldn't really be a surprise generally, though it was scummy to take them amid the covid crisis.
Seems the whole point of the meeting was to emphasize this new "Shares scheme" and claim it as fans deciding things at the club.
Absolute fluff wrapped up in nothingness, they're not changing their ways to the debt and dividends and are basically shoving it in our faces at this point.
The fans shares scheme will have little to no effect, they'll protect their asset in United by making sure not enough shares are released.
The fans shares scheme will have little to no effect, they'll protect their asset in United by making sure not enough shares are released.
Is there a reason why they’re not paying it off? I mean, beyond the money going in their pockets instead. Some sort of financial shadiness/tax avoidance or something?
Yeah that was fantasy. I did expect a commitment to at least reign in dividend payments though.
First game of next season - postponed. 
Wont commit to paying off debt…. Reckon that’s another deal breaker for the local fans
Clueless
Nail on the head. fecking wankers.
If those 'concessions' is all we get, our fans have bottled this worse than our players in the semis and EL final.
We've shown them we won't kick them out the same way the scousers did with their previous owners. In fact, we'd be willing to accept the crumbs they've thrown our way and will probably won't deliver on half of those promises to 100%, based on recent and past experiences.
We've shown them we won't kick them out the same way the scousers did with their previous owners. In fact, we'd be willing to accept the crumbs they've thrown our way and will probably won't deliver on half of those promises to 100%, based on recent and past experiences.
I don't understand economics much, but isn't there a concept called "Good debt". Many big companies keep debt as a source of funding.
The share scheme is literally the main demand from MUST...they aren’t arbitrarily shouting GLAZER OUT - they want a mechanism to buy shares with voting rights so the fans have a say.
Is there uncertainty around the future of the game? There is certainly uncertainty around the money being paid and recieved by various parties in football but the game remains quite strong especially in Europe. The more they delay paying off the debt , the more we end up paying interest and never doing anything to bring it down. I would have had it as demand number 1 personally. A debt free united will always earn more than enough money to be stable and strong. This road could lead to very dangerous things.
Actions > Words
I’ll wait for the promises to realise. Not holding my breath.
I’ll wait for the promises to realise. Not holding my breath.
Great job MUST 