What would it take for United to lose supporters en masse?

[NewGlory]

Not trying to start a flamewar. Just legitimately worried. Hear me out before you get all up in arms.

Our problem is club ownership. Not temporal thing that can be fixed in several years, not a bad manager, not bad squad, or any of that. We have club ownership that has proven to be absolutely hopeless and completely uninterested in us winning, as long as their wallets do well.

Case in point: we are still in Champions League, still in very tough fight for top 4 (next year's Champions League) which has direct impact on what footballers we can attract and maybe even which manager for rebuild, we are still in FA Cup. And our ownership refuses to buy a defensive midfielder to give us a fighting chance! They basically threw away the season when we still have a lot to fight for. Tells you a lot about who our club is owned by.

It is very realistic under the circumstances, under this ownership that we will see decades of decline and not winning anything worthwhile. Many long-time fans will obviously love this club for the rest of our lives, but what happens when we realize - this club has reached the point of having nothing to do with the club we've loved, other than the name? What happens when Glazers ruin everything to that point? Is there a breaking point when millions of supporters decide, Man United doesn't exist anymore and will move on?

United is not just some club. It is one of world's most decorated, important, biggest and important clubs. Can we really get adjusted to long-term becoming a club that can't even fight for high titles?

When does the club stop being itself? Is title and legal status enough even if everything else is lost?

 

[ufb]

Football supporter are rather 'sticky', most of us will continue to support United or at the least watch/follow games. Years and years of irrelevance will eventually stop the new generation of fans from supporting united and at some point that will translate to a loss of supporters. From their perspective - what do United really have to offer? History doesn't matter as much as we think, and at some point our slide will be quite off-putting to new supporters.

I've been supporting United all my adult life, and just this year decided to start watching my local team in the NFL more. I'm not really emotionally invested in their fortunes, and can enjoy the a new sport without stressing out over every single game like I do with United.

 

[DRJosh]

I think as long as United’s commercial interests are met with main advertising revenue streams unimpeded, their global appeal will remain.

Until a shift of focus is initiated from money to football, I think fans will continue wrestling with their declining on-the-pitch fortunes of one of the worlds most decorated club.

If the money stops, then that’s when it starts to get “real”

 

[Ace Krampus]

I can't imagine. I'd rather stop watching a sport entirely than get into a new team, in any sport. And as a 32 year old who lives alone and loves getting drunk at bars, what am I supposed to replace sports with? Meditation? Wood carving?

 

[Bestie07]

Pool were mostly irrelevant for a couple of decades but still retained their global appeal. We'll be fine, just need to hope that we stumble upon a winning formula somehow.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

I can't imagine. I'd rather stop watching a sport entirely than get into a new team, in any sport. And as a 32 year old who lives alone and loves getting drunk at bars, what am I supposed to replace sports with? Meditation? Wood carving?

Same for me. I have stopped watching football. I was in because if the entertainment and utd doesn't even come close to that word anymore.

 

[leon24]

It’ll not lose supporters overnight but the effect will only be felt decades later.

When teams are a dominating force for a long period, they stand to gain support of the majority who are just beginning to watch soccer during that period of dominance, who doesn’t want to cheer the team playing most exciting football?

Supporters tend to stay with the team usually, take Liverpool and Man Utd fans for example. I believe many Liverpool fans started supporting Liverpool in the 80-90s while Man Utd fans started supporting Man Utd in 90s onwards till few years back and I’m certain there were way more new Man Utd fans from 90s onwards than compared to few years back.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

Yea as a poster above said, when the money stops. At the moment, the Glazers are able to throw a shiny new toy in front of the fans whenever we get angry (example: Ronaldo and Sancho this summer because of the anger at the super league).

I truly believe the time when we are no longer able to do that is close. I put this in another thread but there are a few serious reasons why we can’t spend big enough anymore

- debt payments and dividends must be paid in full even though we have a bad season such as this one
- too many costly mistakes are adding up, we now cannot get any money for selling players and they are all leaving for free
- if we miss out on champions league which looks likely this year and certainly in the next few years then it decreases sponsorship and broadcast money significantly
- years of no trophies and not competing is going to begin to have an effect as we loose out on foreign fans and the younger generation
- serious stadium rebuilding will be needed in the not so distant future
- Glazers now know we can no longer compete with Man City and Chelsea financially so have stopped trying. This is dangerous as when the ultimate aim is top 4, we will inevitably end up a top 4 - 8 team as standards drop amongst players and our perception is seen as we are beatable

I hate to be negative but can only see dark times ahead with the Glazers

 

[KirkDuyt]

I doubt any serious and living supporter would ever change clubs. God knows I'd have by now if it were an option.

Not sure why I added the word living to this. But eh.

 

[We need an rvn]

I doubt any serious and living supporter would ever change clubs. God knows I'd have by now if it were an option.

Not sure why I added the word living to this. But eh.

Because if they were dead they couldn’t change their mind…

 

[Deery]

I was actually thinking about this recently and I think it’ll happen very soon the next generation aren’t sitting around for another rebuild and older fans will eventually get bored.

 

[padzilla]

We've already lost ground in our global standing, the likes of Liverpool have overtaken us in stature, they have sold more shirts than us in recent years - something that seemed impossible a decade ago.

 

[KirkDuyt]

I was actually thinking about this recently and I think it’ll happen very soon the next generation aren’t sitting around for another rebuild and older fans will eventually get bored.

"new" supporters will probably flock to City PSG etc. I see it here too. 20 years ago kids rana round in Arsenal shirts, now I'm not sure any of the Dutch shops even still sell them. All PSG and Real now. A relatively small amount of fans get their club passend down from. Their parents/family etc. Everyone just goes on Twitter to see who has the most followers now and support that.

Not my son though, I've already started the indoctrinatie process.

 

[Amsterdam Devil]

I can imagine supporters losing some interest in United and follow the club less but I don’t think most of them will change clubs. For young kids it’s different, they will probably start supporting other clubs. But as mentioned above, Liverpool retained their status although they were shit for a couple of decades or so. With four clubs in the champions league nowadays instead of just the champion United can still make this important competition and stay relevant for supporters around the globe.

 

[ManchesterManchester]

I doubt any serious and living supporter would ever change clubs. God knows I'd have by now if it were an option.

Not sure why I added the word living to this. But eh.

But supporters can stop going to games and buying shirts and still not change clubs. That alone would kill the club or atleast the glazers.

 

[Red00012]

Supporters will tend to stick with the club but if I was to compare me growing up as a child all my mates followed Utd but when i bring my son to football training these days he’s surrounded by Liverpool jerseys.
So I think down the line we’ll be outnumbered due to Liverpool recent success and our decline.

 

[KirkDuyt]

But supporters can stop going to games and buying shirts and still not change clubs. That alone would kill the club or atleast the glazers.

Fair enough, but success is not everything. PSV has been better than Feyenoord since the 80s, but we still have more domestic supporters.

Hell even Ronaldo, Romario, Robben en Ruud didn't change that.

 

[Deery]

"new" supporters will probably flock to City PSG etc. I see it here too. 20 years ago kids rana round in Arsenal shirts, now I'm not sure any of the Dutch shops even still sell them. All PSG and Real now. A relatively small amount of fans get their club passend down from. Their parents/family etc. Everyone just goes on Twitter to see who has the most followers now and support that.

Not my son though, I've already started the indoctrinatie process.

Yeah I see this already one nephew has decided to support City even after I bought him a full United kit and constantly tried to get him to support them, but sadly goals are all they really care about at that age and winning.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Nothing.

I remember under Fergie, it was quite easy to get tickets to games. Now it’s seriously hard work.

 

[Escobar]

Continue like that. Maybe not lose some of the long term fans but definitely not winning new fans

 

[The Siege]

It'll take more than football. We're still very much a part of the top level football drama for that to disappear.
I think maybe when a certain part of the culture becomes damning enough for us to think if rooting for United signals that we're shitty human beings.

Sexual harrassment for instance is a theme that we seem to gloss over till we can't. We hired a manager in Ole who actively protected Sarr when he was accused of rape, a dude who had to eventually go live in a place where he couldn't be extradited from. We re-signed Ronaldo knowing that he's clearly thrown a lot of money at covering up rape accusations. We'd be stupid to believe that the club/managers did not know anything about Greenwood's behaviour. I'd say we're one move away (signing Bissouma in the summer for instance) of straight up signalling that we don't actually care about what history of crimes against women you have, we're here for you if you're talented. That'll hit us as generations now are more socially aware and information is easier to disperse.

 

[sparx99]

Nothing.

I remember under Fergie, it was quite easy to get tickets to games. Now it’s seriously hard work.

In part because of the awful ticket system.

Who wants to shell out for tickets for the season in one hit in the summer?

I bought tickets for 3 games but it’s a nightmare. You queue on the online system and then when you get into the game you hope to get tickets for there are very few pairs or more together left.

 

[Frank Grimes]

The one positive about the club is our amazing support. 5 years without a trophy, watching rubbish football for years yet Old Trafford is always full or practically full every home game. Would never happen in Spain or Italy.

 

[Mac1997]

We didn't lose supporters when we were relegated in fact it was one of the best times to follow United in terms of enjoying following the team.

Yeah if we continue on the downward spiral we will lose some of the "social media supporters" not sure that is a bad thing.

 

[Deery]

The one positive about the club is our amazing support. 5 years without a trophy, watching rubbish football for years yet Old Trafford is always full or practically full every home game. Would never happen in Spain or Italy.

Support has been fantastic but you can only go to the well so many times, we need a title challenge or CL run to ignite the fans passion again.

 

[Bwuk]

The rise of City and the eventual rise of Newcastle will affect future fans of the club. More successful clubs = further spread fanbase.

People don’t like to admit it, but the reason the top clubs have larger fan bases is because they win.

 

[Bestietom]

Keep running club into the ground like they are doing. Supporters are moving away faster each year.

 

[Bondi77]

Is this all because we never bought a DM in January?

 

[NicolaSacco]

The rise of City and the eventual rise of Newcastle will affect future fans of the club. More successful clubs = further spread fanbase.

People don’t like to admit it, but the reason the top clubs have larger fan bases is because they win.

The thing with football fans is that they never really change allegiance. Why is why Liverpool were so popular from 1990 onwards. But, and it’s obviously hardly a proper study. A lot of my closest friends have kids in the 2-12 range. Of those most don’t care much for football teams, but of the 4 that do 2 support City, 1 Liverpool, 1 Norwich. This is in east anglia which would explain the Norwich. City are big with under 12s. It doesn’t mean much now but in ten years they’ll be the ones spending money on their team.

 

[miked99]

Only the absolute worst, most plastic fan imaginable would ever change clubs. It's a total no-no and no self-respecting supporter would ever even consider it. You pick your side, you stick with it through thick and thin, and that's that.

Most people take their allegiances from family members, friends etc. I grew up when Liverpool were the dominant force. I truly thought I would never see us win a league title in my lifetime. Did it make me support Liverpool? Did it feck. Did Liverpool's two decades of dominance make them bigger or better supported than United? Not even close. By the same token, did Liverpool's thirty years without a title make them lose their support en masse? No it didn't.

The likes of citeh etc will pick up a few more floating voters, but support is passed from generation to generation and it takes generations to change even a little.

Look at citeh. A decade of success and attractive football, easy access to tickets etc, and they can't even sell out home matches half the time.

It isn't going to happen.

 

[Bestietom]

Is this all because we never bought a DM in January?

NO, it's because we havn't bought one for the last 3 years.

 

[Bilbo]

Whatever happened to supporting your club through thick and thin? I'd wager there is a sizeable percentage of our fanbase that rarely if ever contribute anything financially to the club but love to moan about it online. They wouldn't be missed.

 

[fergiewherearethou]

On the long run I think we will start losing fans to City or other clubs if we keep things like that for let's say 20-30 years.
Fans, especially young ones who start watching football, tend to cheer for a good/great club with star players, that is normal. I myself started supporting United in the mid 90's for a couple of reasons: trophies, attractive football, Champions League, great players, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Well how many of the above boxes can you tick at this point in our history ?

 

[RonaldoVII]

Whatever happened to supporting your club through thick and thin? I'd wager there is a sizeable percentage of our fanbase that rarely if ever contribute anything financially to the club but love to moan about it online. They wouldn't be missed.

A few baron years will be good to get rid of the plastics who don't think we're entertaining enough for them.

 

[Bilbo]

A few baron years will be good to get rid of the plastics who don't think we're entertaining enough for them.

Fans of winning, not fans of United.

 

[Spoony]

Love the promotions on this site.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Case in point: we are still in Champions League, still in very tough fight for top 4 (next year's Champions League) which has direct impact on what footballers we can attract and maybe even which manager for rebuild, we are still in FA Cup. And our ownership refuses to buy a defensive midfielder to give us a fighting chance! They basically threw away the season when we still have a lot to fight for. Tells you a lot about who our club is owned by.

They sacked a manager they desperately liked, and backed, in order to fight for the season. And they employed a risk manager that 90% of this board creamed their pants over because of what he could do with the existing squad.

The idea that a single player, a January midfielder will suddenly be the big difference is well, a bit pie in the sky and a lesson I'd have thought our fans would have learned after "Mata being the difference", "Varane will be a difference maker", "the right wing finally being sorted with Sancho".

They've spent a shit tonne since SAF retired and barely have anything to show for it. Is it because they don't care? Nar, is it because they are a bit crap? yes.

And no, no club Wimbledon aside is ever losing fans "en masse".

 

[Jev]

We have many issues but a lack of willingness to invest in the squad is not one of them. That myth seriously must die. Look at the money we've spent on wages and transfer fees in the past 10 years. The problem is what we spent them on.

 

[Oranges038]

The one positive about the club is our amazing support. 5 years without a trophy, watching rubbish football for years yet Old Trafford is always full or practically full every home game. Would never happen in Spain or Italy.

St James Park has been full almost every week for 60 years and Newcastle have won nowt.

I think it's the next generation that will see the drop off, you will have fans from Manchester that will pick Utd or City. Outside of that, some will follow because their parents do or kids will go for whoever is successful, although now it seems more about who their favourite FIFA player is.

Most of the kids I see at football every week are wearing Chelsea, Barca, PSG and City shirts. Some are even jumping on the Liverpool train again. Very few Utd supporters amongst 20 odd kids.

 

[Hound Dog]

There is no chance of that happening, it is very difficult to untangle yourself from something once you have an emotional connection.

I have absolutely no ties to Manchester or England, but saw United score those two goals against Bayern and fell in love. There was no going back after that, as much as my life would have been easier had I not supported United over the last 10ish years.