London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 03, 2025

Manchester United close to agreeing details of new fan share ownership scheme

Manchester United close to agreeing details of new fan share ownership scheme

Under the plans, an initial tranche of approximately $10m of special shares would be issued and reserved for United fans, Sky News understands.

Manchester United, the Premier League football club, is close to finalising the details of a new fan share scheme pledged by its owners in the wake of this year's European Super League (ESL) protests.

Sky News has learnt that the club and the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) are at an advanced stage of talks about the initiative.

Under the plans, which remain subject to change, the New York Stock Exchange-listed company would issue an initial tranche of shares to be owned by supporters.

These shares would be structured as a new class of equity carrying the same voting rights as the B-share class owned by members of the Glazer family, which took control of Manchester United in 2005, according to a person involved in the talks.

MUFC and the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) are in talks about the scheme


The B-shares - and therefore the new fan shares - carry 10 times the voting rights as the ordinary A-shares held by most investors.

One source said the initial tranche issued under the scheme could be in the region of $10m, although the number has yet to be finalised.

The intention would then be to issue further - and potentially larger - tranches of shares in subsequent years, depending on demand from United fans.

One insider described the year-one offering as "a pathfinder to establish the scheme and assess demand".

Details of the fan ownership scheme are expected to be formally agreed before the end of the year, although they will then be subject to a ballot of MUST members.

A new fan advisory board, which is also close to being launched as the forum for dialogue between supporters and club officials, will also be consulted on the scheme.

That means the new vehicle is unlikely to be operational until 2022, significantly later than Joel Glazer, the club's co-chairman, had initially signalled.

In June, Mr Glazer said he hoped that a plan would be agreed before the start of the current season.

Sources close to both sides of the discussions denied that the delay was a blow, and said it was more important that the initiative was workable than "hitting arbitrary deadlines".

The move will be operational much later than Joel Glazer initially signalled


Nevertheless, a more protracted hiatus would come at a sensitive time for the Old Trafford hierarchy, given that early-season optimism has been displaced by a poor run of results and intense speculation about the future of manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

A Manchester United spokesperson said on Monday: "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."

A MUST spokesman said: "MUST continue to be in discussions with MUFC about the creation of a supporter share ownership scheme.

"No agreement has yet been reached, and in the event we do it will be subject to a ballot of our members and wider consultation with the United fanbase."

United has still to announce a successor to Ed Woodward, its executive vice-chairman, who announced in the wake of the ESL fiasco that he would leave Old Trafford at the end of the year.

Ed Woodward is due to leave at the end of the year


Richard Arnold, the club's managing director, has been widely tipped as the frontrunner to replace him.

The abrupt withdrawal of six English sides from the ESL was sparked by a wave of fan protests against some of their owners - the most vociferous of which came at Old Trafford, forcing a Premier League match against Liverpool in early May to be postponed.

Mr Glazer issued a contrite apology for United's decision to join the ESL, which has cost it - and the other founding clubs - millions of pounds in fines from the Premier League and UEFA, European football's governing body.

"We continue to believe that European football needs to become more sustainable throughout the pyramid for the long-term. However, we fully accept that the Super League was not the right way to go about it," Mr Glazer said.

"In seeking to create a more stable foundation for the game, we failed to show enough respect for its deep-rooted traditions - promotion, relegation, the pyramid - and for that we are sorry."

Many United supporters have been mistrustful of the Glazers since their £790m debt-funded takeover of the club in 2005.

The family floated the company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, but retained control.

The ESL crisis prompted two influential supporters of United from the financial world - the former Goldman Sachs economist Lord O'Neill and hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall - to urge the Glazers to ditch the dual-class share structure.

Lord O'Neill told Sky News on Monday that the proposed fan ownership scheme "seems a very minimalist token gesture".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
×