Latest news with #Glazers'
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
How US-owned clubs have learnt to win 20 years after Glazers' arrival at Man Utd
Next season's Premier League will feature 13 clubs with an American shareholder and after dominant season across top three tiers, the "Thanks but no yanks" era has become ancient history It is 20 years on from the Glazers' controversial arrival in Manchester and 15 since the 'Thanks but no yanks' campaign at Liverpool. But now US-backed clubs are coming off the back of an unprecedented season. For American owners, success was always going to shrink the stigma. The top two in the Premier League, Championship and League One were all at least part-backed by Americans. So too FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, while Chelsea last week secured a first bit of silverware for their great disruptors from across the Atlantic. But with 65 per cent of next season's Premier League clubs owned by them and the domino effect extending to more than a quarter of clubs in the EFL, is it the law of averages or have several cracked the code? 'I don't know if it's causation or correlation,' says New York-based David Gandler, the latest arrival having recently completed a majority takeover of Leyton Orient, who then lost the third-tier play-off final to another US-financed team in Charlton. 'But you can see, in the UK, football is life, religion and tradition. It's very difficult not to get caught up in the excitement. That's the draw here.' That is a feeling shared by Tom Wagner's Knighthead Capital group at Birmingham, which also includes NFL legend Tom Brady, and Wrexham's Hollywood heroes Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – League One's top two. Both have concertedly bedded into the communities that sustain their clubs – perhaps realising from the missteps of those who have gone before. Earlier this season Wagner told the Wall Street Journal that the success is down to 'a set of professional sports owners that are taking a very intentional approach to building businesses.' But another factor for those operating down the pyramid is that, beyond the super rich, they have been priced out of purchasing teams in closed shop leagues at home. Even for those succeeding there are still tension points off the pitch – not least around the so-called matchday experience and sharp-rising ticket prices at several clubs. But for those flying high on the grass there are some commonalities. Arsenal and Liverpool are harvesting the rewards of being among the first to embrace data. And it is no coincidence that their owners have tentacles planted deep in American sports where those analytical models originated. Crucially they have developed a structure of experts to separate the signal from the noise. As former midfielder Joe Cole said, when evaluating the Clearlake Capital-Todd Boehly stewardship of Chelsea, 'the best approach is data-driven, expert-led.' Another theory is that those with pre-existing backgrounds in American sports that have long worked with salary caps and luxury taxes have been better at adapting to the now more strictly-applied financial fair play rules. Triumphing on the pitch, however, is yet to translate into making many of these clubs profitable. Before sealing a third consecutive promotion, Reynolds described investing in Wrexham as 'like lighting money on fire except it doesn't keep you warm.' Which means a crunch point will come. The vast majority are here to make money, whether by taking over distressed assets in the lower leagues and building them up or finding new revenue streams at established giants such as Chelsea. 'For some it's just diversification of portfolio, for others it's the allure of sport,' Gandler adds. 'But everyone thinks they can win and that's contagious.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
From Fergie Success to Doom and Debt
Manchester United once towered over English football, their red crest a mark of relentless victory. For decades, Old Trafford rang with the cheers of fans watching legends like Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, and Wayne Rooney carve out history under Sir Alex Ferguson's canny 'north of the border' guidance. They won a 'Baker's Dozen' of Premier League titles and a couple of Champions League trophies, each triumph cementing their place among soccer gods. But now, the Red Devils stumble, shadowed by massive debt and on and off-field mediocrity. The Glazer family's 2005 takeover and Ferguson's 2013 retirement set off a slow, painful decline, driven by financial strain and the impossible task of replacing a legend. GettyImages Back in 1986, when Sir Alex first walked into Old Trafford, United were a faded power, their last league title a distant memory from 1967. Over 26 years, he built an empire, breaking a 26-year drought in 1993 and launching an era of dominance. He had a knack for reinvention: Cantona's flair, the homegrown spark of the Class of '92, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, and the Neville brothers, and later the brilliance of Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo kept United untouchable. His final flourish, the 2013 Premier League title sealed by Robin van Persie's unforgettable volley, felt like a perfect exit. Even after the Glazers' takeover, Sir Alex's touch delivered five more Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League. He was the club's heartbeat, hiding cracks that would become cavernous under lesser men. Advertisement The Glazers' $1.05 billion leveraged buyout in 2005 changed everything. It saddled United with $731 million in debt, a sharp turn from their debt-free days. Interest payments have since drained over $1.126 million—cash that could've strengthened squads or spruced up Old Trafford. The Glazers also pulled millions in dividends, a move almost unheard of among top clubs, while raising ticket prices to cover the debt. Fans fought back, waving green-and-gold scarves to honor United's pre-Glazer roots, but the financial weight only grew. The Scottish coach's success kept the damage at bay, but once he left, the Glazers' missteps showed in a transfer market ruled by deep-pocketed rivals like Chelsea and Manchester City. Losing Ferguson was like losing the club's compass. David Moyes, his chosen successor, buckled under the pressure, dragging United to 7th place in 2013-14. Since then, $1.9 billion in transfers has brought slim rewards: an FA Cup in 2016, a League Cup and Europa League in 2017, and another League Cup in 2023. A steady stream of unsuccessful coaching hires followed with more woeful transfer business, and that recruitment was tripped up by poor planning from executives like Ed Woodward, whose business acumen never matched football know-how. While United falter, their rivals fly. Manchester City, bankrolled by the oil money from Abu Dhabi, have snatched six Premier League titles since 2013. Liverpool, reborn under Jürgen Klopp, took the 2019-20 Premier League and 2019 Champions League. United, meanwhile, have missed the top four five times since Ferguson left. Old Trafford, once football's grand stage, now leaks, its aging stands a joke among rivals. The Glazers' $7.98 billion valuation and stalled sale talks, even with Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 2024 minority stake, leave fans stuck, their hope wearing thin. Manchester United's story is one of glory unraveled by the greed of the Glazers. The debt they saddled the club with choked a soccer titan, and Ferguson's absence left a club unready for football's new age. Old Trafford still holds its mystique, but until its owners find clarity, the Theatre of Dreams will stay cloaked in a shadow, and the dark clouds are a reminder that even giants can fall.
