Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been speaking on the latest installment of the Price of Football podcast, where he revealed Manchester United could be set to lose their new training kit sponsors due to ongoing fan protests.
The Old Trafford faithful gathered outside the Theatre of Dreams before some spilled onto the pitch ahead of United’s scheduled fixture against Liverpool the other week, forcing the game to be postponed.
United fans were protesting against the club’s owners after becoming increasingly frustrated with how the Glazers have run the Red Devils during their time in charge.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust outlined their intentions to boycott the club’s sponsors in an attempt to hurt the American business family’s finances, and Maguire has disclosed how that plan has already started to come to fruition.
He said: (13:51) “As far as their training kit sponsor, you know, Manchester United are a big enough brand, they’re a big enough club, to have separate sponsors. This is presently held by the American insurance company AOL. That deal was due to expire on the 30th of June, and something called the Hut Group was going to take over on the first of July.
“And if the stories are correct, this is a £200 million 10-year contract, and the Hut Group have now said in the light of recent events, we are having second thoughts, which doesn’t give Manchester United a lot of time to get a new training gear sponsor. So, this could be seen to be a victory for fan power.”
TIF Thoughts on United fan’s protests…
Since the Glazers bought the Red Devils in 2005, they’ve plunged the club into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt and siphoned over £1 billion out of United for their own gain.
These protests first occurred as soon as the deal was announced, with some supporters starting a new side called FC United of Manchester and came again in 2010 in the shape of the Green and Gold campaign.
The plans to join the failed European Super League were just the latest episode in a bitter relationship and have sparked the United fans into action once again.
In other news: ‘Got to up his game’ – Mitten suggests £31.5m-rated MUFC star is fighting for ‘United future’