“Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and competitive position.”
This statement appears at the bottom of page 25 of the documents filed by Manchester United to to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, after the Glazer family had made clear that they intend to move the club registration to the Cayman Island and float its shares at the New York Stock Exchange.
The word “indebtedness” surfaces 43 times in the legal documents the Glazers were asked to provide and it’s a chilling reminder of the dire financial situation the club find itself in.
The Glazers’ latest idea aims to raise substantial funds to repay part of the £423 million debts that are currently burdening the club or, as Glazer expert David Conn writes on the pages of the Guardian, “To date the Glazers’ takeover has cost United more than £500m in interest, bank charges and fees, after they borrowed £525m to buy the club, then made it responsible for servicing their debts.”
Without entering the financial picture too in detail (Red Rants is, after all, a football blog) this puts everything United fans have been fed in the last eight years under a complete different light, portraying far from promising scenarios – scenarios that the majority of United fans had come to expect since 2005.
The owners have finally admitted that the club faces huge debts, yet they refuse to listen to any offers which shows how little they care for the club, let alone the fans.
The fans, yes. Us. The match going Reds, the Reds that have stopped going out of financial reasons or simply because they have grown disenchanted with the PR machine that Old Trafford has become in the last eight years, where does this statement leave us?
Without mentioning the last less than successful transfer campaigns, less than two months ago David Gill insisted that United were ready to give Sir Alex all the financial support he needed.
Some believed him, most didn’t and the documents filed by the Glazers clearly contradict Gill’s policy and statements over the last eight years and to suggest that he didn’t know what went on behind the scenes would be ludicrous.
Obviously the floatation could go either way and even be successful from a financial point of view, but the timing of the statement regarding the debts could have not been worse as United are desperately trying to strengthen the squad with money they, as their owners have clearly stated, might not afford to spend.
Being lied to is bad enough, being lied to for eight years by individuals perfectly aware of their actions is simply intolerable.
We want our club back.
Here you can read the Guardian’s David Conn and Jamie Jackson articles.
Dan (@MUFC_dan87)
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