Manchester United fans trend #GlazerOut worldwide to register protest against transfer policy
Manchester United fans, frustrated at the lack of transfer activity and smarting from the loss to Swansea at Old Trafford on the opening day of the Premier League season have taken to Twitter to vent out. The hashtag #GlazersOut trended worldwide with as many as seventy-two thousand tweets were posted within 24 hours in protest of the owners of the club, the Glazers.
The Glazers bought the club in 2005 paying £800 million borrowed from various sources and have been repaying the debts using the profits generated from merchandising and sponsorship revenues. The moot point of this campaign is that the profits could have been used in the transfer market to buy better players and maintain supremacy on the pitch.
Manchester United have bought only Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw this season despite the team being in need of a massive overhaul. The transfer window closes on 31st August.
United finished 7th last season under David Moyes after the retirement of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and are now under new manager Louis van Gaal.
The fans also believe that the Glazers are viewing it as a business house first and football club later.
Some of the tweets are shown below:
This is not the first time a protest like this has gained ground.
Also known as ‘Love United Hate Glazers’ (LUHG), it has been seriously pursued by the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) since 2005 who have also been working on a way to return the ownership of the club to the fans.
In 2010, a group of wealthy Manchester United fans – dubbed the "Red Knights" – met MUST to discuss a billion-pound takeover bid. However, the bid never materialised.
Old Trafford has also seen Green and Gold -a symbol of the Anti Glazer campaign- scarfs and banners over the years though it has never been more relevant than now.
Despite the reduction in spending, United have won 5 league titles and a UEFA Champions League under the American owners who ae also at the head of NFL side Tampa bay Buccaneers.
The patriarch of the family Malcolm Glazer passed away earlier this year and the club ‘s control has been assumed by his six children.
The club’s chief executive Ed Woodward had earlier said that there is no set transfer budget and that they would have no problem shelling out a huge amount to buy players
