The Story Of Fc United Of Manchester

       

     

After Malcolm Glazer takeover of Manchester United in 2005, there were aftermaths – like the debt he forced the club into, the forming of F. c United of Manchester and the takeover bid by a group named “Red Knights”. 

On May 19, 2005, a public meeting was held by the disgruntled fans at the central Methodist hall in Manchester’s Northern Quarter and on May 30th of the same year at the Apollo Theatre – a group was appointed to form a new club. The name “F. c United” was rejected by the Football Association for being too generic. A new name was asked to be voted upon by those who pledged money to the club and 14th June, 2005, F. C United of Manchester was chosen by all and also registered by the Manchester County Football Association that same day.

The club was admitted into the second division of North West Counties Football League – 10th level of the English Football League system and 9th level below the premiership. They won three consecutive promotion upon inauguration – from North West Counties Football League to Northern Premier League Division One North and were promoted again to Northern Premier League Division – the 8th tier of the English Football League System.

Following seven years of trying and failing, F. c United of Manchester finally won a promotion to the National League North on 22nd April, 2015. On May of the same year, F. c United of Manchester opened their new 4,400 capacity stadium, built at the cost of £6.3 million. They are thriving in the National League North which is 6 level below the premier league – finishing 13th place in the 2016/2017 season.

“I’m sorry about that. It is a bit sad, that part, but I wonder how big a United supporter they are. They seem to me to be projecting or promoting themselves a wee bit, rather than saying, ‘at the end of the day the club have made a decision, we will stick by them’, it is more about them than us” – Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments about F. c United of Manchester.

The Red Knights

As part of the aftermath of the Glazers’ takeover, a campaign known as “love United hate Glazer” arose – it involved in spreading the slogan and acronym “LUHG” around various locations via stickers and graffiti. This was as a result of the announcement of United’s debt. On 20th January, 2005, it was reported that the Manchester United supporters’ trust had held meeting with a group of wealthy united fan with the view of buying out the Glazers control of the club.

The group met with Keith Harris, a Manchester United fan and chairman of investment bank, Seymour pierce, to broker a takeover. On 2nd March, 2010, another report circulated that a group named “Red Knights” had met again to discuss the possibility of a billion-pound takeover of the club. Goldman Sach’s chief economist and former United director, Jim O’ Neil, lawyer, Mark Rawlinson, Duncan Drasdo, chief executive of the Manchester United supporters’ trust, etc, were present at the meeting in a bid to increase the supporters’ trust’s membership. They also acquired the services of Blue State Digital, the internet strategy firm that worked on Obama’s 2008 presidential election campaign, to help promote themselves. Despite all these efforts, the Red Knights put the takeover bid on hold on June 2010, claiming the Glazers valuation of the club was significantly higher than the amount they had hoped to pay.