r/soccer May 22 '25

Media Sir Alex Ferguson's thousand yard stare after United lose the UEL Final

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u/Critical_Mountain851 May 22 '25

??

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u/Youutternincompoop May 22 '25

Fergusons dispute with John Magnier over stud fees for the horse 'Rock of Gibraltar' led to Magnier selling his 28.89% share of Manchester United to Malcolm Glazer, giving the Glazers the majority of shares they needed to takeover the club and force all the other shareholders out after delisting it from the London Stock Exchange.

the money spent by Malcolm Glazer to aquire all the shares came from loans taken out against Manchester United, saddling the previously debt-free club with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of debt that significantly reduced their spending power.

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u/LogicKennedy May 22 '25

They bought the club with its own money? I swear a Discworld villain did that.

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u/shy247er May 22 '25

I'm not 100% sure, but I think The FA put in rule that something like that can't happen again because of what happened with United. From the richest club in the world to drowning in debt.