Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick claims that the Glazers have reached “a point of no return” at Old Trafford in wake of protests on Sunday which led to the postponement of the clash with Liverpool.
Man United supporters, demonstrating outside their home stadium on Sunday afternoon, made their feelings known against their ownership, first peacefully, with emotions eventually boiling over onto the pitch.
Fans were seen marching across the Old Trafford turf, having gained access to the stadium, with Manchester United v Liverpool eventually being postponed until a later date.
The scenes that unfolded are not like anything we have ever seen before, with the fallout from the European Super League fiasco continuing to be the dominant news story in football at current.
“I think a lot’s been made of it and rightly so, it’s huge news,” former Man United midfielder Luke Chadwick told CaughtOffside, “I’ve never known that before, a game being called off because of protests.”
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“The frustrations been there since 2005 when the Glazers took over, 16 years ago. There was massive protests back then,” Chadwick continued. “I think things have moved forward but I don’t feel like they’ve ever really been accepted because of what they were doing and their reasons behind coming into Manchester United and taking it over.”
“They’ve not really been seen around the club for years on end. I think the whole Super League situation really boiled things over, the lack of communication with the fans, the players, the management team, nobody knew about it, and I think that’s really drove things over the edge now and it’s at a point of no return.”
Manchester United v Liverpool at Old Trafford is arguably the biggest league fixture in English football, so Man United fans’ contempt for their owners resulting in the game’s postponement is a huge statement.
Ultimately, it’s difficult to decipher the feeling within the confines of the boardroom, with club owners, and the Glazers in particular, almost ghost-like in their absence from sight.
However, Chadwick, when asked by CaughtOffside whether he believed the intensifying fan pressure will result in the Glazers selling Manchester United, replied: “I think it has to.”
“It’s interesting to see what the reaction will be though and who it will be sold to,” Chadwick continued. “Football is huge business, there’s huge money involved, so it will be interesting to see who will take over, if it should come to that, and whether there will be any difference in doing it to the Glazers to appease the fans.”
“I think Ed Woodward leaving is a massive sign that change is in the air, he’s been at the club a long time, and I think all the criticism might have got to him and the whole Super League debacle spelt the end of him.”
“Manchester United looks like a poisonous place at the minute in terms of what’s going on and I think for the good of everyone the Glazers will step down and make a huge amount of money from selling the football club.”
The Manchester United fans who are hoping to see the Glazers leave the club for good will be hoping that Chadwick’s predictions are proven right.
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