Memo to the Glazer boys, one drafted in language these Americans must understand: the right to bear grievances is enshrined in the constitution of English football. Provided they stay within the law, those Manchester United supporters demonstrating outside Old Trafford have every right to make life uncomfortable for the profiteers from
Brian Barwick, the FA chief executive, informed the Glazers on Tuesday that they must not damage the "image and integrity of English football". Too late. The Glazers have already harmed English football, precipitating a fans' revolt for dragging a well-run club into astonishing debt.
The authorities preach good financial practice, even offering to send experts around to advise clubs on how to make ends meet, yet here we have English football's one real symbol of fiscal virility being saddled with enormous liabilities. No wonder United fans are incensed. Like an angry wound that refuses to heal, the Glazers' ill-starred ownership of United is a saga that will weep and weep. The Americans can try to run the business, but they will have to hide while doing so. It cannot make sense for United or English football to have our most important club controlled from the
Principles are invariably sacrificed when livelihoods are at stake, yet it was still sad to see David Gill, United's chief executive, smiling and laughing as he showed the Glazers around Old Trafford, now embarrassingly in cahoots with those whose intentions he once denigrated. He used to be one of the good guys in football's boardrooms, a widely-respected administrator who cared for the emotional fabric of Old Trafford life. Not now.
Gill has crossed the floor, pursued by fans' accusations of sporting treason. Provided their actions do not stray into excess, these supporters cannot be blamed for their ire. And their fury is clearly not a fire that will easily flicker out. United fans love their club and that is why they should be backed against unwanted visitors from