Manchester United’s finances are under the spotlight after the club’s latest set of financial results were released.
When you look at what has gone wrong at Manchester United, there is one root cause of it all. The Glazer family.
The Glazers‘ heavily-leveraged buyout in 2005 came against the wishes of fans, and quite frankly should never have been permitted by the games’ governing bodies.
Two decades on, the BBC report Manchester United have reached an estimated £1 billion paid in interest payments on the debt against the club.
Joel Glazer boasted ‘well run club’
The Glazers shortcomings and financial chicanery were largely obscured by Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill. The former manager and chief executive both retired in 2013, leaving cavernous holes at Old Trafford.
Since Ferguson’s retirement it has been a disaster. A succession of managers have been appointed without sustained success or a single league title, while off the pitch, Ed Woodward, followed by Richard Arnold were painfully bad chief executives.
Woodward’s exit was prompted by the Super League fiasco in 2021, an event that forced Joel Glazer to communicate directly with fans for the first time since the takeover in 2025.
Glazer spoke to a fan forum in 2021, and made a boast that quite clearly did not and does not ring true, especially now.
He claimed: “I know this is a subject that a lot of people have a lot of different views on, but when we take things and look at things as a whole, we think that Manchester United is a very well run club.”
Financial figures show that without Ineos’ recent £80 million injection of cash, Manchester United would have been down to just £15 million in available funds.
For a club of this size, the financial situation is appalling, with so much money spent on servicing the club’s debt, that already could have paid for a new stadium.
Joel Glazer comfortable with United debt
The debt loaded onto Manchester United made fans feel uncomfortable from day one, yet this is a topic Joel Glazer dismissed, even as it piled up.
Glazer made clear he felt the club’s debut was normal, one he was satisfied with, even at a period the family were taking out millions from the club in dividends.
He said: “I know this is clearly another area that has got a lot of discussion and debate over the years. We think we have a very comfortable position when it comes to this.
“We have debt, but a lot of other clubs do have debt as well.”
Manchester United have always been a money-making machine. Before the Glazers took over, the club were debt-free.
Now sections of the club’s income, which has been reduced by a lack of on-pitch success, staring at a 2025/26 without any European football, goes towards servicing the club’s debt.
For the Glazers, it clearly doesn’t make a difference. For Manchester United, this is an unfolding, unmitigated slow disaster, which only appears to be getting worse.
Ineos may be bumbling their way through trying to fix this mess, making bad decisions along the way, but Manchester United fans know who is truly responsible. What the Glazers have done is truly unforgivable.
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