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Why Man Utd fans scrapped anti-Glazer protest before derby

Published

11 months ago

October 31, 2023

Why Man Utd fans cancelled anti-Glazer protest ahead of Manchester derby

Anti-Glazer protests set to take place before the Manchester derby were shelved following the death of Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton.

The 1958 group have organised most of the recent demonstrations against club owners, the Glazer family, and had earmarked Sunday’s match with rivals City as the ideal date for their next protest. The game at Old Trafford went ahead, tributes were paid to the Red Devils legend, and City went onto win the match 3-0 – without a protest in sight.

According to the Daily Mail, The 1958 decided the protest would be put on hold out of respect for Charlton, who died earlier this month at the age of 86. The report adds there are no further demonstrations planned at their next matches: Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match against Newcastle United and November 11’s visit of Luton Town in the Premier League.

The Glazers announced nearly a year ago they were considering selling the Premier League giants, with mounting calls from fans and pundits alike to move on after taking over in 2005. Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani has since withdrawn from the bidding process but Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group is set to acquire a 25% minority stake. The American family own approximately 69 percent of United and the rest is spread among multiple stakeholders who own shares listed in the United States.

If Ratcliffe’s bid is accepted, that is unlikely to satisfy fans as they want the Glazers out of the club entirely. Therefore, more protests are likely to occur.