Man U Fans Are Seeing Red

Sometimes even the best teams can suffer shocking defeats on home turf. Manchester United discovered that last week when Malcolm Glazer, a U.S. sports magnate, took a majority stake in the publicly traded company that owns the famous English franchise.

It was the climax of a protracted battle that has pitted Glazer, who owns U.S. football’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, against Man U’s board and thousands of its fans. But Glazer, who already owned almost 29% of the team’s stock, persuaded two Irish racing millionaires to sell him their 29% stake for $5.60 per share. Several other big shareholders also sold out to Glazer, taking his total to almost 74.8% — just short of the 75% he needs to take the club private.

But even if he’s all but won the financial battle, Glazer has yet to win the war. When the news first broke on Thursday, protesting fans flooded British radio stations and Internet chat rooms and set fire to an effigy of the 76-year-old would-be owner outside the club’s Old Trafford stadium. “People feel very, very deeply about this club,” says John Williams, director of the University of Leicester’s Centre for the Sociology of Sport.

But if Manchester United is as successful under Glazer’s ownership as the Buccaneers, who won the Super Bowl in 2003, all may be soon forgiven.