EPL: Manchester United close Old Trafford megastore over anti-Glazer protest
The megastore at Old Trafford has been shut down after Manchester United fans protested against the current owners of the club, the Glazers.
The protest ensued barely an hour after the Red Devils released their new home kit for the 2023-24 season on Tuesday, June 27. Supporters are furious after seven frustrating months of waiting for the Glazer family to finally sell the club, with the Americans having put United on the market in November yet failed to communicate with fans since.
Angry Manchester United supporters brought pyrotechnics to Old Trafford for the protest, forcing staff of the megastore to hurriedly close the doors to the club shop while police watched on. It later reopened to continue selling merchandise.
United had been expecting a congregation of fans after the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) released a statement confirming plans for a protest.
It read;
“The overwhelming majority of United fans want to see a conclusion to this protracted sale process with the majority supporting a full sale, at least based on our soundings. Protest planned on Tuesday to make that message clear.”
🗣 A woman was heckled and booed by protesters after shopping at the Megastore this morning…#MUFC | #ManUtd pic.twitter.com/NOHB1SsoOF
— Man United News (@ManUtdMEN) June 27, 2023
The protest came as Manchester United projected record annual revenue of up to £640 million in the current financial year.
Revenue guidance for the current financial year was raised to a record £630m to £640m in the third quarter financial results for the period ending March 31, 2023, which were released on Tuesday, June 27.
This is driven by record match attendance and matchday revenues. Ticket sales for the 2022-23 season surpassed the previous record set in 2016-17, with 2.4m sold.
Global memberships also hit 360,000, which United said was the largest paid membership programme in world sport.
At the moment, it appears that Qatari Sheikh Jassim is the front-runner to take over the reins of the club, however, there’s been also a lot of speculation about Sir Jim Ratcliffe, combined with the possibility that the Glazers don’t sell up at all!
This would be the worst-case scenario for fans, who are desperate to part ways with the duo who have seemingly sucked the club of their finances for years now.
