As you might have seen, the Club issued an update yesterday on progress towards setting up the Supporter Share Ownership scheme. Their update is HERE and it was covered by Sky News HERE.As you all know, the setting up of a scheme to allow supporters to build up a stake in the club we love has been the number one objective of MUST since day one. Because no-one loves this club more than our fans do, and we know that the fans are the best custodians of its future.
Since the summer, we have been involved in lengthy and detailed discussions with the club about what the scheme ought to look like. It’s fair to say that this process has taken longer than expected – this is partly because the issues are complicated, but also partly because we are determined to drive a hard bargain. We have been clear from day one, for instance, that supporter shares must have the same voting rights as Glazer shares. That’s a red line for us, and we have never wavered from it.
As the club said today, we’ve made good progress on those discussions and they’re now well advanced. They’ve also confirmed that they see the potential for this to be an ongoing scheme which builds over time. Because there is no point in having a one-off issue of shares and then never again. In fact the size of that first issue isn’t the most important thing. What we want is a long-term programme to allow fans to buy a progressively greater stake in our club. The first share issue will be about setting the precedent, demonstrating that the demand is there, and showing the ‘proof of concept’ works.
We all see some of the silly nonsense on social media about this share issue claiming it means MUST has ‘sold out‘ or even that the organisation will profit from the scheme. What rubbish. A supporter share scheme has been our number one ask since the day dot. Securing just what you’re after is not selling out – it’s called meeting your objectives. And the idea that either any individuals or the organisation will profit from the scheme is completely, categorically untrue.We’re not quite there yet with the club. There are details to be ironed-out. But we are getting there. And if we do get there, this will be a historic moment in the story of our club. We will be in the process of restoring a stake in the ownership of Manchester United back to the people who care about it most – us, the fans.Finally, if a scheme is agreed, the decision-makers on whether this happens is not the MUST Board. It will be MUST Members. We will hold a Members Ballot and abide by the result. We are a membership organisation and so it is only right that our Members have the final say as to whether it goes ahead or not.We’ve seen a mass of new members joining in the last 24 hours. If you are not already a member of MUST we’d encourage you to join now: www.imust.org.ukAs soon as there is further news, we will be right back in touch with an update.
Thanks,The Sign for United team
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