Anti Glazer Campaign

Old Trafford, The home of Manchester United has long been seen as a mass of red as the fans wear the colour of the home strip and wave the red and white scarfs of their team that has the nick name "The Red Devils", However the colour of green and gold scarfs and banners is getting more common,

This is a campaign being held by the fans aimed at removing the owners of Manchester United, The Glazer family, Manchester United was taken over and bought by Malcolm Glazer as he became a controlling share holder against the wishes of many fans, Back in September 2003 Malcolm Glazer purchased a 3.17% stake however by the end of year this had risen to almost 15%, by October 2004 his stake had again almost doubled, Before long he had launched a take over bid that forced a compulsory buy out of the remaining shares against the wishes of some of the share holders and fans, This purchase of Manchester United has totaled over £800 million, The fans are angry that Glazer never owned that amount of money and has used bank loans against the club's assets making the club in massive debt, Currently it as believed that the club is in £700 million in debt and the interest each year on this debt is over £40 million, Apart from the big risks involved with the takeover Manchester United fans are seeing increasing ticket prices and are worried that the clubs assets could be sold off at any time and that the club could lose it's star players or home ground which is rich with history,

Rather than boycott the club the fans have chosen to wear the colours green and gold which represents the colours of the original strip of when the club was first formed as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878, As the 2010 season comes to a close these colours are gaining popularity around Old Trafford and the Chants of "we want Glazer's out" and "Love United - Hate Glazer" are becoming more evident.

David Beckham made his first competitive return to Old Trafford after seven years since he left Manchester United, He made a second half appearance as a substitute for AC Milan as they lost 4-0 to Manchester United, The ex Manchester United player got a Hero's welcome as he will always be remembered as a United legend by the fans, By the time he had graced the pitch Manchester United were 3-0 up and the game was very much won so the home fans were happy to sing "There's only one David Beckham", At the end of the game he got a standing ovation as he picked up a green and gold scarf and put it on as a gesture of supporting the campaign, Although after the match Beckham had claimed as a fan and player he knew of Manchester United's history and wearing the scarf was nothing to do with the Anti Glazers campaign, However David Beckham is not as stupid as he is making out and he is probably very well aware of his actions as Manchester United is very much still in his heart, His actions will give the campaign a large boost as he is a very influential figure in the world of sport,

The club was formed in 1878 as the works team for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, After entering The Football League in 1892 the club decided to drop the L&YR from it's name to become known as Newton Heath F.C. In 1902 the club was on the verge of bankruptcy and needed £2,000 to survive, Luckily four local businessmen were willing to invest £500 each in return for a direct interest in running the club, It was at one of the early board meetings that it was decided to rename the club Manchester United and change the club's colours to red, white and black, So Manchester United officially become the club it is today on 26th April 1902.