21 YEARS. WHERE'S THE RETURNS DESK?

The real news

The story, straight

Buying a football club means buying a business, not just picking the team. A leveraged buyout uses borrowed money to make the purchase, with debt placed on the business itself.

The club then has interest to pay. Imagine somebody buying your house and leaving the mortgage on your doormat.

That is the background to Manchester United fans' anger at the Glazers, whose leveraged buyout happened in 2005.

According to ESPN, supporters threw a small number of tennis balls onto the Old Trafford pitch during United's Champions League match against Roma on 3 November. The protest was planned for the 21st minute to mark 21 years of Glazer ownership.

21 years of complaints, and the escalation department is now sporting goods.

The interruption was brief. Players quickly removed the balls.

ESPN's photograph shows Matheus Cunha throwing a tennis ball off the pitch: football's job description apparently includes tidying up after tennis.

United had been 0-2 down inside 18 minutes. Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty, then Cunha scored 2 late goals to complete a 3-2 win.

ESPN says it was United's first Champions League comeback from a 2-goal deficit since October 2021.

The tennis balls did not score those goals. The protest and the comeback happened during the same match; that does not make the protest a winning tactic.

The useful distinction: supporters can object to ownership and still want their team to win. A comeback changes the score, not who owns the club.

Repost this for anyone whose complaints department also requires sports equipment.

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