United Supporters Trust fury at Glazers £109m loss
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of the Manchester United Supporters Trust, Duncan Drasdo, has accused the clubs owners of wasting money after the Glazers announced losses of £109m yesterday.
The loss by Red Football Joint Venture, the family’s parent company that owns United, includes some one-off costs from setting up the £526m bond scheme last year to replace their bank loans, according to accounts filed at Companies House.
Drasdo said: “It sickens people that they are paying increased ticket prices every season under the Glazers but the money is just being wasted and not invested in the playing squad.” The lack of income from selling players also contributed to the loss for the year ending 30 June 2010 – the previous year the company had recorded £21m profit thanks largely to the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo. Last year’s losses included £30.2m interest on their £220m payment in kind (PIK) loans which have since been paid off.
United’s club accounts were published in October and revealed losses of £83.6m – the PIK interest payment is not included in the club accounts – but club chief executive David Gill said then there was £165m in the club’s bank account and that they were in a healthy position.
Gill said in October: “We have money in the bank so there is zero pressure at all to sell a star player.”