GILL APPEASES UNITED SHAREHOLDERS By Jamie Gardner, PA Sport Manchester United plc shareholders have been assured by chief executive David Gill that the club does not need, nor would welcome, a takeover.
Shareholders United, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, had wanted a commitment from the board of directors at Friday's annual general meeting that the club would not be taken private by a single buyer, as happened at Chelsea with Roman Abramovich in the summer. SU spokesman Oliver Houston was encouraged by the meeting and said: "The mood of the thousand or so shareholders in the room was that they value their shares, they want to keep hold of their shares and they don't want the club to be taken over and taken private. "The headline for us is David Gill stating explicitly that United does not need a sugar daddy. "We are also delighted that plc chairman Roy Gardner has taken up our suggestion to build up a strong, powerful independent supporters' trust to protect the club's independence and has invited us to come up with ways that the board could help us. "We look forward to working with them to build a significant shareholding locked down in a trust that therefore would prevent the club being taken over and preserve its independence." Houston admitted it was still a little disturbing for small-scale shareholders that the Cubic Expression Company and second-largest shareholder Malcolm Glazer had not publicly ruled out a takeover. However, he added: "We are glad that the club are waking up to this threat and realising it's not just shareholders' shares that are on the line but also directors' jobs that would be threatened if the club was taken private, so we moved a long way in that regard." SU were disappointed that the board refused to take questions on the appointment of former chairman Martin Edwards as club president. Edwards was chief executive of United for 20 years from 1980, during which time he attracted widespread criticism for his attempts to sell the club to Robert Maxwell, Michael Knighton and latterly Rupert Murdoch-owned satellite broadcaster BSkyB. "That, frankly, was unacceptable," said Houston of the board's decision. "It is an unpaid post and is supposed to offer no power but it is a very special appointment. He is the figurehead of our entire football club. "We don't think it was particularly sensible of them to put the reputation of Manchester United in the hands of someone who has consistently let the fans down." The board would also offer no assurances that former chief executive Peter Kenyon would be forced to remain on gardening leave for 12 months before taking up a similar role with Chelsea. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/GtUolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Please use [EMAIL PROTECTED] for general discussion. To unsubscribe send a blank message (from the email account in question) to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join as a full member of IMUSA today: http://www.imusa.org/join.htm Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
