At dawn over the weekend, Manchester United fans staged a huge protest around the stadium ahead of a warm-up match against Arsenal, calling on United owners the Glasha family to sell the team and quit as soon as possible. Some radical fans even set off fireworks, creating a smoky atmosphere that resembled Occupy Otford two years ago.
Since the takeover of Manchester United by the Glasha family, a wealthy American businessman, in 2005, "anti-Glasha" protests have become commonplace and have intensified in recent years. One of the most violent was the "Occupy Old Trafford" in May 2021, when thousands of Red Devils fans gathered outside the Old Trafford stadium to demand that the Glasha family step down. Some fans even broke into the stadium and threw smoke bombs on the grass, forcing the postponement of the match between Manchester United and Liverpool.
However, Avram Glasha, who is one of the co-chairmen of the club, was present at the training camp during Manchester United's training in the United States in a down-to-earth manner. Nonetheless, the anger of the fans towards the Glasha family did not abate. Hundreds of fans protested outside the stadium before the warm-up match by setting off fireworks and chanting the slogan "The Glasha family is out".
In November last year, the Glasha family announced plans to sell Manchester United, the Qatar consortium "second generation of officials" Sheik Al-Thani and British tycoon Ratcliffe showed strong interest. According to reports, Sheik Al-Thani was willing to contribute 5 billion pounds (about 50 billion Hong Kong dollars) to buy all the shares of Manchester United, and promised to invest an additional 1 billion pounds (about 10 billion Hong Kong dollars) to improve the facilities of the Old Trafford stadium and promote the development of the surrounding area. However, the Glasha family still does not appear to have accepted the offer, which could lead to the sale plan eventually being aborted.
