Famed Man Utd ‘buyer’ Michael Knighton working on new bid to buy Red Devils
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Former Manchester United director Michael Knighton, best known for doing kick-ups on the Old Trafford pitch in 1989, has revealed that he is planning to submit a bid to buy the club from the Glazer family.
Knighton famously came close to buying the Premier League giants in the 1980s, and now he's back for another bite of the cherry as United fans grow increasingly weary with the current ownership. Supporters are desperate for a change at the top, as evidenced by the weekend when hundreds of fans marched from Media City to Old Trafford ahead of kick-off against Brighton to protest against the Glazer family.
Knighton, 70, believes he is the man to instigate that change. "We are a club in crisis and we all know the reason why," Knighton told Man Utd The Religion. "We have an inept and frankly useless ownership who know little about this game of football.
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"Everyone knows that we need new ownership of this football club and that is my aim and those are my objectives. I am making good progress, continuing to talk to the people, I have got some good pledges and good finance.
"We are now working on the offer document. Remember, it is a hostile bid – that simply means that the club isn't officially for sale. But my intention is to present these owners with a legitimate, potent and commercial offer to say: 'You have run out of road, it's time go, because your time is up'.
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"And frankly, the fans worldwide have had enough of this regime. The exciting feeling of a new season, which we all have, and that balloon of excitement that is there, it was all burst when we quickly saw the performance against Brighton. The club is in crisis and it will remain in crisis while we have this current ownership."
Knighton added: "We need to rid our football club of this ownership as they have had their day, time has run out and we have had 17 years of disappointment, really. It is time for them to go.
"They have to stop drawing these huge dividends out of the club. We have to stop paying these huge debt servicing costs. It is time for them to sell.
"Putting this bid together, I don't need to be the front person, I don't need to be the spokesperson. I just want to see our Manchester United Football Club in the hands of proper football people with proper vision.
"We need to repair our stadium and put our club back where it belongs. We are in crisis and it won't alter until they go."
Knighton's previous attempt to buy United is remembered not for how close he came for getting the keys to Old Trafford, but rather what he did on the pitch itself.
The 70-year-old stepped onto the playing surface before kick-off against Arsenal in 1989 and proceeded to balance a football on his head, perform kick-ups and boot it into the roof of the net, all while wearing a United training kit.
Knighton eventually made his way off the field having fulfilled a childhood dream to roars of 'Fergie, sign him up.' Ultimately, however, he didn't end up getting the keys to the Theatre of Dreams, something he'll be hoping to rectify this time around.
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