Premier League - United 'immune' to crunch

Eurosport - Thu, 09 Oct 15:06:00 2008

Manchester United's American owners insist the club will not be affected by the credit crunch.

2008-2009 Manchester United celebrate Darren Fletcher's goal against Newcastle - 0

The financial meltdown currently affecting the global economy has already begun to infiltrate the football world, with clubs feeling the pinch after years of over-spending.

Billionaire chiefs such as Chelsea's Roman Abramovich and Manchester City's Abu Dhabi United Group can handle the cash catastrophe, but there were fears that United may struggle.

The club remains £660million in debt following the Glazers' 2005 takeover, but continue to generate enormous revenue around the world.

A refinancing package in 2006 has helped the club to manage their debt and a spokesman for the Glazer family has played down concerns regarding the club's financial health.

"The credit crunch is not having a negative bearing on United," they said.

"We continue to benefit from the sell-out of Old Trafford and the growth in commercial operations.

"We refinanced back in 2006 and that structure provides long-term stability. The debt continues to be comfortably serviced by the club's strong growth in cash flow."

United's shirt sponsors, AIG, have been hit by the credit crunch in the States, with their future remaining unclear.

However, United insist the £14m-a-year deal with the American Insurance Group represents only a small percentage of their revenue stream.

The club remain confident that they could strike a lucrative deal elsewhere should the AIG contract fall through, while they have recently struck a commercial deal with Saudi Telecom and extended their link with Budweiser.

Sporting Life / Eurosport

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  1. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
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    From , on Fri 10 Oct 1:47PM

  2. all u said is right

    From aaaremu, on Fri 10 Oct 1:47PM

  3. i luv united,they are d best team in d world.umaso

    From snooptouch, on Fri 10 Oct 11:48AM

  4. Man Utd owe their success to Man City. We let them use­ our ground when they didn't have one of their own.­ and which famous club did the late Sir "Matt­ Busby" play for !!

    From Omser, on Fri 10 Oct 11:08AM

  5. The seeds for Man u's success were sown and nutured­ at Man City in the form of a player by the name of Sir­ "Matt Busby". We also used to let United­ share our ground because they didn't have one of­ their own

    From Omser, on Fri 10 Oct 11:01AM

  6. this forum is about football not spelling or typo­ mistakes

    From Omser, on Fri 10 Oct 10:52AM

  7. who cares about Man U, how many UCLs do they have ???­ 3?? WOOPTY DOO

    FORZA MILAN 7 TIMES CHAMPIONS OF­ EUROPE AND THE GREATEST CLUB IN THE WORLD

    From justin, on Fri 10 Oct 9:01AM

  8. @#$% you @#$% pfy1101

    From Fab Vader, on Fri 10 Oct 8:07AM

  9. Who cares! Manchester is not even a very nice place­ (generally speaking)

    From pfy1101, on Fri 10 Oct 5:52AM

  10. Football still football and Business still­ business..thats it..

    From mean_maroon, on Fri 10 Oct 5:21AM

  11. I can't deny that United are a global product,­ everyone loves them, what can i say? They're a­ success, and people love that, look how many Chelsea­ shirts have suddenly started appearing? But i think­ you'll find that any half decent club with a big­ fan base will have coaches arriving at their ground­ carrying supporters. Please tell me that this isn't­ the only thing your basing your argument on!? That­ would be embarrassing.

    From Matt H, on Fri 10 Oct 2:58AM

  12. Matt;

    You really can be a condescending @#$% at times,­ If you knew the slightest thing about me you'd be­ urprised to know just how much I know about sport, and­ played a number of them to a very high level too,­ but...

    Back to the Manchester thing, It's a well­ known fact that most Mancs follow City, in fact prior­ to Matt Busby taking over as Manager at Man Utd, they­ were the club with the regular higher attendances over­ the years. Most Utd supporters come from way outside of­ Manchester on a regular basis too. You only have to see­ the number of trains, The coaches and Cars from all­ over the UK that go to Old trafford every week.

    From kim.whittaker, on Fri 10 Oct 12:12AM

  13. #29 should learn to type properly... or at least how to­ spell.

    From Adderly, on Thu 9 Oct 11:33PM

  14. i wish manu fans could be more realist than being­ traped in the sheep theory...maybe for now think about­ the world economy and the Graza FAMILY plus the debt­ manu has and the fact that tax payers wont even­ consider to bail manu as well,let me see?????@#$% it­ makes me think chealse has a stronger pillar maybe that­ russian should buy manu for his alcoholic uncle's­ birth­ day!hahahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahhahahahahhhahahah­ ahahahahhahahahha!@#$% i am sure some fool is hurt­ oops!

    From shady, on Thu 9 Oct 10:06PM

  15. the manc wancs shirts should change to A(merican)­ T(axpayers) G(roup)

    From elwoodgooner, on Thu 9 Oct 7:59PM

  16. for all you out there who keep slagging the best club­ in the world, man u of course. why dont you worry about­ your own little clubs.what is it you feel threatend by­ us or you just jealous because your club will never be­ as big as ours.why dont you just grow up and get a life­ you idiots.

    From pbaker151, on Thu 9 Oct 7:34PM

  17. Day D sorry mate but you don't make sense... as­ clever as you think you are. Clearly, you sir are the­ dumbass.

    From pbaker151, on Thu 9 Oct 7:22PM

  18. You can guarantee a story's true when people start­ denying it! If the banks continue to fail no-one's­ safe.

    From , on Thu 9 Oct 6:26PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    @#$% MAN UTD GO LIVERPOOL

    From martinatanasovski, on Thu 9 Oct 6:25PM

  20. Why do you sad jealous b######ds spend all your time­ reading and commenting on stories about man utd, why­ don't you spend your time concentrating on your own­ teams, how many of them could fill a 76,000 capacity­ grounds every week, none enough said. get a life you­ sad gits

    From sane footy fan, on Thu 9 Oct 5:52PM
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