Carl Hughes retweeted
For fans who never go, they think going to the football is just about watching a game of football. So just give it up. They don’t understand the family/friend connections, the history, the traditions. It’s not black and white. Just like giving up a subscription isn’t 👍🏼
Carl Hughes retweeted
Here’s an additional idea Scott, the none match going fans buy a membership, buy tickets online to not attend. No different to what they’re asking season ticket holders to do. Here’s their chance. Buy tickets and show thousands of empty seats week in week out. They won’t
Carl Hughes retweeted
Two things reading between the lines:
1) It’s a sales pitch and they want out.
2) The realistic pool of buyers is a very limited number of American multi-billionaires who buy the “global brand insulated from sporting variance” argument although even they know this isn’t about any sort of immediate ROI.
The one big difference with American sport that they have chosen to omit is that you always run the risk of relegation and with that is unquestionably a drop in value.
Brutal times.
Avram Glazer has told an audience of financiers that sports teams at Manchester United’s level are not dependent on success on the pitch for commercial power.
United’s co-owner was making a rare speaking appearance at Deutsche Bank’s inaugural Sports Investment Conference in London. Sources with knowledge of the event — talking anonymously to protect relationships — said he argued his club’s value is incubated from the effects of sporting variance in the same way that the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys still stand out as major global brands.
Glazer was asked by an audience member about the correlation between results on the pitch and a club’s commercial pull. His response bears similarity to the feedback Ed Woodward, United’s former executive vice-chairman, gave during an investor call in May 2018.
Woodward was asked by a shareholder if the improved performance in the Premier League, when Mourinho raised the side from sixth to runners-up, had been a factor in another set of record financial accounts, with United making £590million in annual revenue. Woodward replied: “Playing performance doesn’t really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business.”
More from @lauriewhitwell
🔗 nyti.ms/4yUIGjj
Carl Hughes retweeted
In July 2013 Old Trafford was listed as an "Asset of Community Value" & a big play was made of the fact by @MU_ST 👇
That land is key to the Glazer-Rat regime coining it in off any new stadium plans, yet OT is no longer listed by @TraffordCouncil 🤔
1/2
trafford.gov.uk/council-data…
Carl Hughes retweeted
Of course, @MU_ST have been brought in-house and are an active part of the new stadium's planning 👇
Why have they not said anything about OT's apparent lack of listing?
And what deal(s) have been done with Glazers/TraffordBC/MUST to ensure this? 🤔
2/2
teapaw.org/1990sUtd/status/211725…
Carl Hughes retweeted
There’s a constant narrative that matchgoers need to "do more." But look at the sheer numbers: the club boasts a global fanbase of anywhere between 600 million and 1.1 billion people.
Even taking the conservative 600m figure, the roughly 37,000 core matchgoers in the ground represent just 0.006% of our total support.
Asking 0.006% of the fanbase to carry the entire weight of a protest movement makes no sense. The reality is that the global fanbase holds far more leverage than the few through the turnstiles; your collective voice and digital reach can amplify our message louder than anything we can do alone. If we bring the Green & Gold back inside the ground, we need you to back us from outside, not turn against us. We fight this together or not at all.
Whether you personally back the Green & Gold movement or not, it remains the most visible, realistic protest we have. It doesn’t risk anyone's season ticket or livelihood like a walkout does, making it something far more matchgoers can actually get behind inside the ground.
Tell everyone to take Green & Gold balloons to every game, wear Green & Gold scarves - think how that looks in the stadium - remember AC Milan?
I'll repeat what I said in my last post: imagine what a difference we make as a collective.
- Hit the vanity metrics: Unfollow the club's official accounts on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The club pitches these raw follower numbers to prospective commercial partners every day.
- Direct consumer feedback to commercial partners: Brands invest heavily for positive sentiment. When supporters collectively make it clear across sponsor channels that partnering with negligent ownership carries a reputational cost, commercial teams take notice.
- Starve the Megastore: Stop buying official kits, training apparel, and club subscriptions. If you want United gear, buy retro or support independent fan-made apparel.
- Back fan-led advocacy: Support independent fan media, fanzines, and the Supporters Trust. Collective, legal, and political pressure moves the needle; reckless armchair advice does not.
Do you see what you alone can achieve, work with us, not against us.
I hear plenty of noise online about what matchgoers “ought” to do to force change, most notably demands that we leave Old Trafford empty or throw missiles onto the pitch to stop games.
If you don’t attend games regularly, it’s easy to look at things from a distance and assume it’s simply a matter of willpower. Here is the reality on the ground:
1. The “Boycott / Empty Seats” Myth
- The money is already banked: Around 46,000 seats belong to Season Ticket holders who pay in advance in May and June—before the previous season has even finished. Whether an ST holder sits in that seat or stays home, the Glazers already have the cash.
- Season ticket holders don’t control the stadium: If, on average, 20% of Season Ticket Holders forward or resell through official channels, you’re left with roughly half the stadium’s capacity. The remaining half of the capacity is filled by hospitality and general members paying premium prices, people who aren’t walking out or boycotting.
- Strict attendance enforcement: Season Ticket holders must physically attend or officially transfer at least 16 out of 19 Premier League home matches. If you fail to hit that threshold, the club revokes your ticket for the following season.
- You don’t create an empty stadium—you create a corporate one: With over 100,000 people on the waiting list and massive international tourism demand, any seat permanently vacated isn’t left empty. The club simply reclaims it and flips it into extortionate single-match membership prices or hospitality packages.
- The European comparison doesn’t work: Pointing to Serie A or the Bundesliga ignores the fundamental economics. Many of those clubs have cheap tickets, standing sections, and 50+1 fan ownership models. Old Trafford operates in a hyper-commercialised, sold-out market. Asking a local supporter to sacrifice a seat their family has held for 20, 30, or 40 years, only for it to be sold to a tourist five minutes later, gives the owners zero financial leverage.
2. Throwing Objects onto the Pitch
- It’s a specific criminal offence: Under the Football (Offences) Act 1991, throwing any missile onto the pitch or surrounding area is illegal.
- It ruins lives, not ownership: Old Trafford is blanketed by modern high-definition CCTV and facial recognition. Anyone caught doesn’t just face a club ban; they face mandatory court-issued Football Banning Orders (FBOs), the surrender of their passport during European fixtures, a criminal record, and potential loss of employment. Furthermore, with modern automated flagging and blanket ticketing investigations, which have been very poor on United’s part, when disorder breaks out, bystanders and innocent people nearby often get swept up in the fallout, losing access to tickets while lengthy club appeals grind on.
- Demanding that local matchgoers take on criminal records and jeopardise their livelihoods while you watch in a pub, on TV, or via an illegal stream isn’t a protest strategy; it’s completely detached from reality.
What Non-Matchgoers Can ACTUALLY Do to Hit the Model: The club’s ownership model is built on one thing: commercial monetisation of the global audience. That is where you have direct leverage.
- Hit the vanity metrics: Unfollow the club's official accounts on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The club pitches these raw follower numbers to prospective commercial partners every day.
- Direct consumer feedback to commercial partners: Brands invest heavily for positive sentiment. When supporters collectively make it clear across sponsor channels that partnering with negligent ownership carries a reputational cost, commercial teams take notice.
- Starve the Megastore: Stop buying official kits, training apparel, and club subscriptions. If you want United gear, buy retro or support independent fan-made apparel.
- Back fan-led advocacy: Support independent fan media, fanzines, and the Supporters Trust. Collective, legal, and political pressure moves the needle; reckless armchair advice does not.
If we want change, it requires collective discipline across the entire fanbase—not asking matchgoers to commit financial or legal suicide just to make a 30-second point on television.
There’s no divide here: it isn’t matchgoers versus non-matchgoers; it’s all of us. If we aren’t united, we achieve nothing, and that failure rests on every single Manchester United supporter.
A better-formatted version of this post is here: cheesesofnazareth.substack.c…
Carl Hughes retweeted
When every non-match going fan does this, then come back to us and ask us to not go to games. Until then, shut the fuck up 👍🏼
Carl Hughes retweeted
I’ve got an idea for a protest. Why doesn’t everything single fan from around the world, supporting this global club of ours, cancel all their sports subscriptions? The financial implications would be huge. United make more money from broadcasting than they do matchday revenue.
Carl Hughes retweeted
Well done to the lads in @TraMufc for their efforts with the balloons and to the crowd backing them with the chants. I believe match going fans are waking up finally.
This kind of protest to keep going inside the ground. It will grow, it will get louder
It’s more than apparent how fans feel about the ownership AND a new stadium.
Now it’s time for the FF, FAB and @MU_ST to step up surely?
You are supposed to represent every single one of those fans in the ground last night.
When are you going to stand up and take action? When are you going to truly represent the fanbase? A dialogue over protest approach clearly doesn’t work.
What’s next MUST? It is your role to be these desperate fans voices.
You have the power to truly unite our fanbase….. USE IT!!!
Do something…… anything
Carl Hughes retweeted
I hear plenty of noise online about what matchgoers “ought” to do to force change, most notably demands that we leave Old Trafford empty or throw missiles onto the pitch to stop games.
If you don’t attend games regularly, it’s easy to look at things from a distance and assume it’s simply a matter of willpower. Here is the reality on the ground:
1. The “Boycott / Empty Seats” Myth
- The money is already banked: Around 46,000 seats belong to Season Ticket holders who pay in advance in May and June—before the previous season has even finished. Whether an ST holder sits in that seat or stays home, the Glazers already have the cash.
- Season ticket holders don’t control the stadium: If, on average, 20% of Season Ticket Holders forward or resell through official channels, you’re left with roughly half the stadium’s capacity. The remaining half of the capacity is filled by hospitality and general members paying premium prices, people who aren’t walking out or boycotting.
- Strict attendance enforcement: Season Ticket holders must physically attend or officially transfer at least 16 out of 19 Premier League home matches. If you fail to hit that threshold, the club revokes your ticket for the following season.
- You don’t create an empty stadium—you create a corporate one: With over 100,000 people on the waiting list and massive international tourism demand, any seat permanently vacated isn’t left empty. The club simply reclaims it and flips it into extortionate single-match membership prices or hospitality packages.
- The European comparison doesn’t work: Pointing to Serie A or the Bundesliga ignores the fundamental economics. Many of those clubs have cheap tickets, standing sections, and 50+1 fan ownership models. Old Trafford operates in a hyper-commercialised, sold-out market. Asking a local supporter to sacrifice a seat their family has held for 20, 30, or 40 years, only for it to be sold to a tourist five minutes later, gives the owners zero financial leverage.
2. Throwing Objects onto the Pitch
- It’s a specific criminal offence: Under the Football (Offences) Act 1991, throwing any missile onto the pitch or surrounding area is illegal.
- It ruins lives, not ownership: Old Trafford is blanketed by modern high-definition CCTV and facial recognition. Anyone caught doesn’t just face a club ban; they face mandatory court-issued Football Banning Orders (FBOs), the surrender of their passport during European fixtures, a criminal record, and potential loss of employment. Furthermore, with modern automated flagging and blanket ticketing investigations, which have been very poor on United’s part, when disorder breaks out, bystanders and innocent people nearby often get swept up in the fallout, losing access to tickets while lengthy club appeals grind on.
- Demanding that local matchgoers take on criminal records and jeopardise their livelihoods while you watch in a pub, on TV, or via an illegal stream isn’t a protest strategy; it’s completely detached from reality.
What Non-Matchgoers Can ACTUALLY Do to Hit the Model: The club’s ownership model is built on one thing: commercial monetisation of the global audience. That is where you have direct leverage.
- Hit the vanity metrics: Unfollow the club's official accounts on X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The club pitches these raw follower numbers to prospective commercial partners every day.
- Direct consumer feedback to commercial partners: Brands invest heavily for positive sentiment. When supporters collectively make it clear across sponsor channels that partnering with negligent ownership carries a reputational cost, commercial teams take notice.
- Starve the Megastore: Stop buying official kits, training apparel, and club subscriptions. If you want United gear, buy retro or support independent fan-made apparel.
- Back fan-led advocacy: Support independent fan media, fanzines, and the Supporters Trust. Collective, legal, and political pressure moves the needle; reckless armchair advice does not.
If we want change, it requires collective discipline across the entire fanbase—not asking matchgoers to commit financial or legal suicide just to make a 30-second point on television.
There’s no divide here: it isn’t matchgoers versus non-matchgoers; it’s all of us. If we aren’t united, we achieve nothing, and that failure rests on every single Manchester United supporter.
A better-formatted version of this post is here: cheesesofnazareth.substack.c…
Carl Hughes retweeted
The balloon protest at Old Trafford ahead of kick-off 🔰🎈
#GlazersOut #MUFC
Carl Hughes retweeted
The 7 Man Utd fans that sit on the fan advisory board should tomorrow all
Resign and say:-
“We no longer have confidence in the club’s leadership and cannot continue to represent supporters under the current circumstances.”
Apply pressure
@Drasdo @MUSTChair @dipsMUFC 👀
#mufc
Carl Hughes retweeted
If you didn’t already know, fans also sung about the Glazers, Ratcliffe, Wilcox, and the new stadium they don’t want. 👍🏼
Carl Hughes retweeted
@Altgthr 1stthing Monday morning as the owners won’t sack berrada or Wilcox.
2 apply more pressure on the owners and the senior executive leadership team is 4 every person who is on the f.a.b Or fans forum is 2 issue a vote of no confidence and resign
#glazersout
#ineosout
Carl Hughes retweeted
Remember that time in 2021 when fan protests had Glazers on the brink until the movement was betrayed by @MU_ST secretly collaborating re a fantasy share scheme?
At Stamford Bridge today is the fraud who pretended to hold Joel Glazer to account but then went + worked for him 👇
Carl Hughes retweeted
Road casualties on Wales’ 20mph & 30mph roads have fallen by 35% since before the default 20mph limit was introduced.
The evidence is clear: lower speeds mean safer roads, fewer casualties & lives potentially saved. That’s progress worth getting behind. nation.cymru/news/casualties…
Carl Hughes retweeted
So here’s where we are at…..
@The__1958 cannot fight this battle against the owners on their own, that’s plain to see.
Unless ALL major supporters groups of MANCHESTER UNITED come together and start singing from the same song sheet then we are totally fucked.
It’s a now or never moment in my opinion. it’s time for every supporters club, fan group and offical trust to work towards a greater good.
Fuck dialogue with the club, it’s pointless and has been for years.
I believe the only way forward is for the FAB and FF to cut the club off with a vote of no confidence. That’s the start. Then…. Let your feet do the talking, however that looks. Any details of protests, be it a walk out, sit in, boycott or whatever the plan may be will be utterly pointless unless everyone supports it.
Thats the sad reality here, time to wake the fuck up or……
Enjoy Ratcliffe and the Glazers for the unforeseeable
It’s up to you
Carl Hughes retweeted
FYI, anyone buying a Forwarding Membership specifically to have a Champions League home ticket forwarded to them: #MUFC has blocked this since the draw.
I’m fairly sure this was communicated at some point, but it clearly hasn’t been made obvious enough; hence this post.
The intention is to prevent away supporters from getting into the home end. (The fact that you can purchase hospitality without a membership is another conversation entirely.)
FYI @ManUtd, I’d strongly suggest updating your Memberships page (tickets.manutd.com/membershi…) and relevant help content to make this restriction crystal clear before supporters buy a membership assuming they can receive a forwarded ticket.
Failing to clearly disclose this restriction risks a misleading omission under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA). Supporters should receive clear, accurate information before parting with their money, not discover the restriction afterwards.
