When a significant corporation tried to buy Manchester United in 1998, they made it clear to everyone that if they do, they will raise ticket prices first. Even then, Manchester United fans rose, protested, and shyly born the idea of forming a new, community-oriented football club, rather than stuffing pockets to giant, capitalist corporate octopuses without face or soul. A few years later, on May 12, 2005, a tectonic disturbance occurred in the part of Manchester that breathes and dreams red. US billionaire Malcolm Glazer bought the club.
In a city where cavalry in the early 19th century, in an event known as the Peterloo Massacre, killed 18 people protesting to democratize parliament, this was seen as the first step to completely separate the once-national club from the community it originated from, and just a few months earlier, the Red Issue magazine announced the official intention of a small group of fans that if Glazer buys the club, they will go so far as to form their own. It happened on June 14, 2005. FC United of Manchester was born.
Enraged that the wealthy Malcolm Glazer had bought the club on credit, which would then repay with the money he earns from Manchester United and angered by the fact that with their tickets, they would fund such a precedent, fans rose.
“There were many factors that made us create a new club. We felt that football was changing from something happening in the stands to something viewed from comfortable seats, something you look at as a spectator and not as a fan. The factor was also the rise in ticket prices, the change in traditional match dates… We felt they were treating us like customers, walking wallets. The Premier League regulations are such that you can be kicked out of the match if you stand during the game,” club representatives explain.
Because of this, they decided to start from the bottom, that is, from the 10th rank with a new club and new principles. At the founding assembly, it was decided that each member of the club has one vote, no matter how financially involved in sponsoring the club. Direct democracy will determine everything from the name of the club, over the color of the jerseys, to the long-term development policy of this United.
One of the first decisions was a clear indication of the direction the club wants to go. Specifically, it was decided that the club must never have a sponsor name on the jerseys, as this would begrime the image and would be contrary to the founding principles. FC United of Manchester did not want to be anyone’s showcase, cause its fans and owners did not want to advertise anyone, even if those were best sex games. They only wanted one thing on the front of the jersey – their coat of arms.
“Our jersey is our identity – the football jersey with the sponsor logo is recognized for the brand which gave the most money. The sponsor logo is many times bigger than a club coat of arms! We do not want our fans to be walking advertisements,” FCUM representatives explain.
The new club did not have their own stadium, so in the arrangement with Bari, they played on their Gig Lane and immediately caused an earthquake in the amateur football world in England, similar to one that best porn games made when they appeared online. It started like a fairy tale. A considerable number of people bestirred like someone is offering them to enjoy adult porn games, but it was because they felt that they finally have a club that can awaken the passion that made them fall in love with football. By the start of the new season, they had managed to raise as much as 100,000 in the club account, and when they sent an open invitation to the football players to come to rehearsal – 900 people signed up! In the end, 17 were selected to the first team of FC United of Manchester, and the first man to sign his contract with the born-again United was Jonathan Miten, the great-grandson of Charlie Miten, a Manchester United striker from the late 1940s.
The first official match of the newly-formed club took place on August 13, 2005, with FCUM hosted by Country Boy Skul Old Boys, and around 2,500 United of Manchester fans came to support the team.