With the new Premiership season fast approaching, and the Glazer family still firmly in charge at Old Trafford, one question that Manchester United fans must ask themselves is: where does the Green and Gold campaign go from here?
The return of the football season marks a crossroads for the campaign, and it’ll be interesting to see the extent of its popularity once United kick off the season against Newcastle. When the campaign first came about during last season, it made for an impressive sight; a 75,000-seater stadium filled with fans all wearing alternate colours in protest at the financial treatment of their football club.
I guarantee that this is something the Glazers could ever come up against in the NFL, where teams are routinely moved to a different city without fan protest.
What did the campaign mean, though? The sight of thousands of Norwich fans turning up at Old Trafford is more likely to confuse them than get them to sell up. In the beginning, it represented the discontent of Manchester United fans; not a minority of radicals, but United fans as a collective entity.
It is only when you break down that entity into the individuals that make it up that the cracks in the campaign begin to appear. There are fans who come from Manchester, who go to European aways, who have an intangible passion for their football team: the Green and Gold campaign could not exist without these people – people who understand what’s happening to the club, people who care about the welfare of Manchester United.
And then there’s the other end of the scale. The United fan from Hampshire, having his big day out at Old Trafford. This fan wants to appear like the Proper United Fan he wishes to be, and as such, will associate himself with the campaign by buying a Green and Gold scarf outside the ground from some crook for six quid (you can, and should, buy them directly from MUST, ensuring your money goes towards helping the campaign).
Despite his new-found identity as a Proper United Fan, he will not want to waste his big day by coming home empty-handed, so he will go to the Megastore, stock up on as much official merch as possible (pens, mugs, blenders, condoms, surgical equipment etc) and wander round shamelessly clutching his bag of goodies whilst proudly sporting his fashionable scarf. This is what the campaign has descended to: lining the pockets of the Glazers whilst pretending to oppose them.
So what needs to be done? There is one thing that was touted as an idea for much of last season, but never formally organised: boycotting Old Trafford.
It’s a controversial idea, admittedly, and to some will represent the antithesis of what it means to be a football fan. But it needs to be done. Match day revenue is Manchester United’s primary source of income: if fans can convince the Glazers that they would be prepared to deny them this, then this is where they must be hit. The Glazers are on the ropes, after an almost unprecedented price freeze for the upcoming season. But United fans cannot rest on their laurels from here.
The only problem here is: this is Manchester United. The biggest football club in the world. If you get every die-hard United fan going to boycott a certain game, there’s still a million and one idiots ready and willing to take their place. Such a boycott would have to extremely well-publicised and generate a lot of support beforehand in order for it to go ahead. A badly supported boycott would only serve to highlight the division between United fans, and portray a campaign that people have worked passionately and tirelessly on as half-hearted. But the Green and Golders need to at least have a crack at it. Otherwise it’ll be just another season of waving trendy scarves.
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Well said.Starve them out the only thing they understand is money.
Deny them this and they will truly get the message.
Its still the most significant bow in anti Glazer armoury.
Any fan still buying from the megastore is a Mug.
Simply does not understand the situation and peril
United are in.
And I bet it’s killing you Manc fans to see that Cessepool has seceral Billionaire clammering to buy that club & pump 100’s of millions into it just like your closeat rival Manc Ali Citey??
Well take it from someone who’s clubs fans tried teh boycott thingie & it didn’t work, you’d have to boycott the games fora month or more for it to take any effect on the revenue & then all your doing is cripplinig your team & making it worse for you in the long run…
Try what ever you can but you should always back your team or they’ll crash & burn like our did!!!
Yes we need a owner like Mike Ashley! lmao
if the glazers want to crush the Green and gold campaign they should bring out a green and gold away kit, then the Green and gold campaigners will just look a bunch like enthusiastic fans 😀
We are just wasting our time campaigning against the Glaizers if they don’t want to sell they will not budge.After all thier piggy bank is always full,we have to keep supporting our Club keep buying the merchandise keep us as the most prosperous Club in the World and making us a top proposition for rich investors.After all who wants to invest in a non profitable business ?.The campaign should be against the people who finance the Glaizers the banks and the financial institutions.
Lets just continue on the path they have chosen for United.
A long and painfull death.
You have simply got to show your hate of there policy at United bye not purchasing non essential tat.
They have got to have there hand forced to recognise they are not wanted and be serious about listening to realistic offers to buy them out.
As is stands they are perfectly happy.You keep topping up there”piggy bank” they keep laughing at your stupidity.
This is not Rocket Science.
I think a spell with out Champions league revenue will achieve what is required.Then its the fast downward spiral.
But hay lets continue to condone what they are doing.Paying approx £60 odd Million pounds per annum to service a debt they have saddled on Manchester United.Happy days.NOT!
The campaign against the Glazers will only be a waste of time if it’s done half-heartedly. United aren’t the most prosperous club in the world; they have more debt than any other club in the world. And the only potential investors who’d be scared off by the protests would be the ones looking to secure the club with debt. Green and Gold needs to step up a gear this season, and it needs the majority of fans to be prepared for boycott.
i see the protest whores are still running ther clueless mouths. the skintknights played you like fools, got some attention and now ran as they never had the cash. now we are stuck with these f*ckìng glazers and their debt, but i always have and always support manchester united and we will nver fall nomatter what. people act like we are portsmouth or chester when we arent even close ad never will be, they are small club whiles weare the biggest club in football and a money machine. we will never fall.
i know why some protest as we all hate those glazers and their debt, but i will never protest and will forever support manchester united nomatter what. we wont fall, we are a unstoppable machine that can not be beat by anything let alone debt. we will be at the top winning trophies for decades to come and debt can not stop us, boycotts are a big no as no real fan will ever boycott and thats a fact, nor will the try to damage the club financially aldo that wil not happen as we are a money machine.
As I’ve come to expect, Aj, you’re argument is laced with optimistic generalisations masquerading as “fact”. You claim to hate the Glazers and yet “will never protest”. You can’t give the Glazers and easy ride, or I guarantee you, United won’t be winning trophies in decades to come. Tell me, if there is an organised boycott, and you’re sitting in Old Trafford with all the jester hat-wearing numpties, are you still gonna feel like a “real fan”?