Manchester United - The Theatre of Dreams

last SG · 2008-05-28T09:21:16+00:00

Full name - Manchester United Football Club Nickname - The Red Devils Founded - 1878, as Newton Heath LYR F.C. Ground - Old Trafford, Manchester...

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Al Ahly - African Champions from Egypt.

Gamba Osaka - Newly crowned Asian champions

Liga Deportiva Universitaria Quito - 2008 Copa Libertadores Winner.

(South American Champions)

CONCACAF Champions (Mexico)

Champions League Winner - (European Champions)

Adelaide United - Australia's A-League

Lost to Gamba Osaka in the 2008 AFC Champions League final.

As the Champions League was won by a Japanese club, it meant that Adelaide have qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup as the highest-placed non-Japanese team in Asian club competition.

Painting the world Red: Rio Ferdinand is presented with the Club World Cup by Fifa president Sepp Blatter

Wayne Rooney has a fleet of flash cars including a Bentley and a Porsche, so has no need for the Toyota he won for his inspired role in Manchester United's FIFA Club World Cup triumph.

Adding to his car collection was of little interest to Rooney, despite the polite and professional way in which he posed for a blaze of flashbulbs, clutching a giant car key after being named player of the tournament.

For the most significant prize Rooney's winning goal has given Sir Alex Ferguson's team is the renewed confidence and self-belief with which they will return home as they focus on hunting down Liverpool and Chelsea in the title race.

That, above everything else, even being officially entitled to call themselves the No.1 team on the planet, was the biggest plus United took away from Japan after making a 25,000-mile round trip to play in FIFA's much-maligned showpiece event. Rooney admitted losing to Liga de Quito would have cast a shadow over the rest of United's season and could have had a negative impact on their chances of defending their Premier League and Champions League crowns.

There is still the problem of jetlag to overcome before United's must-win Boxing Day lunchtime trip to Stoke, but there is nothing like winning a trophy to ease the physical and mental demands of such a gruelling trip.

"We came out here determined to win it and we've done just that," said Rooney. "If we hadn't have won, it would have been very difficult for us going home. We would have been on a downer going into the Stoke game and it could have had a really bad knockon effect on us for the rest of the season. But having won it, we can go back home full of confidence, start winning games and go on a consistent run.

"It's an amazing feeling to be a world champion." United's night of glory was marred by the straight red card shown to Nemanja Vidic five minutes into the second half for elbowing Liga striker Claudio Bieler after the pair tangled following a challenge.

FIFA's disciplinary panel will determine the length of Vidic's European ban, but the centre-back will certainly miss the first leg of United's Champions League tie at Inter Milan, and possibly further matches.

United showed impressive strength of character to cope with going down to 10 men so early after the break and win the game in normal time, avoiding the added fatigue and tension that extra-time and penalties would have brought.

Rooney's 73rd-minute winner was an assured side-foot finish for his 10th goal of the season after Cristiano Ronaldo put him through.

Edwin van der Sar made a series of crucial saves as United came under pressure towards the end.

Big game player: Wayne Rooney curls home the winner

Big in Japan: fans in Yokohama cheer on United

Key man: Rooney received a sponsor's car after being named player of the tournament

Another day, another trophy: Cristiano Ronaldo gets his hands on the prize

World-beaters: Carlos Tevez celebrates with Rooney

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12/01/2009

Cristiano Ronaldo has been named the Fifa World Player of the Year for 2008.

The Portugal and Manchester United winger becomes the first Premier League player to win the award. Ronaldo, 23, beat AC Milan's Kaka, Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Xavi to the prestigious title.

"It's an overwhelming moment in my career and I'd like to dedicate this award to my family, friends and colleagues," said the United star. His 42 goals for Manchester United last season helped the Old Trafford club clinch the Premier League and Champions League double.

Ronaldo, who also picked up the European Player of the Year crown in December and the FifPro World Footballer of the Year honour in October, paid special tribute to United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

"It's also true that the manager always has an important role to play. It was a great season for me and for my club and the coach was important for me because I learned a lot for him," he added.

"His experience over so many years is of paramount importance - it's a privilege to have such a great club manager. "This is the climax of a fantastic era for me. I'm happy and proud about what has been done by my team and what we have won.

"I am lucky to be part of the history of a club like Manchester United." The coaches and captains of 155 national teams took part in the voting for the award, with Messi finishing second ahead of Torres, Kaka and Xavi.

Ronaldo is only the second Portuguese player to pick up the Fifa honour following Luis Figo's triumph in 2001.

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The Red Devils are worth a mind-boggling £1.165BILLION - eclipsing giant American franchises like the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees.

The assessment of United's worth takes in the value of the team, stadium, income and sponsorship deals it attracts.

It is good news for the Glazer family, who bought the club for £790m in 2005. However, they also plunged it into debt and United are still in the red to the tune of around £478million.

United's advertising revenue had a big impact on their position - with the £80m, four-year shirt sponsorship deal they signed with Aon and £300m 13-year tie-up with Nike major factors.

Real Madrid were the second-highest place football club on the list, finishing in fifth place and valued at £900m.

And there was good news for Arsenal fans, with their team coming seventh with a value of £740m.

Roman Abramovich's Chelsea could only muster 46th in the table while other soccer teams making up the top 50 included Bayern Munich (19th), AC Milan (34th) and Juventus (49th).

Meanwhile Barcelona — widely reguarded as the best club side around — came only 26th in the rankings.

The Catalan club is said to be worth £606million.

1. Manchester United £1.165billion (US$1.86 billion)

2. Dallas Cowboys £1.13bn

3. New York Yankees £1.06bn

4. Washington Redskins £960million

5. Real Madrid £900m

6. New England Patriots £850m

7. Arsenal £740m

8. New York Giants £734m

9. Houstan Texans £727m

10. New York Jets £708m

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Manchester United owners the Glazer family to use £600m flotation revenue to reduce club's debts

Telegraph Sport can disclose that United submitted an application to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange earlier this month and expected to achieve a formal listing before the end of the year.

Sources close to the application process have confirmed that, within the draft prospectus submitted to the Singaporean financial authorities, United’s owners have laid out their reasons for the 30 per cent sale of their holding in the club.

Central to their submission is confirmation that they will significantly reduce a £480 million debt to make United more competitive in the transfer market.

The proportion of debt reduction has not been specified, but it is understood that cutting the club’s borrowings, rather than servicing the Glazers’ personal financial commitments, is the primary reason for the partial flotation. The Glazers highly secretive rest of the proceeds will go is unknown. What the highly secretive Glazers will do the rest of the money is unknown.

United currently pay about £45 million in annual interest payments on the debt that has been saddled on to the club ever since the Glazers secured sole ownership at Old Trafford in May 2005.

Despite manager Sir Alex Ferguson insisting that the Glazers have fully supported his plans to recruit players, supporters have grown frustrated by the lack of investment in perceived stellar signings, pointing to the interest payments as money that could strengthen the squad.

With Manchester City backed by the supreme wealth of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, United have been regularly outspent by their rivals, who are expected to take their summer spending through the £70 million mark by signing Arsenal’s Samir Nasri in the coming days.

United had also made an attempt to sign Nasri, but failed to match City’s £25 million offer and £170,000-a-week salary, while efforts to lure Wesley Sneijder from Inter Milan have also foundered due to a reluctance at Old Trafford to meet the Dutch midfielder’s pay demands.

United are expected to become the first club to announce commercial income of more than £100million when accounts are released in October. The Glazers and senior figures at United believe that the strength of their business model, which has seen total turnover double to almost £300million under the Americans, will ensure the club can compete with City and other wealthy European rivals.

There is optimism within United that they will be listed in Singapore within two months and that a full prospectus for potential investors will be available by October.

Some financial experts have expressed surprise at United’s decision to list in Singapore, rather than the larger and more established market in Hong Kong. The club’s popularity in Singapore and the belief that it is a more suitable base for commercial growth in Asia are believed to be behind the decision.

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You can view the full press release in a separate pdf.

The reigning Premier League champions saw turnover increase by £45m to £331.4m in the year to the end of June, a record for an English club, exceeding the £313m recorded by Arsenal for the same period.

United’s gross debt stands at £458.9m and the club paid £51.2m in interest payments to bond holders in 2010-11, equivalent to 46 per cent of annual profits.

Interest payments and other costs such as amortisation of player contracts and depreciation reduced the pre-tax profit to £29.7m.

The commercial growth saw cash reserves boosted to £150.6m at the end of the financial year, reducing the club’s net debt to £308.3m, the lowest since the Glazer’s bought the club in 2005. The Glazers also bought back £63.8m in bonds issued in the 2009 re-financing.

The cash reserves may have altered since the end of June but the figures released today do include the £52m spent on Phil Jones, David de Gea and Ashley Young in the summer transfer window.

The rise in turnover was driven by a £22m (37 per cent) increase in commercial revenue, which exceeded the £100m barrier for the first time at £103m, and the club’s on-field success which included a 19th English league title and progress to the Champions League final.

Commercial growth was driven by the first year of the new shirt sponsorship deal with AON, and will increase again in 2011-12 following the £10m-a-year training kit sponsorship agreed by DHL last month.

While turnover increased so did costs, with increased player wages and bonuses contributing to a £35m increase in operating expenses, which rose from £185.2m in 2009-10 to £220.5m in the year to June 2011.

Staff costs rose by £21.2m, £9.7m of which was paid in bonuses and the remaining £11.5m in increased wages.

Operating expenses also grew by £11.8m, which the club attributes to the cost of staging the pre-season US Tour and, somewhat curiously, the cost of travelling to the Champions League final, which was staged at Wembley.

The strong financial performance will be used by the Glazer family to help boost interest in the partial floatation of the club on the Singapore stock exchange scheduled for next month.

The Glazers are hoping to sell 25 per cent of the club for around £600m to reduce the club’s debts, and will hope that the strong commercial performance and deals such as that with DHL will convince investors that their pricing - which gives the club a total valuation of around $4bn - is not optimistic.

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• United's revenue passes £300m for the first time
• Half of £110m operating profit goes on servicing debt

Manchester United v Arsenal

Manchester United have converted last year's £79.2m pre-tax loss into a £29.7m profit, reflecting onfield success and strong commercial growth, and reduced their debt levels.

The strong figures will strengthen the hand of the Glazer family ahead of a planned IPO share flotation in Singapore next month, but will also spark renewed criticism of the effects of their leveraged business model.

The results show revenues rose to a record £331.3m in the year ending June 2011, an increase of 16% on the previous year's £286.4m.

But with £51.2m in cash interest paid out over the year to service the borrowing loaded on to the club, almost half its record operating profit (before depreciation, amortisation and exceptional items) of £110.9m went on servicing debt.

The results also show a sharp rise in costs, up to £220.5m from £185.2m the previous year, and a 16.1% increase in staff costs. Those who have campaigned long and hard against the Glazers' ownership model, will point to the £51.7m paid in cash interest to service the bond debt as evidence that is still acting as a drag on the club's finances.

But Manchester United executives are likely to point to continued success on the field and strong growth in response. Last year's record losses were largely due to one-off charges relating to the £526m bond issue.

The rise in revenues and operating profit has been driven by a 27% increase in commercial revenues, largely as a result of a string of deals signed with overseas partners, to £103.4m. It does not include the recent £10m a year deal with DHL.

Media income also increased substantially, mainly as a result of the first year of the Premier League's new £3bn-plus TV deal, from £104.8m to £119.4m. And matchday income was also up 8.4% on last year, largely due to an extra home game and the club's take of the Champions League final gate money, to £108.6m.

Those representing the Glazers will highlight the fact that net debt stands at its lowest level since they bought the club in a £790m leveraged deal in 2005. With £150.6m cash in the bank, and £63.8m of debt repurchased during the year, the net debt stood at £308.3m at the end of June.

Upward pressure on wages, in part due to Wayne Rooney's new £180,000-a-week deal and bonuses paid to players, has seen staff costs rise by 16%. However, since the accounts were filed high earners including Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar, Wes Brown and John O'Shea have been moved off the wage bill.

The wages-to-turnover ratio is still extremely healthy compared to the club's rivals, in particular Manchester City and Chelsea. Executives believe Manchester United will have no problem complying with Uefa's new financial fair play restrictions.

Ahead of a planned mid-October IPO in Singapore to float a minority stake in the club, the club will point to the results as evidence of its health and growth. But campaign groups will concentrate on the interest payments required to service the club's debt.

Sources close to the float have promised that the proceeds will be used to pay down debt and boost commercial operations in Asia. That has prompting fans' groups such as the Manchester United Supporters Trust to begin campaigning for the club's debts to be paid off in full and for the money not to be diverted to the Glazers to repay their refinanced payment in kind debt, which has now been moved off the balance sheet of the club's holding company.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/sep/01/manchester-united-premierleague

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