You’ll have to forgive Manchester United fans for looking a little Glazed over in the build-up to the showpiece FA Cup final against Arsenal at Cardiff’s magnificent Millennium stadium.
Rival coaches Sir Alex Ferguson and Arséne Wenger generally create a feisty atmosphere that has, in the past, resulted in the throwing of pizzas and an alphabet soup of insults.
But, like it or not, the world’s oldest knock-out final has been overshadowed by Malcolm Glazer, a 78-year-old American watchmaker even older and uglier than former Glasgow docker Ferguson. This week the controversial Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner, as part of his $790-million takeover bid, bought another 1 202 178 United shares worth more than £3,6-million.
Rumour has it he will pay off the $450-million cash shortfall by taking the club off the stock market, then scrapping the collective television deal, raising ticket prices, pursuing more new sponsorship packages and renaming United’s famous old ground. Then he’ll refloat the club and recoup his money.
There is talk of the fans wearing black and turning their backs during the national anthem. Of thousands turning up and throwing red beach balls on the pitch during the final. This week saw a mass meeting of disgruntled fans threatening to form a breakaway club called FC Manchester United, which will set up in the North West next season and rise through the divisions like AFC Wimbledon. Already we have had mass burnings of season tickets.
”We are calling on all supporters to wear black,” said Mark Longden of the Independent Man U Supporters Association.
It’s no way to prepare for an FA Cup final, is it? Okay, Arsenal are without the Premiership’s injured top-scorer and leading showman Thierry Henry, and their England fullback Ashley Cole has spent most of his preparation giving evidence to the ”tapping-up” inquiry following his clandestine meeting with Chelsea.
But for United, this final is being billed as a demonstration rather than a cracking game of football.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore is seriously concerned. He said: ”Malcolm Glazer has clearly bought a Rolls-Royce and you don’t buy a Rolls-Royce and want to turn it into a stock car, it’s just not what you do.”
It’s just not football, is it? Look, last season four Arsenal players were suspended for taunting Ruud van Nistelrooy after his penalty miss in the goalless draw that gave the Gunners the title. This season we had the ”Battle of the Buffet” after the 2-0 United win that ended Arsenal’s record 49-match unbeaten streak and scuppered their season.
This week Ferguson chortled: ”We know how to stop Arsenal. One thing’s for sure, we are certainly not afraid of them. Many teams, particularly some of the weaker teams in the league, tend to be frightened of Arsenal’s pace.
”But that is not an issue for us. We have enough pace in our team and we know how to handle them.
”Any game against Arsenal nowadays is going to have extra tension, but the cup final itself has always been a fantastic experience for us over the years and you can’t help but think it is a great opportunity to bring silverware to the club.”
For both teams, this is the last chance of glory in a 2004/05 season dominated by Chelsea (and, possibly, Liverpool, if they win the Champions League on Wednesday). There is a sense of history, a tapestry of intense rivalry.
Yet some bloody American tycoon is spoiling it for all of us. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Let’s hope it’s a cracker, not a mishmash of protests and demonstrations. Football deserves better than that.