Stuart Brennan
Manchester Evening News
5 September 2006
FERGIE has a sign on the wall of his office in Carrington which reads “AhcumfiGovan,” a reminder, to himself as much as anyone, of his pride in his stark Glasgow roots.
Perhps these days he should put another sign alongside it reading “BurralivinWilmslow” because he appears to be in serious danger of losing sight of his background.
The comments he makes in a new book about the supporters who opposed the Glazer family takeover, and continue to do so, and those who formed FC United as a fresh new alternative to the greed merchants of the Premier League, are ill-conceived and shallow.
Fergie claims that United fans had nothing to do with the successful opposition to the BSkyB bid for the club in 1998, and that it was strictly a decision by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which thwarted Rupert Murdoch.
Of course it was the MMC which made the decision, but they themselves afterwards flagged up the role played by United fans in their own decisionprogress.
He appears to dismiss the founders of FC United, who number in their thousands and include many who are still Old Trafford season ticket holders and other Manchester United regulars, as attention seekers.
I would suggest that if you are seeking attention, the worst place to do it is in the North West Counties division.
His apparent dismissal of the notion that supporters should have a say in the running of football clubs is also breathtaking in its aloofness. It is just a few years since Fergie wrote to Shareholders United, born out of the Murdoch fight and in the thick of the anti-Glazer campaign, urging supporters to get involved as it was for the good of the game.
Has that principle been lost in the mayhem of the Glazer deal, or is he simply too afraid to speak his mind for fear of offending the new owners?
Stuart Brennan won the national Football Writer of the Year Award from the Football Supporters Federation for his work covering fans' issues at United and FC United.
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