Paul mullin joins wrexham (1 Viewer)

[Brighton Sky Blue]

That's what I was suggesting over a long period of time. Of course most will fall away but at some point even the Man U's and Liverpool's of this world would have been a smallish club with a local businessman wealthier than others to start the ball rolling.

Man Utd started out as a workers’ team like many others at the time. What Alex Ferguson and Matt Busby didn’t have at their luxury though was a sheikh signing blank cheques. That club was built into a commercial behemoth mostly through the skill of the management

 

---

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

Man Utd started out as a workers’ team like many others at the time. What Alex Ferguson and Matt Busby didn’t have at their luxury though was a sheikh signing blank cheques. That club was built into a commercial behemoth mostly through the skill of the management

Of course they did, but Newton Heath started out playing other railways club, lost their first 'proper' game 6-0 and quickly got relegated in the early years of the football league and were in debt. Then they got a few investors in and changed their name to Man U and within six years were league winners and the rest is history. Of course it relies on getting it right on the pitch at some point, which they have but they could so easily have just disappeared before that greatness were it not for that initial investment giving them a boost when they were a very small, insignificant club.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

Of course they did, but Newton Heath started out playing other railways club, lost their first 'proper' game 6-0 and quickly got relegated in the early years of the football league and were in debt. Then they got a few investors in and changed their name to Man U and within six years were league winners and the rest is history. Of course it relies on getting it right on the pitch at some point, which they have but they could so easily have just disappeared before that greatness were it not for that initial investment giving them a boost when they were a very small, insignificant club.

We are comparing apples with oranges I think

 

[COV]

Man Utd started out as a workers’ team like many others at the time. What Alex Ferguson and Matt Busby didn’t have at their luxury though was a sheikh signing blank cheques. That club was built into a commercial behemoth mostly through the skill of the management

It wasn’t just that- the stars aligned for them. They were never the best supported club in the country until after the Munich disaster which gave them nationwide sympathy & exposure, even that didn’t quite do it but then they then had Charlton, Law & Best (who was like a pop star) and were the first English club to win the European Cup- they were the first club to cross over from football club to mainstream- from then on they were untouchable, even more successful teams couldn’t get anywhere near them for support.

They were known for being cheap to go and watch for years too, that and the way they used to split gate receipts meant they weren’t that much richer than other clubs, but then Sky came along and they quickly turned into that commercial behemoth you talk about, they left everyone else miles behind

 

[Deleted member 5849]

nd the way they used to split gate receipts meant they weren’t that much richer than other clubs, but then Sky came along and they quickly turned into that commercial behemoth you talk about, they left everyone else miles behind

They were prime movers in changing the rules on the %age of gate receipts an away team took, which stretched the gap, and also were pioneers in floating the club, so making it a money making business rather than club. Way before Sky they had a financial advantage over others, because they pushed for it.

They've given their managers the most cash to spend for an eternity, and they've done the most to encourage the commodification of the game in recent years, too. In that respect, while I have a certain sympathy for some clubs when the likes of Man City and Chelsea rock up to outspend them, I certainly don't for them...

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

It wasn’t just that- the stars aligned for them. They were never the best supported club in the country until after the Munich disaster which gave them nationwide sympathy & exposure, even that didn’t quite do it but then they then had Charlton, Law & Best (who was like a pop star) and were the first English club to win the European Cup- they were the first club to cross over from football club to mainstream- from then on they were untouchable, even more successful teams couldn’t get anywhere near them for support.

They were known for being cheap to go and watch for years too, that and the way they used to split gate receipts meant they weren’t that much richer than other clubs, but then Sky came along and they quickly turned into that commercial behemoth you talk about, they left everyone else miles behind

They were also among the first to properly build an international brand and fan base. It’s entirely different to some guy giving them unlimited money, they built it up over decades, Liverpool also

 

[Deleted member 5849]

It’s entirely different to some guy giving them unlimited money, they built it up over decades, Liverpool also

But they did it because some rich buggers came along to give them the kick start, and usurp the likes of Preston, Bootle, Darwin...

Man Utd are the very antithesis of a Corinthian ideal!

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Frankly, FFP is a joke too. It's a thinly veiled attempt to keep the richest clubs at the top, restrict competition, and does quite the opposite of helping clubs run as clubs with long-term community bases.

 

[Sky_Blue_Dreamer]

They were also among the first to properly build an international brand and fan base. It’s entirely different to some guy giving them unlimited money, they built it up over decades, Liverpool also

Man U definitely had the stars align when they had the Fergie era and those youth players breaking through at the start of the big money Sky era, enabling them to take more than the lion's share of the hugely increased prize money and foreign fanbase (and thus revenue) that eventually created. It gave them a massive extra advantage monetarily until the oligarchs like Abramovich rolled up.

 

[rob9872]

Ffs man u bought the title like almost everyone before and after in the the last 50 years! May not have been the figures today, bit still consistently breaking records at the time.

 

[COV]

Ffs man u bought the title like almost everyone before and after in the the last 50 years! May not have been the figures today, bit still consistently breaking records at the time.

But they didn’t win the league between ‘67 and ‘93?