How botched Man United takeover attempt almost 30 years ago paved the way for the Glazers

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Manchester United supporters of a certain age may well remember watching a man walk out onto the Old Trafford pitch before a game in August 1989.

The stands were packed to the rafters with Arsenal in town, but the atmosphere took a bizarre turn when Michael Knighton, clad in full United training kit, began to juggle the ball.

He completed several keepy-uppies before lashing the ball into the empty net at the Stretford End and raising his arms out, soaking up the applause.

Knighton was once billed as the man who would save Manchester United, and the previous day, he had announced a takeover deal that the club declared “rocked football”.

However, it didn’t take long for everything to go horrifically wrong.

How Michael Knighton’s Man United takeover fell apart

At the time, the £20million approach was the biggest figure offered for a British club in history, and it was unsurprisingly accepted by then-chief executive Martin Edwards.

Knighton also promised to pump £10m into improving Old Trafford, but after two of his backers pulled out, the takeover was dead in the water.

The businessman tried to bring other backers on board, but as the deadline to prove he had the funds rapidly approached, he instead opted to back out altogether.

He then took a seat on United’s board as a rather underwhelming sweetener.

Decades later, a senior source at Old Trafford from the time told the BBC that Knighton’s pre-match stunt had been “ridiculous”, while Edwards is also said to have quickly realised he had made a mistake.

Knighton, though, does not regret his attempt in the slightest.

Michael Knighton recalls failed Man United takeover

Looking back on the time, he said: “Of course, I loved it. Who wouldn’t?

“Despite how it all turned out, I don’t regret going on that pitch and if I had £5billion to buy Manchester United today, I would do exactly the same again. I was fulfilling every schoolboy dream in the world.

“If you look at the pictures of that day and the smiles on the faces of the fans in the stadium, it worked.”

United went public in 1991, and the rest, as they say, is history. In came the controversial Glazer family, and by 2005, they had total control of the club. They have since made billions back on the initial £790m investment.

Knighton did vow to mount a “hostile bid” in 2022, but no formal approach materialised.