Manchester United: politics, power, and the beautiful gamehttps://en.majalla.com/node/325537/politics/manchester-united-politics-power-and-beautiful-game
Manchester United: politics, power, and the beautiful game
The story of one of the world’s biggest sports clubs is the story of modern football and modern Britain, for good and bad.
ANDREW YATES / AFP
Retiring iconic Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson (R) and his players hold the Premier League trophy outside the town hall in Manchester, north west England, on May 13, 2013.
Manchester United: politics, power, and the beautiful game
Wherever you go in the world, people have heard of Manchester United. Whether they remember players like Duncan Edwards, George Best, Bobby Charlton, and Dennis Law, or whether they grew up seeing Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, and Cristiano Ronaldo, the club has a history and a reputation that stretches to the farthest corners of the globe. From the markets of Manchester to the mountains of Madagascar, the club’s famous trident is recognised.
Interestingly, Manchester United’s story is intricately tied to the political landscape of the UK. Its rise from a working-class team to a global phenomenon reflects not only its sporting success but also shifts in British society, the government’s approach to the football industry, and the broader national British identity.
In recent decades, various governmental policies have impacted both the football industry and Manchester United’s operations. In the 1990s, the government’s push to commercialise sports led to big changes in football, with Manchester United a beneficiary, not least when the introduction of the Premier League in 1992 coincided with reforms in the broadcasting industry.
Dramatic changes
The government encouraged the privatisation of football clubs and the creation of a television market. From this, immense wealth flowed into the Premier League. The driver behind the changes was the desire for British clubs to compete internationally. For clubs like Manchester United, the changes they brought were dramatic.
A law in 1992 addressed fans’ conduct and crowd control in response to the hooliganism that plagued British football in the 1980s and led to British teams being banned from European competition. The government wanted to clean the sport up and ensure safety in stadiums, after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 led to a crush, killing 97 Liverpool fans and injuring hundreds more.
Football is increasingly becoming a stage for political activism, with players, fans, and clubs engaging on public and social issues
While the law was aimed at curbing violence, its impact was felt most prominently on the working-class fanbase of clubs like Manchester United, which had traditionally been the backbone of the sport. They saw the new rules as disconnected from their needs, stripping them of their identity by limiting their preferred forms of expression.
The 1995 introduction of the Premier League's television rights deal meant that clubs could now negotiate their own media rights, marking a new financial era in football. This coincided with Manchester United's most successful decade.
Under manager Alex Ferguson, United won five league titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup, five Charity Shields, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup in the 1990s.
Benefiting from its success on the pitch at the time, Manchester United took advantage of the new freedoms to become one of the wealthiest clubs in the world. The 1999 National Lottery Funding for football infrastructure channelled new investment into football stadiums and youth development programmes. United's success in Europe fit into this broader strategy and stoked national pride.
A stage for political activism
In the past, politics and sport were kept almost completely separate, but football is increasingly becoming a stage for political activism, with players, fans, and clubs engaging on public and social issues, not least with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, with players and fans alike taking a stand against racism. After US police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, a Black man whom he was arresting, by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes, players began 'taking the knee' before matches, in a visual and stirring act of solidarity.
In other areas, Manchester United players have taken a leading role. The club's winger, Marcus Rashford, famously campaigned against child food poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the government's policy reversal on its decision to deny free school meal vouchers to vulnerable children.
The UK government, on November 8, 2020, relented to a vocal campaign by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, promising to give free meals to poorer children over the coronavirus-afflicted Christmas holidays and beyond.
Political pressure
Like many other clubs, Manchester United has had to contend with political pressures. The club's takeover in 2005 by the American Glazer family saddled Manchester United with hundreds of millions of pounds of debt, prompting furious protests that are ongoing to this day. Many saw the club's decisions as prioritising profits over fans and infrastructure investment.
The Glazers' ownership has been a political flashpoint, as it highlighted broader concerns about the influence of foreign money and commercial interests on English football. Many questioned the government's stance on foreign ownership and its implications for national identity. Fans viewed the acquisition as emblematic of a broader trend in which football—once deeply tied to local communities—was becoming increasingly detached from its roots.
More protests erupted in 2021, when Manchester United's management was revealed to have signed the club up to a proposed new European Super League (ESL), which would have effectively created a closed shop at the top of European football. The ESL plan was universally hated and quickly unravelled under threats of legal action and fan boycotts.
In response to the public outcry, Manchester United was forced to backtrack on its involvement. It showed how high-profile clubs such as United are subject to political pressures, and how politics can influence the direction of the sport when it touches on issues of national identity and the principles of fair competition.
As the sport continues to evolve, analysts wonder whether ownership changes may provide a better balance between local and global interests. In the complex interplay between sport, politics, and society, Manchester United's ability to adapt to these challenges will define its future and ensure its place in the footballing pantheon.
