Red Knights shelve bid plan

[CDev]

The Red Knights have confirmed they will not be making a bid for Manchester United this summer but remain committed to usurping the Glazers.

The green and gold campaign, which has seen supporters don the colours of the club's predecessors Newton Heath at matches in protest at the Glazers' running of the club, had seemed to gather momentum towards the end of the season.

However the American owners, who plunged the Red Devils into over £700million of debt when taking over in 2005, have insisted that the club is not for sale.

Rumours that a £1.5billion offer from a Far East consortium had been rejected by the Glazers last week has forced the Red Knights to temporarily withdraw their interest until a more realistic figure is reached - thought to be in the region of £1billion.

"The Red Knights remain committed to pursuing their efforts to try and help bring ownership of Manchester United to its supporters, and under a structure with materially less debt," said a statement on behalf of the group.

"As we have maintained however since news of our ambitions first emerged in March, we will only attempt to purchase the club at a sensible price, consistent with the long-term interests of the club.

"Persistent speculation in the media of inflated valuation aspirations has made our goals less attainable, as potential investors have strongly reinforced our views that we should not move forward at a price uneconomic for the future of the club."

The news will disappoint many fans who believed a takeover was possible but now the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) is likely to call for a boycott of all season tickets.

United chief executive David Gill last week claimed that sales were in line with previous years and the Red Knights admit that supporters must make their own decision on whether to continue to come through the gates.

"We understand that many supporters were hoping that we might be in a position to make a bid before the season ticket renewal deadline," the statement continued.

"However our approach is best served by long-term interests of all. We have never taken a stance on season ticket renewals, it is a personal choice for all supporters.

"We have spent some considerable time assessing the value of the club. If the fundamentals lead to a more realistic re-assessment then, along with our co-operation with MUST and other Manchester United supporters, we will aim to achieve our goals."