www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Thu Oct 29 GMT+00:00 1998
Mail: barry@www.red11.org
This Issue:
1. Man Utd: The Jewel in Football's Crown
2. Fast facts on Man Utd
3. Who's afraid of Rupert Murdoch?
4. Countdown to the deal
5. Bid rumours 'unfounded'
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Daily RED Trivia Thurs 29th October:
29/10/1908: Henry Topping born in Manchester. Topping made his debut at Bradford
Park Avenue in April 1933, and the versatile defender made 12 appearances between
1933-35. He was transferred to Barnsley in May 1935.
29/10/1985: United beat West Ham United 1-0 at Old Trafford in the League Cup 3rd
Round watched by 32,056, thanks to a Norman Whiteside goal. Team was: Bailey,
Duxbury (Brazil), Albiston, Whiteside, Moran, Hogg, McGrath, Olsen, Hughes,
Stapleton, Barnes.
************
Barry Daily Comment:
A win in extra time, 2 Norweigen goals in extra time.
Next rnd Forest at OT.
TODAY: RUPERT MURDOCH SPECIAL....all you need to kmow about the takeover bid!
************
Next 4 games:
Result/Fixture Index:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix9899z.htm
Sat 31/10 Everton (A) PL
Wed 4/11 Brondby (H) CL 19.45
Sun 8/11 Newcastle (H) PL
Wed 11/11 Nott Forest (H) LC
Sat 14/11 Blackburn (H) PL
UNITED Stats v Everton:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/vseverton.htm
*** TEAM RESULTS - MANCHESTER UNITED ***
Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15/08/98 Leicester City Home D 2-2 11 55,052
22/08/98 West Ham United Away D 0-0 11 26,039
09/09/98 Charlton Athletic Home W 4-1 9 55,147
12/09/98 Coventry City Home W 2-0 5 55,193
20/09/98 Arsenal Away L 0-3 10 38,142
24/09/98 Liverpool Home W 2-0 3 55,181
03/10/98 Southampton Away W 3-0 2 15,251
17/10/98 Wimbledon Home W 5-1 2 55,265
24/10/98 Derby County Away D 1-1 2 30,867
Champions league: 21/10
Brondby 2-6 Man Utd
Bayern 1-0 Barcelona
Table as at 21/10:
GROUP D P W D L GF GA Pts
ManUnited 3 1 2 0 11 7 5 Next "CL" Match
BMünchen 3 1 1 1 4 5 4 Man Utd v Brondby OT 4/11
Barcelona 3 1 1 1 5 4 4
Brĝndby 3 1 0 2 2 9 3
Worthington Cup Result 2 norweigen goals in the rain!
ManUtd (Solskjaer 106m + Nevland ) 2-0 Bury aet (0-0 FT)
Draw for Round 4
Luton v Barnsley
Everton v Sunderland
UNITED v Nott Forest
Arsenal v Chelsea
Newcastle v Blackburn
Bolton v Wimbledon
Leicester v Leeds
Liverpool v Tottenham
Match reports tomorrow!
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Man Utd: the jewel in football's crown
Manchester United fans have snapped up the club's merchandise
No wonder Rupert Murdoch has chosen to hold takeover
talks with Manchester United rather than any other
Premier League football club.
Quite simply Manchester United is in a financial league
of its own.
The Red Devils have dominated the English Premier
League in the 1990s and can call upon a global support
of millions.
This huge base ensures it has become the most
profitable club in the world.
While some Premier League clubs have struggled to make
a profit, Manchester United's fortunes have gone from
strength to strength.
Its pre-tax earnings have jumped from just £4m in
1993 to £27.6m in 1997.
This astonishing growth can be put partly down to
success on the pitch.
Over the last few years Manchester United has
played to capacity crowds as it has won a clutch of league
titles and cups.
Winning ways As it has returned to winning ways the club has been
able to command multi-million pound sponsorship deals
with the likes of Sharp.
But it is not just a bulging trophy cabinet that has helped
transform Manchester United's financial fortunes.
Under chairman Martin Edwards, Manchester United has
turned itself into a highly profitable brand, rather than a
mere football club.
Fans have queued up to by anything from soap to replica
shirts emblazoned with the club logo.
Rocketing sales
The club now earns almost as much from merchandising
as it does from gate receipts. Sales have rocketed and
the club has plans to expand overseas sales rapidly by
opening retail outlets in the Far East.
A restaurant and museum have helped turned the club's
ground Old Trafford into a tourist attraction.
Despite the sharp growth in profits BSkyB is after a
much bigger prize.
Manchester United stands at the forefront of a footballing
revolution that threatens to change the face of the game
across Europe.
Super prospects
The club could become an integral part of a new
European Super League, where it will play the
continent's biggest and best clubs on a regular basis.
The money involved could be huge, adding tens of
millions of pounds to Manchester United's revenues
every year.
Then there is pay per view, where fans will have to stump
up money to watch their favourite club on the television.
By buying Manchester United, BSkyB will be able to get
direct access to a potentially huge market.
Competition concerns
Indeed an independent Manchester United poses a
threat to BSkyB's continued dominance of Britain's
national sport.
BSkyB has paid a huge amount, £647m, for the
exclusive right to screen Premiership games for the four
years to 2001.
But Manchester United has recently set up its own
television channel, which analysts believe it could use to
screen live matches after 2001.
If the club chose to go it alone, BSkyB would lose its
football broadcasting monopoly.
What better way to eradicate the threat than to buy up
the club.
Bargain hunting
BSkyB also wants to make sure that Manchester United
games will be at the centrepiece of its new Digital
television offering, launched this year.
By buying Manchester United, BSkyB will scupper
attempts by On Digital, a rival digital service provided by
between media groups Granada and Carlton, to sign up
the club.
If BSkyB does manage to buy Manchester United for the
rumoured £575m it may well have picked up a bargain.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Fast facts on Man Utd
The possible sale of Manchester United to
BSkyB is the latest development in the
history of one of the soccer world's most
glamorous and famous clubs.
Though they were denied a major trophy last
season, losing their Premiership title to
Arsenal, they have built an unrivalled reputation for quality
football.
BBC News Online tells you what you need to know about
Manchester's famous Red Devils.
Manchester United was formed in 1878
Former players include George Best, Bryan Robson,
Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law and Eric Cantona
The Chief Executive is Martin Edwards and the manager
is Alex Ferguson
The club is based at the Old Trafford ground. Capacity:
56,387
It is claimed that few Manchester United fans actually
live in Manchester. Mancunians are said to support
Manchester City
The club have little room in the trophy cabinet after
winning the European Cup in 1968 and the European
Cup Winners' Cup in 1991. United were the FA Premier
League champions in the 1992-3, 1993-4, 1995-96,
1996-7 seasons and Football League Division One
Champions in 1907-8, 1910-11, 1951-2, 1955-6, 1956-7,
1964-5, 1966-7
Man Utd has won the FA Cup nine times - in 1909,
1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994 and 1996
In 1991 the club floated on the stock market. Thanks in
large part to its hugely successful marketing division,
last year the team turned over £87.9m
The club's darkest year was 1958. A plane crash in
Munich killed 23 people, including including eight of the
legendary team the "Busby Babes". The team was on
the way home from a European Cup quarter-final tie
against Red Star Belgrade. The Babes were League title
winners in 1955-56 and 1956-57
In August, the club launched its own TV channel. MUTV
will broadcast six hours a day, seven days a week, from
a studio at the club's Old Trafford ground. The channel,
to go on air in the autumn, will be available on
subscription and show live youth and reserve team
games and friendlies - but not Premiership matches.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Who's afraid of Rupert Murdoch?
Rupert Murdoch: Not welcome by most Man Utd fans
Everyone has an opinion on Rupert Murdoch and when
the UK's national sport is thrown in to the mix a storm
bigger than Hurricane Bonnie is guaranteed.
Predictably the fans made the most noise about the
magnate's £623.4m bid for Manchester United, with the
usual cast of media savvy pundits acting as
cheerleaders.
Former United manager Tommy Docherty predicted a
BSkyB-run club would become a "giant Old Trafford fruit
machine".
Andy Walsh, the chairman of the Manchester United
Independent Supporters Association, managed to be
even more pessimistic.
"Rupert Murdoch will rape and pillage Manchester
United," he warned.
Among the hundreds of e-mails BBC News Online
received on the subject, few backed the takeover.
Jason Evens, a UK fan, expressed the feelings of
many: "Surely a club cannot be allowed to take such a
momentous decision with such drastic consequences
when there is so clearly and overwhelming body of protest
amongst the fans."
But if United supporters are concerned about having to
pay more to see their side at work, other Premiership
teams could face a squad composed of the best players
a magnate can buy.
The FA also welcomed the Trade and Industry
secretary's decision to refer the matter to the Office of
Fair Trading.
In his first major test since taking the job, Peter
Mandelson promised the bid would be examined
"completely and extremely searchingly" by the director
general of Fair Trading.
Mr Mandelson added: "The director general will examine
the competition aspects and will then report to me and I
will take whatever action I need to take."
While fans are scared by the prospect of a TV company
that owns the live broadcast rights to the Premiership
snapping up the biggest club in the game, the
government is worried it will come under fire for its
relationship with the 'Dirty Digger'.
Allegations of favouritism towards Mr Murdoch have been
levelled at the prime minister and his cabinet ever since
The Sun decided to back Tony Blair in the run up to last
May's general election.
Unsurprisingly, both The Sun and its big brother The
Times came out strongly in favour of Mr Murdoch's plans
for Manchester United.
Equally predictable, the remainder of the press were
extremely hostile - and quick to point out BSkyB's
recent sponsorship of Mr Mandelson's other key interest,
the Millennium Dome.
The Guardian went furthest, alleging a close friendship
between the Trade and Industry secretary and Mr
Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth Murdoch, who is
the general manager of BSkyB.
The newspaper asked: "Can Mr Mandelson, given his
friendship with Elisabeth and the government's relationship
with the Murdoch empire, put aside his personal feelings and
reach an impartial decision on whether or not the club takeover should go
ahead?"
But as news of the deal spreads, the attacks are likely
to keep coming.
The chairman of the government's Football Task Force,
David Mellor, is among those who describe any such
deal as "a cardinal act of folly".
Choosing an unlikely target in a man who can come
closer than most to describing the world as his oyster,
Mr Mellor also slammed Mr Murdoch for his poor
geography.
"Is this proud club with all its traditions just to be a pawn
in a global media power-play by Rupert Murdoch, who
hardly knows where Manchester is?"
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Countdown to the deal
Is Rupert Murdoch's takeover good news or bad
news for Man Utd? A rundown of all the news about
Mr Murdoch's bid for Britain's favourite team.
Thursday 17 September
BBC 'will fight to save Match of the Day'
BBC bosses are considering official objections to
Rupert Murdoch's proposed takeover of Manchester
United, in a bid to save Match of the Day.
Wednesday 16 September
United heroes join BSkyB fight
Former Manchester United players Brian McClair
and Sammy McIlroy have joined the fight against
BSkyB's £623.4m takeover of the club.
Tuesday 15 September
Fans ready to fight Sky bid
Manchester United fans are gearing up for a protest
rally in the city against the proposed takeover of
their club by BskyB broadcasting.
Monday 14 September
United fans drum up rock star support
Roger Taylor of Queen has donates £10,000 to help
supporters opposed to the BSkyB takeover plan.
Sunday 13 September
Open to offers
The board of Manchester United is still open to
offers if anyone can better the £623m BSkyB bid.
Saturday 12 September
Mystery backer aids fans
Supporters of Manchester United say a mystery pop
star is offering financial backing for their fight
against Rupert Murdoch's £623m bid for the club.
Friday 11 September
Manchester United TV goes on air
BSkyB's new aquisition begins a broadcast of its
own - the world's first channel dedicated to a single
club.
Wednesday 9 September
United accepts £623m BSkyB bid
Manchester United accepts a takeover offer from
Rupert Murdoch's television company BSkyB -
despite mounting opposition from fans.
Fury as football enters new era
Man Utd fans are fearful of where the deal will take
British football. And they warn that they have the
power to make or break the club.
Tuesday 8 September
Man Utd directors' urgent talks
Manchester United directors have called an urgent
meeting to continue its discussions of BSkyB's
proposed £575m takeover.
Monday 7 September
Man Utd confirms takeover talks
Manchester United and BSkyB have issued
statements through the London Stock Exchange
confirming they are in takeover talks.
Good news for Man U? It depends what you read
"Anger", "fury" and "storm" feature heavily in the
headlines in Monday's newspapers at the news of
media mogul Rupert Murdoch's plans to snap up
Manchester United.
Man Utd shares soar on takeover talks
Shares in football club Manchester United soared
on the London Stock Exchange after the club
confirmed it was in takeover talks with Rupert
Murdoch's BSkyB.
MPs demand red card for Man Utd plan
MPs from all sides have called for action to block
Rupert Murdoch's bid for control of Manchester
United.
FA seeks talks over United bid
The Football Association has called for talks with
the Government over Rupert Murdoch's proposed
take-over of Manchester United.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Subject: Bid rumours 'unfounded'
BSkyB has its sights firmly fixed on Manchester United's Old Trafford
The UK Government has denied reports that it has
already decided to approve a £623m ($920m) takeover
bid for Manchester United by Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB
satellite broadcaster.
A spokesman for Trade and Industry Secretary Peter
Mandelson, who has the last say on the proposed deal,
described press reports as "unwarranted speculation".
He said the deal had not even been considered.
"Mr Mandelson has given no consideration to this issue
and will not do so until he receives advice from the
Director General of Fair Trading, which is expected at
the beginning of November," said the spokesman.
On Friday the Guardian newspaper had reported that
Mr Mandelson was ready to endorse the takeover,
claiming he was convinced that the takeover would be
legal in terms of competition law.
Both sides have said they are confident that the deal will
eventually be approved.
Analysts expect the bid to be referred to the Monopolies
and Mergers Commission (MMC), but predict that it will
eventually get the go-ahead.
Too powerful?
Opponents fear that as owner of the most popular team
in the UK and the main purchaser of television rights for
live English Premiership football, Rupert Murdoch would
have too much power.
On Thursday, 46 members of parliament urged Mr
Mandelson to refer the bid to the MMC.
They said the deal would create an unacceptable
situation which would not be in the best public interest of
fans, clubs, television viewers or sport in general.
They also said that a move to accept the deal by Mr
Mandelson would lead critics to renew claims that the
government is trying to win favourable coverage from the
media tycoon.
A group of Manchester United shareholders,
Shareholders United Against Murdoch (SUAM), have
also urged investors not to sell their shares, claiming the
BSkyB bid badly undervalues the club.
BSkyB already owns more than 11% of the club after
buying another 5.3m shares on Thursday.
"Are you Against the BSkyB takeover? Please Read! Click on image!"
Pic Link today is http://www.red11.org/mufc/imusa.htm
Barry
J. Leeming Digest Prgram
by 
William
McArthur Canada
