The Glazer family have not taken their semi-annual dividend from Manchester United, the club’s quarterly financial results for the fiscal year 2023 have revealed.
The Glazer family confirmed they were open to ending their 17-and-a-half-year ownership of United on November 22 as part of “a process to explore strategic alternatives for the club”.
In the previous financial results that were posted in September for the year up to June 30 2022, United paid out £33.6 million ($44m) in dividends, mostly to the Glazer family, which was up by more than £20m on the previous year.
AP reports that United’s first-quarter fiscal 2023 results stated that the board of directors on November 15 “did not approve the payment of the semi-annual dividend for fiscal 2023”. A week later, United said the Glazer family was exploring outside funding to enhance growth — a move that could pave the way to a potential buy-out.
“As part of this process, the board will consider all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company,” the club said on November 22, the same day it parted ways with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust welcomed the decision to not pay dividends. “Certainly dividends should not be paid when the football club is not achieving success on the pitch, challenging for top honors,” the organization said in a statement Thursday.
“That is a rewarding failure and removes the incentive for the owners to ensure sufficient reinvestment of profits back into the football club.”
The Glazer family, which also owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers bought United in 2005 with a leveraged takeover that loaded debt onto the club.
Critics say the Glazers have failed to invest enough of their own cash in the squad or facilities and have presided over years of failure by England’s biggest football team.
