Manchester United owner Avram Glazer made a rare visit to Old Trafford to watch their poor defeat at the hands of Brighton on Sunday.
Glazer is an executive co-chairman and a director at United but is notoriously hands-off in his approach to running the team. The 61-year-old American has been involved in the boardroom at the club since the Glazer’s takeover in 2005, yet is never seen in Manchester by fans who are extremely critical of the billionaire family’s approach.
Avram is a lot less visible than his brother Joel Glazer, who was forced to front up following United’s involvement in the hugely unpopular and ultimately doomed European Super League breakaway in 2021. But the older Glazer brother – who also owns NFL side Tampa Bay Buccaneers – was pictured at Old Trafford on Sunday for an afternoon he surely won’t have enjoyed.
According to Manchester Evening News, Glazer’s visit was just his third in the past three years, following a match against Chelsea at home in the 2019/20 season and another against Newcastle at Old Trafford last season.
On Sunday he was in the directors’ box, behind chief executive Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough, to witness a chastening start to the Erik ten Hag era, with two Pascal Gross goals giving the visitors a 2-1 win. United were torn apart in the first half, with individual errors and collective slack defending allowing Gross to score twice in nine minutes in the first half.
United did respond somewhat in the second period and reduced the arrears through a scrappy Alexis Mac Allister own goal from a corner. But they could not claw their way back, with Brighton holding firm to claim their first ever win at Old Trafford.
It was a doubly awful day for Glazer, who was not made to feel welcome by the home fans. The first Premier League game of United’s 2022/23 season was preceded by a vociferous protest outside Old Trafford against the Glazer’s ownership.
Video footage posted on social media showed a large group walking towards ground with a giant flag which read: "Fight greed. Fight for United. Fight Glazers," alongside another which simply stated: "We want our club back."
There was also a protest inside of the famous Munich tunnel around an hour before kick-off, with supporters chanting: "We want Glazers out, say we want Glazers out."
The protest was certainly felt by the club, who were briefly forced to close their official megastore.
"The Glazers are unfit and improper owners. We have shown this over the summer with our digital campaign and revealing other confirmed information about exactly the type of family they are. We will always support the club,” said the 1958 supporter group in a statement.
"We will always support the manager. We will always rise up against the current owners and any puppet hierarchy they appoint. Join us, stand with us, unite with us to make a stand for what is right. Our club's future is our only motivation. Some things are worth fighting for."
