Michael Knighton’s attempt to snap-up Manchester United for £20 million in 1989 was almost the sale of the century, but the bargain buy was doomed from the moment the ambitious businessman took to the Old Trafford pitch, complete with boots and training kit, in one of the most bizarre takeovers in football history.
It’s August and Manchester United are about to face Arsenal, the team who had dramatically won the league title in the dying minutes at Anfield in the final game of the previous season, on the opening weekend of the new 1989/90 campaign.
United would eventually thrash the newly crowned champions 4-1 in the late summer sunshine, though the result that day will forever be overshadowed by off-field events which saw this famous old club almost sold for a song.
The late ‘80s were a very different place from the heady days of the 1990s for Manchester United. They hadn’t won the title since the days of Best, Law and Charlton in 1967 and despite a number of high profile signings and plenty of bluster; in all honesty, things didn’t look like changing anytime soon.
So when the ambitious 37-year-old entrepreneur and former Coventry City apprentice, Knighton, threw his hat into the ring and submitted what now seems like a measly bid to buy the club, it looked like the perfect fit for all concerned.
United were owned at the time by the Edwards family, who had made their money in the meat packaging and processing industry, but owner Martin Edwards, who had inherited the reigns from his father, Louis, had become disillusioned following recent unrest among supporters and was looking for a quick sale after recently rejecting the advances of media tycoon Robert Maxwell.
Michael Knighton was ahead of the game back then and said all the right things, seeing the opportunity to turn the ailing club into a sporting superpower by investing £10 million to redevelop a dated Old Trafford; while also providing cash for new signings.
He’d done his homework too and planned to exploit the huge appeal of one of the world’s biggest sporting names around the globe in a number of merchandising and broadcasting packages – something which clubs today take for granted.
And despite hogging the limelight, Knighton wasn’t acting alone. He was supported by former chief executive of Debenhams, Robert Thornton, and Stanley Cohen from Parker Pens; two experienced and reputable names in the world of business.
But an opening day fixture in front of nearly 50,000 people against the champions at Old Trafford was too much for this larger-than-life character to resist, and as the crowd waited to welcome their heroes onto the pitch – including new signings Neil Webb and Michael Phelan – Knighton saw his big chance.
“This chap came into the dressing room before the game, introduced himself as the new owner and then asked for a kit,” Webb, who had signed from Nottingham Forest that summer, told The Telegraph. "We thought he just wanted to join in with the warm-up, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing when he ran on to the pitch and whacked the ball into the net at the Stretford End.”
If anything, Knighton’s impromptu kick about was the worst thing he could have done, as it attracted unwanted attention to a deal that was far from sealed. As a result, Thornton and Cohen withdrew their support, meaning that Knighton was no longer able to complete the purchase alone.
For all his efforts Knighton was offered a seat on the board and 30,000 shares in order to end his interest in a takeover; a position which he maintained until he left Old Trafford in 1992 for an equally unsuccessful attempt to transform the fortunes of Carlisle United; but not before United had floated on the Stock Exchange with a valuation of £47 million.
In the years since his departure the club that Knighton had come within a whisker of purchasing, for less than an average full-back will cost you these days, has been the target of an unsuccessful £680 million buyout attempt by Rupert Murdoch before being sold for £790 million to the Glazer family in 2005, and is now valued at over £1billion.
"I consider myself to be a football enthusiast first and a businessman second," Knighton told reporters at the time of his proposed takeover; and if anyone needed any confirmation of that fact, this chancer’s failure to pull-off what would have been the sale-of-the century back in August 1989, is all the evidence required.
