For as long as I can remember, I’ve told football fans who don’t like their club’s owners that they have to do more than just moan about it.
It hasn’t mattered whether it has been Manchester United and the Glazers, Gillett and Hicks at Liverpool or latterly FSG, or Newcastle and Mike Ashley, whoever.
I’ve always said supporters have to turn up the heat and I’m 100 per cent behind any group which wants to do that to make their voices heard.
I want to be absolutely unambiguous here and say that I do not condone the throwing of tripods, the climbing on to nets, or going beyond barricades that are there to keep you out of a stadium complex in the first place.
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That’s criminality and those involved deserve whatever punishment they get.
But the songs, the bloody-mindedness and the three-mile march from The Lowry to Old Trafford we saw and heard from the majority of Manchester United fans involved on Sunday do have my wholehearted support.
And as long as we don’t conflate the actions of some to lop off the legs of what is a very sound argument from others, then most of us will agree that some very valid complaints were registered.
I’d imagine we will see protests at all of United’s remaining home games this season and as long as they remain peaceful, more power to those involved.
The trouble with protests, however, is that they barely register with those they are aimed at when they are sitting in offices, gilded cages, thousands of miles away.
(Image: Getty Images)
I’d imagine in some cases they are even viewed by those people as mildly amusing.
With that in mind, the only time those kinds of people will really listen is when something affects their bottom line.
Which is why United fans must now start thinking about tactical boycotts if they really want to make a difference.
That might mean 70,000-odd not turning up to a game or games next season, or fans refusing to buy food and drink within the stadium on match days, or merchandise from the club shop.
Then and only then will they really start to listen.
I know some supporters will say, ‘But, Stan, I haven’t missed a home game since 1985’.
Well, you have after this season, that cycle is broken, so missing one or two more isn’t going to make a difference and you might just find that short-term pain leads to long-term gain.
But if you keep going to games, buying your teas, your hot-dogs, or buying little Jonny or Jane the full strip again this season, they will carry on regardless.
And the only way you will ever get your club back is if you hit them in the pocket.
When you do, you have to make sure you don’t swap one bad billionaire for one good billionaire, because in five years’ time you will be back where you started.
That’s why fans need to start to look at realistic modes of running their football clubs, with the 50+1 model where big business can come in and invest but fans can still put a handbrake on reckless ownership easily the best way to move forward.
