Phillip Vine - Visionary: Manchester United, Michael Knighton and the Football Revolution 1989-2019

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2019

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Phillip Vine, 2019

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-577-0
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-578-7

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To Liz, for being there

To Eric Brown, best of friends, best of writers

To Dale, Carey, Phil, Becky, Lucy, Louise and Sam

And to best Spurs fans, Malcolm and Corinne Sell, their daughter Kim, and her husband, Pete

TO ALL at Pitch Publishing, to Cath Harris for her editorial expertise, to Duncan Olner for his stunning cover design, to Graham Hales for his superb organisation of the photographic section of the book, and to Dean Rockett for his questioning professionalism throughout his proofreading of the manuscript. All have made invaluable contributions to the final version of Visionary.

To all my loyal, patient, and critical but supportive readers of my manuscripts, thank you so much: Eric Brown, Leo Moynihan, Pete and Maureen Murphy, Des Vine.

To friends interested in my work: Judith Badr; John and Margaret Cooper; Phyllida Scrivens, Iain Andrews, Kathy Joy and all at the Norwich Writers Circle; and to Kathy Gale, Juliette Fardon, John Lucas, Ros Senior and Jane Welsh at Writers Studio.

And, finally, to Michael Knighton, who opened his heart as well as his diaries and private papers.

This book is also dedicated to

the Covenanter dead

the Peterloo dead

the Blackwell Colliery dead

the Bradford City dead

the Hillsborough dead

and to the Grenfell Tower dead

Victims all

But, Edwards, oh dear: the fact is I should never have given him the contract back

MICHAEL KNIGHTON

It is the business of historians to
remember what others forget.

ERIC HOBSBAWM

VISIONARY IS the story of the enigma that is Michael Knighton, the man who three decades ago so nearly bought Manchester United, the most famous and most highly valued football club in the world.

He had secured a watertight option agreement to purchase the Old Trafford club, only to abort the deal and hand back the contract to Martin Edwards, the clubs principal shareholder, in exchange for a seat on Uniteds board of directors.

The question, why he should have behaved in this extraordinary way, reverberates through the pages of this book.

Had Knighton completed the purchase for the 10m price agreed with Edwards, he might have been the sole owner of an institution valued by Forbes in May 2019 at 3.2bn.

Many may judge this maverick man an apparent loser of epic proportions, a here-today-gone-tomorrow phenomenon, but history will surely prove him to have had an outstanding and permanent influence on both Manchester United and the football industry in general. What is often forgotten is that Knighton was the clubs chairman elect for sixty-two days, and that those were red hot and revolutionary times at Old Trafford.

Visionary is the tale of the wonder and woe that has characterised the life of one of the most influential and intriguing football entrepreneurs of that generation, a man perhaps primarily responsible for the commercialisation of the football industry in England and, through an unacknowledged axis with Alex Ferguson forged in those sixty-two days a prime mover in the transformation of Uniteds fortunes on the field of play.

Give me a trophy every season, Knighton told Ferguson in the summer of 1989. The manager responded with thirteen Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles and one World Club Cup.

The commercial revolution initiated at Old Trafford by Knighton, and the football revolution supervised by Alex Ferguson, worked together in magical symbiosis to produce hitherto undreamed of profits and Premier League points.

Visionary tells the story of an obsessive football man, a prescient and flawed genius, a man unloved and unappreciated by almost all except his family, and of a man who was misunderstood and the butt of both ridicule and venom from many within the sometimes savage confines of the football industry.

Oi, Knighton, you greedy, fat bastard!

This was a familiar refrain that greeted him both during and after his years at Old Trafford.

Yet Knighton, in stark contrast to Martin Edwards, never took one penny for any of his work at Manchester United. And in spite of it all, the condemnation and the contempt, Knighton still loves the game, and the industry, too.

Neither his feet nor his brain are ever still. He will talk into the night about any and every aspect of football. His feet still take him to support the team his great-grandfather played for, Sheffield Wednesday.

Recently, too, he has been watching Ilkeston Town and Heanor Town in the Midland League and the East Midlands Counties League, respectively. As a young man in the 1960s, Knighton played for both those teams. He has fond memories of those days and he is fondly remembered, too, and welcomed at his former clubs.

* * *

This book is unashamedly revisionist.

Its original title was The Truth Game because so much that is untrue has been written and spoken about Michael Knighton.

He never had the money.

His bid was a front for an anonymous Mr Big.

He brought Manchester United and the entire game of football into disrepute.

Part of the problem for Knighton was his retreat into the silence and the collective responsibility of the Old Trafford boardroom.

Until now, he has held his peace and refused all blandishments to tell his story.

Until now, he has refused to criticise any of his former colleagues at Manchester United.

Until now, he has kept his diaries, his private papers and the documents that prove his determining influence at Old Trafford under lock and key.

Visionary sifts the evidence, attempts to set the record straight and preserve the truth for posterity, and aims to place Knightons remarkable achievements at Old Trafford in true historical perspective.

* * *

This book rewards readers with an explosive and controversial story.

Along the way, Visionary provides both the background biographical details necessary for a proper interpretation of Knighton, and all the narrative twists and turns relating to his time at Old Trafford.

It is a book of stories and of stories within stories. And it has enough arguments to start a fight in an empty room. It lights the blue touchpaper and all are advised to stand well clear.