Noshing With Chris Blackhurst – February 22, 2024

Ira's Everything Bagel

Author, The World’s Biggest Cash Machine: Manchester United, the Glazers, and the Struggle for Football’s Soul

This week, Ira spoke with Chris Blackhurst, author of The World’s Biggest Cash Machine: Manchester United, the Glazers, and the Struggle for Football’s Soul. In this kicking episode of “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Chris Blackhurst talks about why football (soccer) is so important in Great Britain; how Malcolm Glazer played the long game and ended up owning Manchester United; Glazer’s determination to succeed; the reaction of the Manchester United fans who realized there was not a personal connection with the new owners; the record levels of debt after the purchase; why the fans want love for the club and to be able to buy the best players; the playing side and the commercial side of the team; how “tribal” sports writing is; and how he discovered that many Manchester United fans enjoy his book for the insight.

Chris Blackhurst is an award-winning journalist and commentator who has written widely on the business of sport. He is former editor of The Independent, served for ten years as City editor of the Evening Standard, and worked for The Sunday Times on its Insight investigative team. He is also the author of Too Big to Jail: Inside HSBC, the Mexican Drug Cartels, and the Greatest Banking Scandal of the Century (2022), and his writing has appeared in many of the world’s major publications.

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