When the Glazer siblings Joel, Avram and Bryan first arrived in London as the new owners of Manchester United, on Monday June 27, 2005, one of the first journeys the trio took was to Vodafone’s headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire.
Some say that it was the first on their list – going direct from Heathrow to see the mobile giant that was at the time very nervous over its £9.5 million annual shirt-sponsorship deal with the most successful club of the Premier League era.
Vodafone had been targeted by fans’ groups furious about the £790 million Glazer takeover of United.