Progression of the British football transfer fee record in 2001 was £38m. On 1 September 2008, Manchester City agreed a reported £32,500,000 fee for Robinho, which remained the record amount paid by a British club until 31 January 2011, when Liverpool paid £35,000,000 for Andy Carroll from Newcastle United, which was also a new record amount paid for a British player. A few hours later, the record amount paid by a British club was broken again when Chelsea paid £50,000,000 for Fernando Torres from Liverpool. On 11 June 2009, Manchester United announced that they had accepted an £80,000,000 bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo. The transfer was
Glazer ownership of Manchester United in Manchester United in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Some Manchester United fans opposed Glazer's takeover of the club, particularly once they realised the level of debt that the club would have to take on after having been debt-free for so many years. Disgruntled fans launched the football club F.C. United of Manchester in 2005, which entered the North West Counties Football League and has played in the sixth tier National League North since 2015. Since 2005, the Manchester United Supporters' Trust has been working on a way of returning ownership of the