The Old Trafford faithful certainly hold a lot of legends
dear to their heart: King Eric, Fergie, Giggsy, and the list goes on. But as
terraces give way to message boards, a new name has become the toast of the
town amongst Manchester United fans- a man who epitomises the way the club is
run from the top down: Ed Woodward.
Though Woodward, who became United’s CEO when David Gill
retired alongside Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, is drawing plaudits due to his
recent captures of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin, his impact
at the club has been tremendous and far reaching since his association with the
club began in 2005.
Joining initially as a financial advisor to the Glazers when
they took over Manchester United, Woodward spearheaded United’s overseas
sponsorship deals, turning the club into an absolute revenue monster and one of
the most recognisable brands in the world, regardless of fortunes on the field.
Whereas most clubs need to keep a constant influx of big name players and
trophies to keep foreign markets and sponsors interested, Woodward leveraged
United’s strong relative international presence in the early 2000s to create a
loyal global fan base. Therefore such revenue streams would not dry up, even when
foreign billboards were adorned with Darren Fletcher, as opposed to Kaka.
Woodward’s success in directing United’s commercial dealings
can best be shown through the raw numbers. The clubs revenue increased three
fold since his joining, and is a close second only to Real Madrid. They have
the biggest commercial revenue stream in world football, totalling over $1.1
billion a year, and are the only club currently with an “Official Global Noodle
Partner”, a deal which is has Woodward written all over it.
Now though it must be said that such a role in the club is
never going to get as much idolization amongst fans as an all time top goal
scorer, Woodward’s importance to United’s past on field success and any hope of
a return to winning ways cannot be underestimated. While it is clearly true
that commercial revenue fund transfers,
having such reliable commercial revenue streams as Woodward has secured for
United is what separates them from other clubs.
Whereas any other elite premier club would have taken a huge
financial hit in missing out on Champions League football, as United did last
season, the Manchester club was still able to reinforce their squad with £75
million worth of talent to break back into the top 4, without incurring an
overall loss. In an age of Financial Fair Play and where owners can abandon
their clubs if the financial situation becomes untenable, the fact that
Woodward has turned Manchester United into a club which will always struggle
not to make a large profit is something their fans should eternally be grateful
for.
But, perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been little fanfare
(until very recently at least) for the man who has guaranteed United sustained
competitiveness for the foreseeable future. In fact, during his first few
months as CEO, and hence responsible for orchestrating United’s transfer
dealings, he was ridiculed by football fans across the world, including one’s
of the club who he helped make a global superpower.
Though, admittedly Woodward’s inexperience in transfer dealings
was brutally exposed in the summer of 2013, as he was repeatedly snubbed by
Barcelona for Cesc Fabregas, missed out on a widely reported release clause
that would have lowered Marouane Fellaini’s transfer and was bizarrely swindled
out of a deal for Ander Herrera by an “unauthorised third party” (read:
con-man), the backlash he faced by the media over this completely overlooked
his previous contributions to the club.
Indeed, in a new front-end role at the club, Woodward was
somewhat of an easy target. Alongside David Moyes, he was replacing one of the
most formidable Chief Executive/Manager partnerships in the business world in
David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson. That alone always made it somewhat of a
poisoned chalice. It was also Woodward’s first time in such a role, and
although the switch from Head of Finance to Chief Executive is not an unusual
one, to give someone their first CEO role in one of the most scrutinised
companies in the world was always a huge ask. Add to this the ad hominem facts
that Woodward’s full name is a bit ridiculous (go on, try saying “Edward
Woodward” out loud and sound serious) and that when he is clean shaven he looks
a bit like a 9 year old boy and you have a man who was ripe for media
crucifixion.
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| See what I mean? |
But like all club icons, Woodward has overcome adversity to
turn it around. The man who was duped by an Athletic Bilbao impostor less than
two years ago is now taking on Florentino Perez over David De Gea and seemingly
winning. He has also finally seemed to loosen the Glazer’s purse strings after
a decade of relative austerity, and if such financial rejuvenation pays off in
trophies he will certainly be cemented in Old Trafford folklore forever.
If Cantona is “The King”, than surely Ed Woodward is “The
Boss”.
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