Joel Glazer commits to fan share scheme at Manchester United

The Glazer family have told Manchester United fans they'll work with supporters groups to implement a fan share scheme, to allow fans to buy equal shares in the club.

The astonishing development came during Friday's fans forum meeting, which Joel Glazer attended. It was the first communication between the owners and supporters for 16 years.

It comes after protests from fans against the club's ownership and the now-abandoned plans to join a breakaway Super League. Earlier, Joel Glazer had written to fans to apologise to fans for mistakes made.

The meeting, which was held remotely featured representatives from across United's fanbase.

A number of issues were discussed during the meeting, which lasted for more than two hours.

The club's fans forum is to be extended, to become more representative, while a new 'Fan Advisory Board' will be created, which will get a say in all major issues that face the club in the future.

However, there was no commitment to paying off the debt from the Glazer's leveraged takeover, and Mr Glazer defended the annual dividend payments to family members, calling them 'fair'.

There's also been criticism of the lack of investment in facilities at the club, with many fans feeling United are being left behind, thanks to the state of Old Trafford and training facilities at Carrington.

However, a commitment was made for improvements at the stadium during the meeting.