Edwards ends era to spark talk of Ferguson takeover

Former chairman's decision to quit may open the way for manager to step up with backing of racing millionaires

In football's temporary world, periods of less than a year are called eras, but the resignation of Martin Edwards as chairman of Manchester United marks the genuine passing of a dynasty.

It is 37 years since his father, Louis, became chairman of the club and 32 since his son first stepped on to the board at Old Trafford. In that time, Manchester United have been transformed from a mere football club into a global brand, valued two years ago at £1bn, 10 years after Michael Knighton almost bought it for £20m.

However, like his father, who died in February 1980, a month after a World in Action documentary alleged that bribery and corruption lay at the heart of his meat business, the 57-year-old Martin Edwards has left United under a cloak of controversy. Yesterday he said he would quit the club as a director at the end of the season and resign from the plc board immediately.

Edwards' recent activities concerning his private life have brought embarrassment to the club. He was absent from this month's agm and United's trip to Basle on Tuesday night. Martin Edwards claimed his father "died of shame" and his son has quit with a cloud hanging over him.

His resignation is unlikely to have been triggered by newspaper headlines, however lurid. Before the AGM there were reports of breaches between Edwards, his chief executive, Peter Kenyon, and Roy Gardner, the head of United's plc board. The latter are closer to the United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, than Edwards and are readier to release funds.

It may not be a coincidence that Ferguson, who had given no previous indication that money would be available for team strengthening when the transfer window reopens in January, talked on Wednesday of building a deeper squad to match Liverpool and Arsenal.

Edwards' remaining shareholding is negligible. He first began to dilute his control of the club in October 1999 in the wake of BSkyB's failure to take over, a move he backed but which crucially failed to win either Ferguson's support or that of Sir Bobby Charlton, a powerful member of the board.

When selling that tranche of shares for £41m, it ensured that for the first time since 1963 the Edwards family were not Manchester United's largest stakeholder. A few months before the AGM, Edwards reduced his holding in United to around one per cent, selling his shares to friends of the racing magnates John Magnier and JP McManus, who had already bought a stake of just under 10 per cent.

Both men are Ferguson's close friends and speculation is rife that with Edwards leaving, they might make the United manager chairman of the club, a position Sir Matt Busby sought but did not achieve under Louis Edwards.

It would be impossible to imagine Ferguson on the same board as Martin Edwards, the man who appointed him manager in November 1986. Their relationship has deteriorated to such an extent that the two are barely on speaking terms. His strongest relationships on the board are with Kenyon, who took over as chief executive in 1999, and Charlton.

Becoming chairman may appeal to Ferguson, who according to his unofficial biographer, Michael Crick, attempted to put together a consortium to buy the club outright in opposition to BSkyB in 1998. However, he has given few indications he is ready to step down, although some inside Old Trafford believe that extending the 60-year-old's contract by three years was a mistake.

Edwards will not be mourned. The author Richard Kurt, editor of Red Issue, said the United fanzine would be devoting a blank page to his achievements.

"It will be like the chapter in Len Shackleton's book 'What the Director Knows about Football'. He tried to sell the club three times against the wishes of the fans; to Michael Knighton, to Robert Maxwell and to Sky. He did not deserve to be chairman; he had one O-level and did not even attend a match at Old Trafford until 1976; his game was always rugby.

"He was a good delegator, appointing brighter people than him, like Ed Freedman, who oversaw the marketing revolution in the mid-1990s and he did appoint Fergie. Louis Edwards was always able to stop an argument by saying he rebuilt Old Trafford and Martin will always be able to point to the trophy room he filled during his time as chairman."

Eamon Dunphy entitled his biography of Busby A Strange Kind of Glory. It is a fitting epitaph for Martin Edwards.