From the publisher:
'Three hundred and sixty odd pages, on arguably the greatest United story never told... Not going to say anything more than 'buy it'. A good, revealing read' --The United Review Collectors Club.
Visionary is the inside story of one of football's most notable entrepreneurs, Michael Knighton and his crucial, revolutionary ideas for transforming Manchester United's fortunes.
Knighton is popularly known as the man who very nearly bought Manchester United for the giveaway price of £10million. Ultimately, he spurned the opportunity to complete the purchase, opting instead to join the board and watch as his radical ideas for a commercial revolution were put into action.
Visionary argues the case for Knighton as the architect of the richest football club and greatest sporting brand on the planet - and that it was Knighton's unacknowledged axis with Alex Ferguson that enabled a paradigm shift in United's fortunes on the field of play, leading to unparalleled glories.
Sam Wallace of the Daily Telegraph called Michael's tale 'one of the great football stories of our time'.
"This book has been in the making for some considerable time and something I spoke to Michael Knighton about a number of years ago, but simply just had to keep waiting and hoping for it to appear, and at last it has. Three hundred and sixty odd pages, on arguably the greatest United story never told... Not going to say anything more than 'buy it'. A good, revealing read and well written by Phillip Vine." --The United Review Collectors Club
"Michael Knighton once agreed a deal to buy Manchester United for just £10million. Thirty years on, he reckons the Saudi Arabian royal family have a £4billion bid on the table. A new book about Knighton's rollercoaster ride aims to put the record straight on a few of the myths that have emerged since he famously introduced himself to the Old Trafford fans by juggling a ball in front of the Stretford End." --Sunday Mirror
"He produced a blueprint for the future which, he says, was why profits went through the roof over the following decade. The book is called Visionary (he insists the title was not his idea). And it charts what he thought could be done with the club. Plus, he says, what should still be done." --Jim White, the Telegraph
"When the deal never went through, it was assumed he never had the cash. That he was a chancer. A Walter Mitty. A coiffured conman who made the club a figure of fun. To be fair Knighton does not bear a grudge and a new book about the whole saga reveals the real story. He does not see it as revenge, just a chance to put the record straight." --The Sun
'An excellent, entertaining and enlightening read' – 5 Star Reader Review
'A factual and informed account of behind the scenes at Old Trafford' – 5 Star Reader Review
The author:
Phillip Vine has ghost-written a weekly football column in a north of England newspaper, edited the literary magazine Words International and once worked as secretary of a Football League club. As a writer of fiction, he has won prizes and commendations for his short stories, most recently in the Olga Sinclair International and the English Heritage Ghost Story Competition.
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