Three: Knighton 1989

Manchester United has been subject to numerous takeover attempts in its rich and controversial history. In the early 1980s, Robert Maxwell chanced his arm, so too did Rupert Murdoch with BSkyB in 1998. We all know about the Glazer family's seizing of control in 2005 and Sir Jim Ratcliffe's recent acquisition of a minor but controlling share.

Still, perhaps the most infamous of all remains Michael Knighton's fascinating attempt to buy Manchester United in the summer of 1989. You'll remember many of the details, surely. The sight of the former schoolteacher doing Trafford pitch before the opening day of the season has gone down in legend.

United spent big, as Knighton promised the world. Yet, before Christmas, his takeover bid had collapsed, and he was proclaimed as a Walter Mitty character by the press. What went wrong has often been disputed. Now, for the first time, you'll hear the reasons for the breakdown, as it happened, told by those who were involved at the time.

This is Manchester United, The Lost Tapes. Stories from United's rich history, told in a way you've never heard before.

Written by Wayne Barton. Narrated by Patrick Barclay. Produced by Ed Barker, Studio 1878.

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