Irked Man Utd Fan Sells Land Outside Man City Stadium To Block Etihad Expansion

Chris Wright

15th, February 2012

15 Comments

By Chris Wright

Some people, eh? Businessman and jilted Manchester United fan Shaun O’Brien is hoping to stymie Manchester City’s stadium expansion plans by selling off thousands of parcels of land in the mostly-derelict 80-acre site outside the Etihad that City have earmarked for a swanky new £100 million training complex (you can have a butcher’s at the plans here).

O’Brien has apparently divided the land at his tow-truck company, OB Trucks, into 18,500 square-foot plots and put them all up for sale on a website called ‘United Against the City’ in a bid to disrupt a proposed council order to force him to sell up to Sheikh Mansour and his minions.

According to the Manchester Evening News, City have offered O’Brien £200,000 for the land (with £750,000 pounds to cover costs and moving expenses), not that the man himself is having any of it:

“It’s just not enough. I’ve been here for 15 years, I had no intention to sell the land.

“As a business who want my land to further their business, they should come and sit down, negotiate and we’ll hack out a figure – whereas all along they’ve said we’ll give you £200,000 or we’ll get the council to CPO (compulsory purchase order) you.”

The plots are on sale for £250 each and are available to “ardent Reds and anybody else that feels strongly about our David & Goliath situation,” to try and “prevent Manchester City’s attempts to acquire our land in Eastlands, Manchester, in order to further their goals of football domination.”

Reports that Carlos Tevez may have just bought a controlling stake in OB Trucks are yet to be verified.

Posted in Man City, Man Utd

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15 Comments

  1. Glennswfc says:

    I suppose it has nothing to do with him making over £4.5m from selling these plots individually, almost 5 times as much as City are offering

  2. George says:

    The irony of a Manchester United fan complaining about a David and Goliath situation is delicious.

  3. Dan says:

    @George forget he’s a united fan for a minute, being forced to give up land to a rich coloniser is the problem. Why should he have to sell? I think it’s a great idea.

  4. Pkhakheria says:

    @Dan completely agree, i mean the english know nothing about taking land or how to deal with “colonisers” anyhow Manchester city thinks they can just buy their way to land , do they not realize that land is earned, has to be developed , you need history to have land !

  5. KautoStar says:

    @ Glennswfc: Not sure where you got £4.5m from…he’s going to make a little over £47k so I’m not sure you can claim its a self interested stunt!

  6. Tinez says:

    @Dan

    He is holding development, which is good for the community, purely out of spite. That’s why.

  7. George says:

    @Dan, I have no problem with what he’s doing. It’s his land, he’s entitled to do what he wants with it. I’m not criticising him for that. I just thought it was funny that he referred to David and Goliath when talking about United and City. United earn more money that any other Premier League club, they’re hardly a plucky minnow.

  8. gpatinop says:

    you’re all talking United vs. City, but the only reference to United is that he is a fan of the club, nothing more, so it is in fact a David vs. Goliath fight between one man and the sheik, having said that, as a ManUtd fan i agree with Tinez, if the tow truck guy isn’t really using the land for his company, he should sell or be forced to do so, if not, i agree with him

  9. Richard Dunne says:

    Has anyone bought this land yet? or know of anyone who has went the whole way through the transaction?
    Would be interesting to know if it was possible. Usually when a cumpulsory PO goes trough theres very little the owner of the land can do

  10. spark says:

    Ever heard the expression “One monkey don’t stop no show”?

  11. Scifi says:

    @KautoStar
    If he is planning to sell 18,500 plots of land for £250 each. That is a bit more than £47k.

  12. Scott says:

    It’s just over £4.6 Million for derelict land… He’s a businessman, not an idiot. He knows that this isn’t for morals.

  13. Glennswfc says:

    @KautoStar Last time I checked (which was 2 minutes ago) 18,500 x 250= 4,625,000

  14. Davy says:

    @Glennswfc…And that makes 4 million 625 thousand you doofus not 47kish

  15. Del says:

    I’d love to hear the end of this story, I have a feeling City will get their expansion but lets see…

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