‘I was in trouble on just £90 a week after Glazers released me at Man Utd’
ON THIS DAY: The Glazer family launched a formal bid to take control of the majority of Manchester United’s assets, beginning a controversial 20-year ownership of the Red Devils
Former Manchester United starlet Daniel Nardiello was one of the first casualties of the Glazer family’s takeover, being released by the club before earning just £90-a-week at Blackpool.
This Monday marks 20 years since Malcolm Glazer launched his formal bid to take over the Red Devils. He acquired John Magnier and J.P. McManus’ 28.7 per cent stake, boosting his own share to around 57 per cent. By the end of that month, he had a whopping 76 per cent ownership of the club.
And by June, the American tycoon had secured 98 per cent of shares and control of United, causing outrage among fans for having funded his purchase with loans secured against the club’s assets.
Since then, the Glazers have been at the helm and faced repeated backlash for the decaying of the club’s infrastructure as well as the team’s decline on the pitch. In February 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe was given complete control of football operations by the family after buying a minority stake in the club.
One of the first moves made by the Glazers in June 2005 was to let go of a group of players. The released players included Coventry-born forward Nardiello, Northern Irish goalkeeper Roy Carroll, Spanish shot-stopper Ricardo, Republic of Ireland defender Paul Tierney and Gambian striker Arthur Gomez.
Nardiello, who came through the academy ranks at Wolves, joined United in 1999 and quickly rose through the Under-17 and Under-19 teams to make his debut in 2000/2001 in the League Cup against Arsenal.
The following season saw him mainly playing in the reserves, where he netted 12 goals before being loaned out to Swansea City for a month in October 2003.
The Welsh international spent the latter half of the 2003/04 season on loan at Barnsley, scoring seven goals in 16 matches. He returned to Oakwell for the 2004/05 season on loan, adding another seven goals to his tally in 30 games.
Deemed surplus to requirements by Sir Alex Ferguson and the new club hierarchy, he was released on June 30, 2005, ahead of the 2005/06 season, without playing a minute of Premier League football and having made just four appearances in all competitions.
After his release, Nardiello signed a two-year contract with Barnsley in July 2005, scoring two crucial goals in their League One play-off matches that season. After two years, he rejected a new contract offer to sign for Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers on a free transfer, before rejoining Barnsley on loan in January 2008.
He returned to QPR at the end of the 2007/08 season, after which he inked a two-year deal with another Championship side, Blackpool. His full debut for the Seasiders only came in January 2009 following an injury-plagued stint at the club.
And it was there that he agreed to a contract clause, which meant he, along with the other Blackpool players, was only paid £90-a-week during the summer break. When asked about his bizarre wages on the Undr The Cosh podcast, Nardiello explained: “I went to Blackpool, I was on decent wages but every summer for six weeks I was being paid £90 a week.
“It was just really weird. There were lads there playing in the Championship on £600-a-week and they had to save their pennies for the summer. It was like what the hell is going on. It was such a poorly run club.”
When quizzed on what the benefit of that was for the club, the 42-year-old replied: “They just saved on everything that club. It wasn’t a Championship-run club.
“You had to take your kit home every day and wash your kits, there was no heating in the training ground and the food they served was like slop, when players were turning up in Porsches and lovely cars on Championship wages.”
He continued: “It was such a strange club to be a part of,” before being asked if he knew about the bizarre rule before signing. Nardiello replied: “I knew about the £90 quid before I signed because they told me.
“I think everyone did [struggle with it]. Because you go from whatever you’re used to getting on a monthly basis and then one month you’re getting next to nothing and you’ve still got your mortgage to pay and your bills to pay.”
During his two-year spell at Blackpool, he was loaned out to Hartlepool United, Bury and Oldham before making a permanent move to Exeter City in 2010. Nardiello only played nine games for Blackpool, scoring one goal.
He later had stints at Rotherham United, Bury, Plymouth Argyle and Bangor City before retiring in October 2017, after being let go by the Welsh Premier League team.
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