Fergie plea to United fans over Cheltenham protest

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (pictured) has pleaded with fans to drop plans to protest against Irish shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus on Gold Cup day at next month's Cheltenham Festival.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has pleaded with fans to drop plans to protest against Irish shareholders John Magnier and JP McManus on Gold Cup day at next month's Cheltenham Festival.

In a statement, Ferguson said he did not want the famous race meeting disrupted as a result of his feud with Magnier over stud rights to the champion racehorse Rock of Gibraltar.

"The Cheltenham Festival is a classic meeting in the National Hunt racing calendar, which people from all over the world and all walks of life come to enjoy," Ferguson said.

"It is effectively the equivalent to the FA Cup final to horseracing fans and I would not wish this special festival to be marred in any way."

Ferguson's appeal came two days after Cheltenham organisers agreed that fans group United4Action could stage a protest warning Magnier and McManus not to mount a takeover bid for the club.

Edward Gillespie, Cheltenham's managing director, welcomed Ferguson's appeal. "Hopefully this will make it very unlikely that anyone will protest and hopefully this will bring the matter to an end," he said.

Magnier and McManus's investment company, Cubic Expression, owns 28.89 percent of the shares in the English Premiership champions, just under the threshold which would trigger an automatic takeover bid.

The Irish duo have put pressure on the United board in recent weeks by raising questions about Ferguson's transfer dealings, payments to agents and the involvement of the manager's son, Jason.

Their action has been widely interpreted as being linked to the ongoing legal dispute between Magnier and Ferguson over Rock of Gibraltar's stud rights and some fans fear a takeover by the Irish duo could lead to the Scot being ousted as manager.

The dispute between Magnier and Ferguson has its roots in 2001, when the racing tycoon gave the Scottish manager joint ownership of the horse as a gift.

Ferguson believes this should also entitle him to a half share of stud fees which could be worth up to 200 million pounds (373 million dollars) and is sueing Magnier.