Gardner became a director of Manchester United in December 1999. He was appointed as non-executive chairman of Manchester United plc in November 2001, taking over from Sir Roland Smith on 31 March 2002.
In April 2005, he and the Manchester United board issued a statement recommending against the proposed buyout by Malcolm Glazer and his family, saying the ‘proposed capital structure still contains more leverage than the board would consider prudent’; however, they were forced to issue a contrary statement a month later, once the Glazers had acquired enough shares to constitute a majority stake in the club. In June 2005 Gardner resigned shortly after the Glazer takeover, as did his fellow non-executive directors Jim O’Neill and Ian Mutch.
A fantastic business management speaker, Sir Roy draws upon his wealth of business experience to deliver speeches that will not be forgotten. An expert in all things business management, Roy Gardner can be booked for keynote speeches, conferences and after dinner speeches.
