Why Irish pair cashed in

He then followed it up by acquiring the 6.4 per cent held by Harry Dobson's Mountbarrow Investments, giving him 63 per cent control of Old Trafford.

His brokers, Teather and Greenwood, were working late into the night to hoover up the rest of the shares available in the market place, taking Glazer's stake to 70 per cent.

At that level, he can already remove the club's board of directors, which almost certainly means the end for chairman Sir Roy Gardner. But chief executive David Gill is expected to stay on, at least in the short term.

Glazer needs just five per cent more to reach the crucial 75 per cent mark, at which he is allowed to borrow money secured on the business. That is absolutely crucial to Glazer's plan, which is based on debt to fund the takeover.

But as one Old Trafford insider put it, the minute the Irish agreed to sell it was "game over".

So why did McManus and Magnier agree to sell out after months of telling people they were in United for the long term? "Price, cash and certainty," said one source close to the Glazer camp. "These guys are businessmen and they liked the deal that was on the table."

This is a dramatic turnaround from their position just a few weeks ago, when all Glazer's efforts to meet the Irish pair were rebuffed.

But McManus and Magnier had a change of heart as next Tuesday's deadline set by the Takeover Panel for the American to put up or shut up drew nearer.

They knew if Glazer, the only buyer in the market, failed this time he might give up. The share price, which had become inflated on the back of the takeover speculation, would collapse leaving them with a £50m loss. All they wanted was an unconditional cash offer for their shares, something which had not previously been forthcoming.

That changed in a phone call from Rothschild's to the Irish pair's brokers on Wednesday night. There was no need for a face to face meeting.

After consulting with their friend and business partner, Dermot Desmond, who owns a one per cent stake in United himself, they were encouraged to take the deal.

A second phone call took place shortly after 6pm and the deal was done. The pair went off to Les Ambassadeurs restaurant in Mayfair-to celebrate. The next day the £227m for their 75m shares was wired to their account and United was sold.

By that time, Magnier was enjoying a day at York races safe in the knowledge that he and his partner McManus had made £90m from their four-year investment.

In the past, Glazer had only been able to offer the Irish conditional deals, dependant on him obtaining the support of the United board or reaching 75 per cent of the shareholding. This time his bankers were prepared to pay up confident that with the Irish on side, the rest would soon fall.

Clearly McManus and Magnier were playing a high stakes game of brinkmanship. By putting out the message that they were long term investors, they hoped to squeeze an extra 10p per share out of the American. But as the clock ran down on his latest offer period, they decided to cash in. The Glazer source added: "They didn't have to wait for Glazer to get to 75 per cent to get their money any more. Once that was clear they wanted to get their money out and do it quickly."

The Irish were never interested in owning Manchester United. They originally invested to make a quick profit but started building a stake once they knew they could become crucial players in any takeover attempt.

They also used their holding to put pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson following the United manager's row with John Magnier over the stud rights to the champion racehorse Rock of Gibraltar. Once that row was settled there was no longer any strategic purpose for them to remain major shareholders.

Magnier's racing connections - he is the owner of the hugely successful Coolmore stud operation in County Tipperary - also dictated that no deal could be done until after his beloved Cheltenham Festival was out of the way in March.

But they had to wait for the right deal to come along and until this week that had not materialised.

The Irish duo were shocked by protests against them by United fans at high profile race meetings at the height of their dispute with Ferguson.

Supporter anger will now be directed at Glazer and his sons Joel and Avi, the driving forces behind the bid.

But they have already come a long way in the face of relentless opposition, thanks to sheer bloody-minded determination.

The question remaining now is how bloody-minded the fans intend to be in return.