United and NFL team owner Glazer dies at 85

TAMPA, Florida (AP) ― Malcolm Glazer, a self-made billionaire who shunned the spotlight while leading the takeover of English soccer’s Manchester United and transforming the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers into Super Bowl champions, died Wednesday. He was 85.

The reclusive Palm Beach businessman had been in failing health since April 2006 when a pair of strokes left him with impaired speech and limited mobility in his right arm and leg.

He was not involved in day to day operations of either of his sports franchises and was rarely spotted at games in recent years, instead remaining at his mansion in South Florida while entrusting leadership of the Bucs to three of six children, sons Bryan, Joel and Ed.

While some disgruntled fans blame ownership for a stretch of futility that has seen the Bucs miss the playoffs the past six seasons, the elder Glazer generally will be remembered for making the commitment necessary to keep the team from moving to another city in the 1990s.

Glazer raised his profile in 2005 with a $1.47 billion purchase of Manchester United that was bitterly opposed by fans of one of the world’s richest soccer clubs.

Before that, his unobtrusive management style helped transform the Bucs from a laughingstock into a model franchise that won the franchise’s only NFL title 12 years ago.