The consortium of businessmen putting together a takeover bid for Manchester United has guaranteed the club's season-ticket holders that they will get their seats back if a mass boycott pressurises the Glazer family to relinquish their ownership.

The Red Knights group, led by the former United director Jim O'Neill and involving the former Football League chairman Keith Harris, is urging fans not to renew their season tickets to help force out the Glazers.

Asked if there would be a guarantee for people relinquishing their season tickets, Harris said: "We can give that, yes. If there were people who were considering giving up their season-tickets on account of what they've heard about the Glazers' plans ... then in the event that our takeover was successful we're sure it could be worked out so that they regained their places."

Harris, chairman of the stockbrokers Seymour Pearce, also said in an interview with Red Issue fanzine that the new regime would lower the price of season tickets as opposed to the Glazers' regular increases. "Our intention is to set aside 25.1% of the shareholding in a supporters' trust so that any future takeover would become impossible. Season-ticket holders would get their seats back at a lower price and become shareholders in the club."