Malcolm Glazer's sons - Joel, Avram and Bryan - have been appointed as directors of Manchester United in a major reshuffle of the Old Trafford boardroom, where Sir Roy Gardner stands down as chairman.

The Glazer family is already in control of United after increasing its shareholding in the club to 76 per cent last month. They are due to confirm their precise stake next Monday once all replies to the offer of £3 per share have been received.

It was only a matter of time before the Americans exercised their right to take a more hands-on role at United and today's announcement had been anticipated.

It is thought Joel will be his father's main representative at the club.

As well as Sir Roy, the non-executiove directors Jim O'Neill and Ian Mutch have also left, while commerical director Andy Anson has been reinstated after being voted off the board by Mr Glazer at last year's annual meeting.

David Gill will continue as chief executive for now while manager Sir Alex Ferguson previously indicated he would be staying on.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the club said Joel, Bryan and Avram Glazer would become non-executive directors.

Joel Glazer, 38, and his brother Bryan, 40, are executive vice-presidents of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the National Football League (NFL) club also owned by their father, and have "extensive sports management experience", the statement said.

Avram Glazer, 44, is the president and chief executive of the Zapata Corporation and its two subsidiaries, Safety Components International Inc and Omega Protein Corporation.

Although the appointment of Malcolm Glazer's sons to the club's board was expected, the move will serve to underline that the American billionaire is now solely in charge at Old Trafford, something many of the club's supporters are having difficulty coming to terms with.

On Sunday, the club made its first signing of the Glazer era, spending £2.5 million to bring Edwin van der Sar, the goalkeeper, to the club from Fulham. Further signings are expected and may ease supporters' worries about the American's plans.

Last month, Mr Glazer refused to give the club any guarantees that he would not sell Old Trafford. He also declined to tie himself to any promises regarding future transfer budgets, debt levels, team selection or ticket prices during his negotiations with the board.

Mr Glazer was repeatedly asked by United's financial advisers to provide legally binding "protections" for the club after completion of the highly leveraged takeover by Red, his bid vehicle. Sir Roy Gardner and his fellow directors were concerned to allay fears among supporters about a sale and leaseback of Old Trafford and a hike in season-ticket prices to help to fund the deal. They had already condemned Mr Glazer's proposed business plan as "aggressive" and said it would inflict a "damaging" financial strain on the club".

They had hoped that pledges on how the Glazers intended to run the business would address those concerns. It is understood that the American businessman offered the board no details of his plan to increase the club's commercial revenues substantially and repay debt of at least £540 million incurred as a result of the takeover.

Since Mr Glazer broke through 75 per cent to take the club private, the board has concluded that minority shareholders would be best advised to take the cash offered rather than be left holding shares with few rights in a private company.

Mr Glazer is initially putting up to £374 million of debt on the United balance sheet. A separate debt facility of £275 million has been raised through the issue of preference shares to US hedge funds.

- with files from Ashling O'Connor

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