Manchester United supporters' groups tonight challenged the club's American owners to clear up the mystery surrounding a deal to pay off the high-interest hedge-fund debt they have long feared could cripple United's finances.

As the club confirmed that no money had been taken from its coffers to clear the £220m debt, which was accruing interest at an eye-watering 16.25%, analysts speculated that the Glazers may have simply refinanced it at a more beneficial interest rate. But the chief executive, David Gill, again insisted that the PIK loan was not a matter for the club and claimed he did not know how they were financing its repayment. He was effusive in his praise for the Glazers' approach and risked enraging fans further by saying they had run the club in the best traditions of Sir Matt Busby.

Announcing results for the three months to the end of September, as they are obliged to do under the terms of the controversial £526m bond offer that sparked a huge wave of anti-Glazer protest in January, the club said: "The board can confirm that there has been no dividend of club cash."

On a conference call to investors, the chief of staff, Ed Woodward, later went further and promised that the Glazers would not be taking a one-off dividend of up to £127m, as they are permitted to do under the terms of the bond, from the club's accounts in the coming quarter either. "There are no plans make a payment relating to what you may or not be reading in the press," he said.

Gill told the US-based satellite radio station SiriusXM that the issue of a mandatory call notice signalling the Glazers intention to pay back the loans in full next Monday proved his long-held contention that they were nothing to do with the club. "I have been saying for years that they were nothing to do with the club and they weren't," he said. "They were accruing interest at roughly 16.25% so they're being paid down and the only thing I know is that they are not using any of the club cash. We've got over £100m in the bank and they are not using any of the club cash to pay that down so that's all I can say really."

The Manchester United Supporters Trust, MUST, believe it was pressure from the fans that stopped the Glazers taking the money out of the club in one-off dividends and charges to pay down the PIKs, as they were entitled to do under the terms of the bond offer. But as recently as last week, it is believed that the Glazers sought permission from the PIK holders to take £50m from the club's cashflow to buy back that amount of the bond, before their strategy changed and they found a means to clear the PIK debt instead.

It remained unclear tonight where the Glazers had found the money to clear the loans which, had the interest been allowed to continue to "roll over" until they matured in 2017, would have stood at more than £600m – on top of the £526m bond secured on the club itself.

The results showed overall quarterly losses had narrowed compared to the same period last year from £7.7m to £4.9m.

MUST, the group behind the green and gold protests and allied to the group of wealthy investors known as the Red Knights whose takeover bid is lying dormant, challenged the Glazers to explain themselves publicly. A statement said: "Now is the time for the Glazers to finally come clean and tell the truth about what is going on at Manchester United and what their plans are. What have they got to hide? No more secrecy. No more spin. Just tell the fans the truth." MUST's chief executive, Duncan Drasdo, said he hoped the move would embolden fans, believing that their campaign had stopped the Glazers taking the money out of the club and forcing them to find an alternative.

The amount of money the club has sitting in the bank is marginally down on the figure reported in their year-end accounts, which made headlines with a record £79.6m operating loss due to interest payments and one-off charges relating to the bond issue.

Gill backed the club's owners, praising the way in which they have increased commercial revenues – up 24% year on year according to the results – and the flat structure. He said: "The decision making is really quick. It's one phone call and then they say 'yes' so that's all positive but the other side is that when they looked at the club before they bought it, they felt that, though we'd achieved quite a lot from a commercial perspective, there was more to go for and with how the sport was organised those opportunities were there if it was well-organised and well-structured. And they've delivered."

He said that while there was money available for players, United's philosophy had always been to buy young talent and develop it. Fans have claimed that the squad has been starved of funds due to the onerous interest payments and one off charges the club has had to bear, but Gill and Ferguson have continued to insist there is money available.

Gill said: "What Manchester United has been about ever since the 1950s when Sir Matt Busby was there was encouraging youth players, investing in the youth players and that's always been part of how we've structured it. We've never tended to buy world-class players, we've made them into world-class players through Alex Ferguson and his coaches and playing in a great team.."