Manchester United fans continued their protests in mass before the Premier League clash against Arsenal.
Protests against the Glazer family and their ownership of Manchester United have been going on decades, and thousands of supporters voiced their discontent at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim backed the fan protests, suggesting “it is a good thing” for supporters to do. The protest was mostly focused towards the Glazers and their mismanagement of the club, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe has also grown extremely unpopular during his first 12 months of ownership.
United are riddled with debt and Ratcliffe and his Ineos team have been trying to fill the hole by ruthlessly cutting costs around the club.
One method that particularly angered fans was Ratcliffe raising ticket prices to £66 – a decision that has been heavily protested ever since.
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Sir Jim Ratcliffe confirms further ticket price rises
United fans supported the Football Supporters’ Association’s Stop Exploiting Loyalty campaign on Sunday by protesting the ticket price rises.
Ratcliffe was in attendance at Old Trafford for the Arsenal draw, and he has confirmed to club legend Gary Neville that further rises are on the way next season.
Speaking on The Overlap, Neville asked: “Are we going to see ticket prices increase again next season?”
More United News
Ratcliffe replied: “A little bit, yes we will. But not a lot.”
When asked if he knows how much the prices will rise, Ratcliffe added: “No, not yet. We’ll know in a couple of weeks. It’s not going to be a big amount.
“My guidance to the management team is that we have to look after the faithful supporters and value the fact that the support of those supporters are worth points.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe refuses to criticise Glazers
Ineos are taking the bullet for the Glazers, after they built up an eye-watering amount of debt over two decades as United owners.
Ratcliffe has been brought in to solve a club now riddled with over £700m worth of debt, with American owners who have rarely even been spotted at Old Trafford nevermind addressed the fans.
It is clear that the Glazers are terrible owners, yet Ratcliffe rallied to defend them while speaking to Neville.
After Neville pointed out that the Glazers have taken over £200m in dividends and that they have refused to invest any of their own money into the club, Ratcliffe replied: “It’s not the solution to keep throwing money at the problem.
READ MORE: Tim Howard issues defence of Glazer ownership at Man Utd, he’s completely wrong
“You’ve got to get the house in order. If you look at the reason why the debt is at the level it is at the moment, which is £650m plus a bit of overdraft, that has increased by £330m over the past four years.
Neville replied: “Because they won’t put money in”
Ratcliffe then adds: “No that’s just because we’re spending more than [we earn], it’s a bloated organisation with mistakes in recruitment.”