Gary Neville was left stunned as Sir Jim Ratcliffe struggled to explain why no one at Manchester United came up with a way to save the club just £40,000 after a charity fund was brutally scrapped
08:44, 11 Mar 2025Updated 08:47, 11 Mar 2025
Gary Neville interviews Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Gary Neville grilled Sir Jim Ratcliffe over scrapped charity fund(Image: The Overlap/Youtube)
Gary Neville was left shocked by Sir Jim Ratcliffe's admission that no one at Manchester United could figure out a way to save £40,000 for former players.
Earlier in the season, the club decided to axe the £40,000 charity payment to the Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP), which supports pre-Premier League era players and assists them in organising events for ex-United pros.
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It was said the charity were not informed of the decision before the payments were abruptly stopped, and Neville has since called out United co-owner Ratcliffe over the criticised cost-cutting move.
The issue was raised by Neville during an eye-opening interview with Ratcliffe, in which the billionaire co-owner of the Red Devils said some of the club's players were "not good enough" and "overpaid".
Neville slammed the decision to cut the £40,000 fund, saying: "Obviously £15m was spent to remove Erik [ten Hag] and Dan [Ashworth] which are expensive errors. £40,000 was taken away from the former players' association.
Gary Neville interviews Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Neville and Ratcliffe discussed Manchester United's cost-cutting measure(Image: The Overlap/Youtube)
"That's not the players that played under Sir Alex Ferguson or the last 10 years, they're players from the 1960s and '70s. I just look at that and think it's £40,000 from players who are giving a lot back to the local community, big supporters of United.
"Why not look at that £40,000 and put Harry Maguire and Bruno in a dinner? Sell 1,000 tickets for 30, 40, 50 quid, raise the money through a dinner, maybe do a raffle, an auction, give the ex-players their money and do it in a way where it's not looked at as a cruel decision, which it is.
"Why would that not be looked at as a shopping list of things, that's got health warnings to it? They're former players, people who do a lot of good. Why would that decision be made?"
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"Well nobody suggested that, I would have supported that," Ratcliffe started before Neville interjected: "Well Jim, that alarms me, because if people aren't suggesting that to you at the club..."
Ratcliffe replied: "The people at the club, you know most of the people at the club, they're not cruel are heartless people but I think."
"It's 40 grand," Neville highlighted, leaving Ratcliffe struggling to find his words: "Yeah, I know," before the Salford City co-owner continued.
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"Harry and Bruno can just turn up for a dinner raise 60, 70, 100 grand for them. Why didn't the current players put a grand in each for them?
"If it came to me and I was looking at a decision like that and these guys who have put so much time into the club, why can't we reinstate that?"
"Maybe we can, I don't know," stumbled Ratcliffe. "I can have a look at it. I'm not aware of that level of detail to be honest."