Around 250 jobs were shed last summer during the first wave of redundancies and now up to 200 more staff are set to be axed as part of Jim Ratcliffe’s ruthless drive to save money and reduce costs.
Staff are braced for swingeing cuts across an array of football and non-football departments, including scouting, analysts and commercial, as United streamline operations.
Some staff already know they are going while others are waiting to discover their fate. For example, United’s director of scouting Steve Brown is leaving at the end of next month as part of extensive changes to the recruitment strategy.
Manchester United owners Avram Glazer, and Jim Ratcliffe with chief executive Omar Berrada (left) before the Europa League final defeat in Bilbao, Spain
Manchester United owners Avram Glazer, and Jim Ratcliffe with chief executive Omar Berrada (left) before the Europa League final defeat in Bilbao, Spain
'I don't think that there will be a better person to come into the job' - Bruno Fernandes on Ruben Amorim
United have already taken steps in recent years to reduce their number of scouts but the existing global network of 80 will be further reduced. Cuts to the analyst departments at senior and youth levels are also anticipated.
It emerged earlier this month that United’s long-serving employee, Marie Marron, was told she was at risk of redundancy.
Marron has been at United for 47 years, initially serving as personal assistant to the then club secretary, Ken Merrett, before becoming a central figure in first-team logistics and a key liaison with Uefa, the Premier League and the Football Association.
The mood among staff has been described as being on the floor for much of the past year as they sweat over their own futures and/or watch friends and colleagues depart.
The anger and resentment towards the club’s ownership among the rank and file was very much evident at a staff screening in Manchester city centre of United’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.
Manchester United owners Avram Glazer, and Jim Ratcliffe with chief executive Omar Berrada (left) before the Europa League final defeat in Bilbao, Spain
Manchester United owners Avram Glazer, and Jim Ratcliffe with chief executive Omar Berrada (left) before the Europa League final defeat in Bilbao, Spain
'Who missed the big opportunity in the first half in the semi final? Garnacho.' - Ruben Amorim
When Ratcliffe and fellow co-owner Avram Glazer appeared on the screen at the event at Diecast, a warehouse venue in the Ancoats district, boos rang out among the crowd of employees and their families. Hundreds of staff and their loved ones were present.
Ratcliffe has claimed the club would have gone “bust by Christmas” without the severe cost-cutting.
United have made losses of £313m in the previous three years and it is reported the club is set to post a third-quarter loss for this season of £40m in the coming weeks based on a consensus of Wall Street analysts.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League and United’s dire performance in the Premier League are anticipated to cost the club more than £150m in prize money, broadcast income, gate receipts and penalty payments.
United went ahead with a BBQ at the club’s Carrington training ground on Thursday night that had been organised for players, first-team staff and their families regardless of the outcome of the Europa League final.
More fan protests planned
As United prepare to axe more staff, supporters are readying themselves for fresh protests against the club’s ownership at Old Trafford for the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.
United will finish in 17th position should they lose to Aston Villa and Tottenham claim at least a point at home to Brighton, which would be their lowest placing since the club was relegated 51 years ago.
The 1958 fans’ group are calling for supporters to meet at the top of Sir Matt Busby Way at the junction with Chester Road at 3pm, an hour before kick-off, and march down to the stadium forecourt.
“We will start on Sir Matt Busby Way to symbolise the standards that are being decayed and lost, installed by Sir Matt and profoundly precious to all of us,” the 1958 said.
“The club is drowning in over a billion pounds of debt, our fanbase is fractured and divided and our stadium neglected − [all] down to Glazer greed and betrayal. They’ve taken everything.
“Now, even Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival has come at the cost of hundreds of jobs, further punishing a fanbase already suffering under the Glazers’ reign. Lifelong loyal supporters are being driven away from the club they love − priced out and pushed aside. Another dagger in the heart of our footballing community.
“We march. As one fanbase. To make it clear: 20 years on, the fire still burns Red − with fury and defiance. We want the Glazers out of our club.”