Sir Jim Ratcliffe has tunnel vision on his one and only goal at Manchester United and the club has lost sight of some of the values that made it successful in the past
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Jim Ratcliffe, Co-owner of Manchester United reacts prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC at Stamford Bridge on May 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is upset some club legends at Manchester United
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Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been completely unequivocal and unapologetic about the need for change at Manchester United since taking over in February 2024. The petrochemicals billionaire's pursuit of his one true goal has upset many over the past 20 months – including ex-players and club legends.
It has been over a year since Ratcliffe decided to take Sir Alex Ferguson’s lucrative role as club ambassador away from him. Ferguson is just a drop in the ocean, set in the context of more than 450 staff redundancies, but the legendary ex-manager was a big step in terms of perception.
It showed that Ratcliffe and his Ineos operation were not worried about negative PR. He is dead set on making savings wherever they can be found – and the most recent financial results showed the direction of travel in that respect, with record financial revenue of £666.5million, record commercial revenue of £333.3m and record matchday revenue of £160.3m.
Ineos have employed consultants to make recommendations, and while they likely led to redundancies, the moving of London office eight years early and reduction of staff benefits and freebies, they are unlikely to have had anything to do with the chipping away of relationships with the club’s past.
It is something ex-manager David Moyes hinted at ahead of Everton’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Monday. “The history of Manchester United was not that [one of change],” he said.
“Manchester United had a great culture. They stuck with their managers, they brought through their own academy boys. They actually had some of the best characteristics of what you would want your club to have; good values.”
While Moyes was addressing issues on the pitch, there is an obvious parallel happening off it, where the culture has undoubtedly changed. Much has been made of the improvements to the club’s Carrington training ground, but there have also been hints at United moving away from its roots in another sense.
Club legend Norman Whiteside decided not to renew his season ticket in May after a series of issues, including the relocation of his seat, while Ferguson had to step in last year to ensure the family of Sir Matt Busby kept their seats.
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt
Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have had issues with tickets recently
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The price of tickets has increased and modern club legends Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt are struggling to get hold of them. Scholes revealed on Monday that he had turned to a tout to get tickets, while Butt said he had been threatened with losing his season ticket after missing a few games.
“It's a very different football club to the club we knew,” Scholes said. “I don't know about you Nicky, you worked there quite recently, but I don't really know anybody there.” Butt replied: “I don't know anybody there.”
Taken separately these incidents perhaps don’t add up to much, but seen together they paint a picture of the club Ineos are trying to create: a modern, efficient, money-making one. A connection to the club’s extremely successful past doesn’t fit into that picture.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim has reportedly tried to address the issue(Image: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
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It seems that manager Ruben Amorim might have a sense of this becoming an issue. He reportedly wants to bring back legends like Eric Cantona in order to maintain a connection to the past and to share experiences. But with United sitting 10th in the Premier League after they failed to score past 10-man Everton for 81 minutes, he undoubtedly has bigger priorities for now.
Amorim is far from certain to get his way and, as the manager of a struggling team, he could be discarded soon anyway. Ratcliffe and Ineos have shown they are 100 per cent focused on the future and have disregarded the importance of the past.
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