Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to continue his drive to cut costs as part-owner of Manchester United as the club intend to follow up a 250-person cull last summer by making more than 100 members of staff redundant at Old Trafford.
Ratcliffe completed his minority investment in United in February 2024 and since then, he has enacted a series of decisions which he says are to address the club’s finances. United, who remain majority owned by the American Glazer family, have posted five consecutive full-year losses since last achieving profitability during the 2018-19 season. The club recorded a net loss of £113million ($139.7m) in their 2023-24 accounts and reported cumulative losses over the past five years of £370m.
Club accounts for the year ended June 30, 2023, reported that United’s monthly employees had risen to an average of 1,112. Liverpool, by comparison, had 1,008 employees in the same period, while Arsenal reported 723.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS executives were of the view that United required “right-sizing” and the club embarked upon a redundancy programme, announced to staff in May, which led to around 250 employees being put out of work.
United’s fourth-quarter financial results for 2024 described this as being part of a “club-wide business transformation plan… with the aim of improving operating efficiency via cost-savings, headcount rationalization and changes to the organizational structure.” The report, which said a cost review had been undertaken on behalf of United by the consultancy group Interpath Advisory, added that the plan would “unlock operational efficiency with the ultimate goal of improving the club’s financial sustainability and maximize the resources available to improve football operations.”
United also said the “employee redundancy program” had concluded at the end of August 2024 and led to the loss of 250 roles across all departments. They added that they expected cost savings of between £40-45m, but that the implementation cost had been £10m.
United’s staff are yet to be informed about this latest round of job losses but the club’s executive has resolved they are necessary amid a challenging season.
Since August, United’s financial situation has been hampered by the men’s first team’s hugely disappointing performance on the field. They are 13th in the Premier League, 10 points clear of the relegation zone after 24 matches and 14 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea. This means the team is unlikely to qualify for the UEFA Champions League through a domestic league finish, which will impact revenue. For example, per their contractual agreement, kit manufacturer Adidas will deduct $10m from their annual payment to sponsor United for every year they fail to qualify for the Champions League. United may yet qualify for next season’s competition if they win the UEFA Europa League, for which they have qualified into the round of 16, this term.
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United are also dealing with self-inflicted costs. The first quarter financial results for 2025, posted in November, revealed that United spent more than £21m to fire Erik ten Hag and his backroom staff and then hire Ruben Amorim and his coaching team, a situation that was exacerbated by the decision to extend the Dutchman’s contract in the summer of 2024, following the FA Cup final win over Manchester City, only to then fire him nine matches into the new Premier League season.
United also suffered costs in the episode involving Dan Ashworth, who the club poached from Newcastle United to be sporting director, only for him to leave in December “by mutual consent” within five months of joining the club. That debacle cost in excess of £5m.
United paid £11m to prise Amorim and his staff away from Sporting CP in November (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
This latest wave of redundancies is likely to weigh heavily on the club’s football department, which emerged relatively unscathed during the previous rounds, but other areas of the club will be impacted. Indeed, The Athletic has previously reported Ratcliffe dismissed Ashworth in part because he was not quick or ruthless enough over cuts to the football department.
The Athletic has heard from members of staff at Old Trafford, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak publicly, and they argue that botched INEOS decision-making with regards to Ten Hag and Ashworth, as well as a questionable £200m summer transfer spend on Matthijs De Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte, has left ordinary workers at risk of unemployment.
This round of cuts was hinted at by United’s chief executive Omar Berrada during an all-staff meeting at Old Trafford in early December.
“I know it was a difficult year,” Berrada said. “And I can’t promise next year won’t be difficult too.”
In an interview with the United We Stand fanzine in December, Ratcliffe said: “To get Manchester United to where we need to get it — it’s a bit like the country. We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions then nothing much is going to change.”
He added: “There are financial issues which we need to address because we’ve inherited a financial situation that only time will solve.”
United fans have protested against ticket price increases (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
The Glazer family, who remain the majority shareholders of United, appear to have essentially outsourced control of the club’s business and football operations to INEOS and do not appear to be opposing the sweeping changes to how the Americans previously ran the club.
INEOS has made a series of other cost-cutting measures, including removing club credit cards from a number of senior staff, insisting that staff contribute to the travel in order to attend May’s FA Cup final and cutting lucrative ambassadorial deals for the club’s legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson and a £1m-per-year retainer for former chief executive David Gill.
Ratcliffe has also sought to raise revenue by taking the mid-season decision to raise matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, eliminating concessions for children and pensioners on unsold tickets for the rest of the campaign. In a letter to fan groups, who had warned the club to consider the long-term implications of raising ticket prices, the club said last month they needed to “act now” to avoid “failing to comply” with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations, under which clubs can lose up to £105m over a three-year period.
“We are currently making a significant loss each year,” United’s letter said. “This is not sustainable.
“We will have to make some difficult choices. That has included a significant reduction to our workforce as well as cuts across many areas of spend across our club.
“We do not expect fans to make up all the current shortfall — but we do need to look at our ticketing strategy to ensure we are charging the right amount, and offering the right discounts, across our products for our fans.”
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(Top photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
