daniel chigunwePAUL SCHOLES launched a stinging rebuke against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s lordship over Manchester United, claiming that “nothing positive” has happened since Ineos took over.
He aimed a particular attack on the “ridiculous” ticket prices which alienate many fans. United are on course for their worst-ever Premier League season, sitting 13th in the table, but raised base ticket prices without consultation to £66 in November, almost tripling the cost for children.
It appears to fall short of his promise to “work with fans” to restore the club to the “very top of English, European, and world football” when Ineos completed their 1.3 billion-pound partial takeover in December 2023.
“(Ineos Group) have been in charge (of Manchester United) for nearly a year now and everything is still negative. I can’t think of something positive that they’ve done for the football club,’’ Scholes told The Overlap Fan Debate on Sky Bet.
“Things are getting worse on the football pitch so couldn’t they have just said that they’d do cheaper tickets — couldn’t they just give us something positive? How can you ask Manchester United fans to pay more money with what’s on the football pitch?
Ratcliffe has made base ticket prices £66 and admitted he will make “unpopular decisions”.
“£66 for a ticket is ridiculous. If you think of Manchester, there are so many deprived areas and Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself is from Failsworth, which is a deprived area. If you take one kid with you, that’s £120, if you take a family, you’re looking at £300-400 — it’s not right.
“Where do these owners get the front to put ticket prices up? For the value, we’re probably having our worst ever Premier League season and they’ve got the cheek to put the prices up.
“There is nothing positive happening with that football club. The team look bang average. They’re not doing anything for fans.
“If we’ve got Sir Jim Ratcliffe, compared to all these American owners, who’s been a United fan since growing up in an area in Manchester, he’s still hiking prices up. It just shows that they don’t care.’’
Ratcliffe and Ineos pitched their takeover of football operations as one that would improve efficiency and maximise the spending on the squad.
And splashing the cash on players has been a big part of their regime — over the summer they forked out another £200million on signings, though their impact has been questionable.
United spent around £200 million on new signings over the summer and sacked Erik ten Hag expensively after renewing his deal
But the Failsworth-born petrochemicals billionaire has ground the gears of fans and staff with a series of morale-sinking decisions — something he admitted he would do. Ineos have axed nearly a quarter of the club’s 1 100-strong workforce to save between £35-45m each year and cut their traditional perks such as covering their travel to the FA Cup final.
More senior employees had already lost their corporate credit cards and chauffeur-driven cars, and matchday staff at Old Trafford had their complimentary lunchboxes withdrawn in another blow to morale.
That came after he banned working from home, telling staff: “If you don’t like it, please seek alternative employment.’’
In November it emerged that Ratcliffe was considering halving United’s £40 000-a-year payment to the club’s disabled supporters association. — dailymail.co.uk
