Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘unpopular’ at Man Utd for reason he doesn’t regret | Football | Sport

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has admitted he became “very unpopular” at Manchester United for taking the “right” decisions. The 73-year-old has implemented a series of high-profile measures at Old Trafford since acquiring a 27.7 per cent stake in December 2023 and taking complete control of footballing matters the following February.

Amongst the alterations Ratcliffe has introduced include cutting more than 250 positions to save a projected £40million, scrapping the custom of paid ambassadorial positions for ex-players, and mandating a return to the workplace for all personnel. There has also been a significant restructuring of the club’s leadership team, with Omar Berrada appointed as Chief Executive and Jason Wilcox as Technical Director.

Dan Ashworth was brought in as Sporting Director but left after less than five months.

United have invested over £400m on signings since Ratcliffe’s arrival. That hasn’t translated to significant success on the field thus far, though the Reds did secure the FA Cup in 2024 and reach the Europa League final in 2025.

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They originally retained Erik ten Hag following the FA Cup triumph before subsequently dismissing him at a cost to the club of approximately £21.4m in compensation. The Reds then hired Ruben Amorim but removed him last month, with Michael Carrick arriving as his interim replacement until the campaign concludes.

Ratcliffe has faced criticism from United supporters and observers during his initial two years at the club, but the INEOS chief has now stood by the “difficult” yet “right” choices he has implemented.

Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Ratcliffe said: “I’ve seen quite a bit of this at the football club (people making unpopular decisions). If you do difficult things, which we felt that we had to do at Manchester United… we felt like they were the right things to do. But you do become very unpopular for a while.

“Well, I’ve been very unpopular at Manchester United because we’ve made lots of changes. But for the better, in my view. And I think we’re beginning to see some evidence in the football club that that’s beginning to pay off.”

Prior to discussing United, Ratcliffe had claimed that Britain has been “colonised” by immigrants, who are depleting state resources. The Reds part-owner elaborated on why he believes Britain confronts serious political, social and economic difficulties.

In a stark message to the UK, Ratcliffe said: “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonised. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”