Man Utd fans sent ominous Sir Jim Ratcliffe warning despite timely £666m boost

Last week, as Ruben Amorim’s side were preparing to face Chelsea in a crucial Premier League match, Manchester United released their financial results for the 2024/25 season. The campaign may have been a nightmare on the pitch, but there was good news off it.

The club announced record financial revenue of £666.5million, record commercial revenue of £333.3m and record matchday revenue of £160.3m. Thanks to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos’ brutal cost-cutting exercises, which have included 400 redundancies, United’s overall loss of £113.2m was slashed to £33m.

United finished 15th in the Premier League last season – their worst placing since 1973/74. They then compounded things by losing the Europa League final against Tottenham to miss out on a trophy and a place in this season’s Champions League.

This was undeniably a miserable end to a dreadful season. And yet, from a financial perspective, there was a silver lining for the club’s accountants, who did not have to pay out a 25 per cent bonus to the players, which would have been payable if they had reached the Champions League. Wages were therefore cut by a whopping £51.5m to £313.2m – their lowest level since 2019/20.

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Even while Amorim’s side are struggling, winning just 18 of their 48 matches in all competitions under the Portuguese boss, brand United keeps powering on, seemingly unaffected by the quality of the product itself.

“It shows that Manchester United are shockproof,” Football finance expert Kieran Maguire tells Mirror Football. “Ed Woodward said United didn’t need to win matches to be a success commercially and people were uncertain about that. In the last couple of years, they have delivered.”

Woodward, United’s former executive vice-chairman, is not a popular figure among fans. But he was right – and Ratcliffe and the Glazer family are continuing on that path, with commercial deals with Adidas and Snapdragon helping get the club out of a period of stagnation.

United are such a money-making machine that the club can afford to keep increasing debt. It now stands at just under £1.2bn, which is made up of £742m in financial debt and £447m in fees associated with transfers.

One of the biggest gripes with supporters in terms of the Glazer family, who have owned the club since 2003, is the sky-high debt. That figure is now at an all-time high and has increased significantly since Ratcliffe and Ineos took over running the sporting side of the club in February 2024.

“Manchester United generate enough money through ticket sales, commercial deals, merchandise and being popular with broadcasters to manage the debt easily,” Maguire explains. “It’s not a concern, but it is symbolic. Spurs have borrowed a lot, but they have a fantastic new stadium; United have borrowed a lot and they have the Glazers and clearly that’s an issue.

“They’ve spent a lot of money on players – there’s no denying that, and it’s far more than they’ve generated from player sales and as a result the borrowings have gone up substantially. Despite Jim Ratcliffe putting money into the club through a share issue, they’ve had to borrow £130m in terms of increases to the overdraft net. They’ve also borrowed money since the end of the season and that’s very inconsistent with Ratcliffe’s claim that they would’ve gone bust by Christmas.”

United may not have European football this season, but they are looking abroad for more money-making opportunities. A much-criticised post-season tour happened for the first time this summer before a pre-season tour of the Far East. And now they are reportedly considering mid-season friendlies in the Middle East.

Maguire has a theory about the direction of travel at United, who are planning a new stadium in a regenerated Old Trafford area. “The fans are now paying for it in a sense. Yes, it’s record revenues, partly due to the fact that match day revenues are up significantly, which is due to higher prices, so fans are generating this,” he says.

“I think what they’re trying to do is turn Old Trafford from a football stadium into more of an experience. We’re seeing traditional fans, who have sat with their mates for the last 30 years, being turfed out. Their seats behind the dugout can be sold as a ‘manager experience’.

“What you will see from Ineos is a marginalisation of Manchester United’s traditional, local fanbase to try and replace them with more wealthy fans who want something memorable because they only get the opportunity to come once or twice a year and they’re prepared to pay for the privilege.”

Essentially, United are continuing to trade off their glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson, who helped turn the club into a colossus both on and off the pitch. While the performances have disappeared, the other side of things remains.

“They owe a huge debt to Sir Alex Ferguson, because he built the brand, with their success in that era coinciding with the growth of satellite television when they were the dominant club in the dominant league, which brought them global attention,” Maguire adds. “Now they can do pre-season and post-season tours. United fans will come and watch them regardless of their league position.

“Football isn’t like many other products. If I go to a restaurant and have a few bad meals, I’ll find an alternative restaurant. But if my football team are bobbins for a few years, I’ll still turn up even if I moan a bit more. You have that lifelong brand loyalty with a football club that Manchester United are in a great position to exploit.”

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