Manchester United fan group the 1958 have launched a scathing attack on new owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos in a statement.
Storm clouds have been gathering for a while around Ineos from cutting staff, making them pay for their own travel arrangements to a cup final and perceived neglect of the women’s team.
The criticism of the new owners really gathered pace when it was announced there would be a mid-season hike in ticket prices for match-going fans and many supporters are increasingly worried about the competency of the new hierarchy when it broke this morning that new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, left the club after just five months in charge.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has defended himself in an interview that was released yesterday claiming that tough decisions need to be taken due to the “mediocre” state the club finds itself in but it is fair to say, he is struggling to find much sympathy from fans, especially match going ones.
The 1958, a supporters group who define themselves as “an underground group of reds intent on upholding the values of Manchester United, its culture and tradition”, have released a statement condemning recent decisions made by Ineos.
They open their statement by claiming, “twenty years of inept governance from the Glazers seems to have continued with the new investors. Redundancies and ticket hikes seem the easy targets for Sir Jim and his team to cover catastrophic incompetence from his fellow shareholders.”
“If fans have to pay for poor club decisions and recruitment[, t]hen the last 11 years of incompetence doesn’t bode well for future ticket prices, club culture and heritage nor its working-class roots.”
The organisation claimed that the “elephant in the room” is the Glazer debt which the club still has weighing it down and claimed that Ratcliffe and Ineos should make the “tough decision” to enforce the Glazers to remove this burden from the club.
They also criticised Ratcliffe’s recent interview with Andy Mitten claiming that it wasn’t a “good optic.”
The 1958 believe that Sir Jim’s comparison of United not being able to charge less than Fulham is incorrect due to the fact “there is simply no comparison between deprived communities of Trafford and surrounding areas in the North of England. Traditional working class and industrial areas of our country. Out of touch, head in the clouds, everything he said he wasn’t.”
It was also pointed out that the Glazers are still at the core of the club and that Ineos and the American owners are currently “a partnership of doom” as Ratcliffe and co.’s actions are not living up to their words off the pitch.
The group also poured scorn on the notion that the club is any better at communicating ideas to fans, and a recent fan survey by the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust suggested the majority of fans are in agreement.
The 1958 sign off with the message, “on and off the pitch we are light years away from getting our club back to where it belongs. If you are not angry you should be. If you are not concerned you should be. We are ready for the fight, when will others wake up and be ready with us?!”
Twenty years of inept governance from the Glazers seems to have continued with the new investors.
Redundancies and ticket hikes seem the easy targets for Sir Jim and his team to cover catastrophic incompetence from his fellow shareholders.
If fans have to pay for poor club… pic.twitter.com/h3s5llLeKv
— The 1958 (@The__1958) December 8, 2024
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
