A significant majority of Manchester United fans are currently unhappy with the new owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Since taking control of the club earlier in the year, there has been a sea of change at the club with new players, a different manager and coaching team and a sporting department all put in place under the instructions of Ineos.
Nonetheless, despite the numerous positive changes, a recent survey has also highlighted that United fans are far from happy with certain ways Ratcliffe has been running the club.
According to The Telegraph, “almost two-thirds of Manchester United supporters are ‘unhappy’ with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers’ running of the club as the co-owners come under renewed pressure to abandon their controversial mid-season ticket-price hikes.”
The Peoples Person has already covered the potential danger of this decision and there have already been protests against rising ticket prices last Sunday.
The Daily Mail report that these negative consequences may already be coming to light for United as they could only sell out the stadium for tonight’s match against Forest after taking the “extraordinary step of putting tickets on open sale.”
“While it’s common for tickets returned by season-ticket holders to be sold to members by United, the club website on Wednesday had availability for the general public on all four sides of Old Trafford.” This shows how angry fans are as usually getting a ticket for a home Premier League game is like “gold dust”.
Some fans however have already secured a small victory with the decision “to charge members a flat price of £66 for remaining matches this season, with the club confirming branch allocations of members that tickets would not be subjected to the huge cost increases.”
Nonetheless, a new survey by Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) reveals the true extent of anger felt towards Ratcliffe.
“A total of 65 per cent of fans are said to be ‘unhappy with the ownership and management of the club’ and 97 per cent believe the changes will ‘alienate the next generation of fans’.”
In addition, “more than two-thirds of fans – 68 per cent – said they ‘will attend fewer games, one way or another’, and only three per cent were said to be ‘understanding’ of the decision. Ninety-nine per cent of fans said it was ‘important’ the club consult properly with supporters before making any future changes to ticketing.
More than 4,000 fans participated in the survey, with MUST revealing that the most common words people associated with the decision were ‘disappointed’, ‘angry’ and ‘exploited’.”
A particularly unpopular decision is to increase kids’ and pensioners’ tickets as they now must pay £66. Therefore a child and adult ticket will cost £132, roughly double what it did before.
Commenting on the results of the survey MUST stated, “the recent hike in member ticket prices, particularly for children, is by far the most unpopular decision the club has made since the partial ownership change earlier this year.”
“It has created a significant rift with the fanbase and the club must act urgently to repair the damage.”
The significant rise in price is extra galling to fans considering the cost of living crisis the world is currently experiencing in all facets of life.
Numerous fans will be sympathetic to United having to walk a tightrope for PSR, at the same time, Ineos continue to pick a fight with the easiest option.
Fans were already disgruntled by the decision to lay off 250 staff members in the summer and also make staff members pay for their own way to the FA Cup final last year.
Whilst nobody can deny that Ineos have certainly spearheaded significant positive change, most obviously progress for a new stadium, they run the risk of alienating the very people who are the real lifeblood of the club, the fans.
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.
