An embarrassing moment for Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, in which he asked then-captain Katie Zelem “what she did at the club”, underscores Ineos’ continued bleak attitude to the women’s team.
While receiving a tour of the Carrington training ground – home to both the men and women’s first-teams – the British billionaire was introduced to a number of the female players and coaching staff.
Ratcliffe’s Embarrassing Question>/h5>
During this meeting, The Telegraph reveals, Ratcliffe asked Zelem – now plying her trade for Angel City in the US – what she did at Old Trafford, despite having captained the women’s side since 2019.
Zelem, 29, would go on to lead United out in the FA Cup final as the women’s team won their first major trophy, thrashing Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 in the process.
Ratcliffe, who attended the men’s final against Manchester City a few weeks after this triumph, chose to watch Erik ten Hag’s side lose 1-0 to Arsenal at Old Trafford instead of the women’s team make history at Wembley.
Furthermore, the club had not even organised a party after the match for the women’s team, as would be customary for the men’s side, regardless of the result. In response, the players had “planned to celebrate in central London where friends and family were staying,” the report details.
However, a “hastily arranged” event was then thrown together by the club after the 4-0 victory at a location “miles outside [of] London”, presenting a “series of last-minute logistical challenges for the women’s team and their loved ones.”
Similarly, the women’s team were only allocated a small number of tickets for the final to bring their family and friends to Wembley. When the men’s team caught wind of this, they intervened with captain Bruno Fernandes and veteran goalkeeper Tom Heaton choosing to cover the “costs of additional tickets using dressing room ‘fine’ money accrued over the cost of the season.”
In total, it constitutes a dismal attitude towards am important part of the club Ineos should be championing and pushing towards greater success, rather than almost more of an afterthought in the mind of the club’s co-owner.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth was seen as an “important ally” by the women’s team with a strong track record of positive influence at previous clubs and the England national team. As such, the 53-year-old’s shock dismissal in November is likely to have been a significant blow to the female players at Old Trafford.
And The Telegraph contends Ratcliffe “did not have a meaningful conversation” with Ashworth about the women’s team during his five-month tenure as the club’s director.
The Ineos owner has previously described the perception of him being uninterested in the women’s team as “slightly misguided” but chose to redirect questions on the topic to his advisors during a Q&A last year.
It’s evident where Ratcliffe’s priorities lie at Old Trafford. But, given Ruben Amorim’s team are currently languishing in 15th in the Premier League table while Marc Skinner’s side are 2nd in the W.S.L, it begs the question – why?
Only one half of the Red Devil senior teams is performing at a level worth of the club owner’s attention; and it’s certainly not the men.
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
