Abuse would lead me to walk away from Man United — Ratcliffe

Manchester United co-owner, Jim Ratcliffe says he would walk away from the club if he gets “abused” by fans in the same way the Glazer family have.

The 72-year-old last year spent £1.3bn for a 28.94% stake in the club, in a deal which led to his company Ineos taking control of football operations.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, external Ratcliffe said he “doesn’t mind being unpopular”.

Last month, it was confirmed there would be a second round of redundancies at the club, which will result in up to 200 people losing their jobs in addition to the 250 who departed last year.

There has also been a mid-season rise in some ticket prices, affecting under-16s and pensioners.

On Monday, Ratcliffe said that some Manchester United players are “not good enough” and “overpaid”, and that the club had been at risk of going bust.

Ratcliffe also announced plans to build a new £2bn stadium with a 100,000 capacity.

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The unpopular Glazer family bought the club in 2005 via a leveraged takeover and retain a majority stake.

“I mean, I can put up with it for a while,” Ratcliffe said. “I don’t mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we’re having to make at the moment.

“If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I’m no different to the average person. It’s not nice, particularly for friends and family.

“So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I’d have to say, look, enough’s enough guys, let somebody else do this.

“They can’t really come to a match, the Glazers. They’ve retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I’m getting all the stick.

“We bought in and I haven’t seen them since. It’s, ‘thank you, Jim, you’re doing a really good job’.

“At the moment, I don’t have security, I don’t have to walk around like that. But it would defeat the object, wouldn’t it? You couldn’t tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn’t be fun.”

When Ratcliffe and Ineos joined the Old Trafford hierarchy, many fans welcomed the arrival of a boyhood fan and billionaire to help restore the club’s former glories.

However, a year on, the relationship with some supporters has soured.

Several moves taken by the club which have attracted criticism, with cost-cutting measures including the removal of free lunches for staff, culminating in a protest against United’s ownership by fans last weekend.

Banners saying “we want our club back” and “£1bn stolen”, referring to the amount spent on servicing the debt loaded on to United when the Glazer family bought the club in 2005, were on display at the protest.

United’s current total debt, including £300m in outstanding transfer fees, is in excess of £1bn. In the last financial year they paid £37m in interest on the debt.

(BBC SPORT)