Man Utd 'consider slashing' disabled supporter funding

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 15 Nov 2024 08:36 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United are reportedly looking to slash a £40,000-a-year payment to the club's disabled supporters association.

The Daily Mail have reported that they will look to cut the funding in half, in a move which has engaged fans online.

Ineos CEO, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has imposed some cost-cutting measures since taking over, and this is the latest.

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MUDSA, the disabled group, was one of the first official disabled supporters' clubs in the country and now its source of income could be in jeopardy.

The Mail report: "While no final decision is thought to have been made, United are reluctantly considering what may prove to be a highly controversial move.

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"Following the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS in January, officials set about identifying areas of the business where savings could be made.

"Their aim was to free up cash to spend on the first team squad and ensure the club was in a healthy financial position when it comes to compliance with Premier League spending rules. As this newspaper revealed, around 250 redundancies were made as part of that process."

The move could be done despite the club recently announcing record revenues of £661.755m in June.

A source informed the paper: "This is nothing short of a disgrace. The figures they are talking about are a drop in the ocean and the optics would be horrific. It feels like the club has lost touch with its soul.

"The disabled supporters’ club has always been a big part of Manchester United and when you see how much money is being wasted on paying off managers and bringing in players who aren’t good enough, something like this will be very difficult to justify."

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Ratcliffe cancels Christmas

Last month United chief Ratcliffe ended payments of more than £2 million a year for former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who had been the club’s global ambassador since his retirement from management in 2013.

And The Athletic claimed that, as part of measures to lower United’s expenditure, the Christmas party for club employees will be cancelled.

United’s employees tend to have a party in the lead-up to the festive season in December but Ratcliffe has cancelled such plans, while also removing club credit cards from senior executives.

Having invested in United earlier this year, Ratcliffe has been determined to lower the club’s costs, although the billionaire oversaw a spending spree of more than £200m this summer – the second-highest in the Premier League.

The news of Ferguson’s contract being terminated led to polarising responses, with several United legends criticising the club’s treatment of their best-ever manager.

Ferguson has also been asked to stay away from the club’s dressing room – effectively breaking a tradition that has seen former United managers such as Sir Matt Busby enjoy welcomed visits to the players.

United deny that they have directly banned Ferguson from the changing room but say there is now a ‘collective understanding’ over who goes inside.