Sir Jim Ratcliffe puts Man Utd ex-players' charity in jeopardy after brutal move

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's choice to halt Manchester United's yearly £40,000 donation to the Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP) has reportedly cast uncertainty over the charity's future. The AFMUP, founded in 1985, used this funding to arrange dinners and golf days that raised over £2million for ex-players, families, and charities.

The iPaper claim that the withdrawal has jeopardised the association's future, pointing to the cancellation of two events last year due to venue and catering costs. John Aston, 78, a key player in the 1968 European Cup victory, recently suffered a stroke and remains in hospital. Ex-players reportedly gathered £5,000 for a wheelchair, which the club matched, but the AFMUP lacks funds for further support.

Aston's wife states the family doesn't qualify for government aid and must fund nurse visits at £80 each, four times daily, to bring him home. She is reported to be unsure about how they will afford these expenses.

These reports emerge following a significant cost-saving operation at M16 under Ratcliffe's Ineos. The Red Devil's co-owner has implemented a comprehensive series of cost-cutting measures at United since investing £1billion to secure a 27.7% stake in the club in February 2024.

Speaking last year in defence of his cost-reduction measures, he said: "The costs were just too high. There are some fantastic people at Manchester United, but there was also a level of mediocrity and it had become bloated. I got a lot of flak for the free lunches, but no-one's ever given me a free lunch."

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The INEOS owner has introduced changes, including cutting up to 450 roles at United after his minority stake, and removing complimentary staff meals. Ratcliffe, who additionally provoked supporters' anger by raising matchday ticket prices to £66 per match, with no concessions for youngsters or elderly fans, maintained that bolstering the club's finances was crucial to securing sustained on-pitch achievement.

The 73-year-old said: "There are two halves to a football team. There's the business side and the sports side. The biggest correlation, like it or not, between results and any external factor - is profitability.

"The more cash you've got, the better squad you can build. It's like a Formula One car - the better car you can build, the quicker you go.

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"The better your squad, the better your football should be. So a lot of what we've done in the first year is spend an awful lot of time putting the club on a sustainable, healthy footing.

"If you look at our results for last year, we have the highest revenues ever. Profitability, the second highest ever. We're not seeing all the benefits of the restructuring that we've done in this set of results, and we weren't in the Champions League.

"Those numbers will get better. Manchester United will become the most profitable football club in the world, in my view, and from that will stem, I hope, a long-term, sustainable, high-level of football."