Co-owner of Manchester United tells Martin Samuel what he really thinks of the Glazer family and where things went wrong in Old Trafford.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe started his day with a coffee, a croissant and the newspapers. He still has the coffee and the croissant. “Now I invite someone to have it with me,” he says. “I didn't read the newspaper. I had a nice life. Now it's like you get a school report every day. “
The smallest violin in the world, for the richest man in the country, please. Nobody will feel sorry for Ratcliffe, and he knows. He didn't seek pity. The question was about fun, and whether there was a Manchester United to walk. There are all kinds of reasons why very rich men buy football clubs, but one of the most overlooked is pure pleasure.
Mike Ashley thought he would have fun at Newcastle United. He imagined that he went north with his friends, drinks for the competition and his team to Bigg Market with the fans later looked at the Bigg market. What he did not have in mind was: Fat Cockney Bastard, go out of our club; And years of antagonated exile.
Ratcliffe is not yet in those shoes, but he is floating outside the cupboard. There is a song, heard during a competition in Fulham in January, which no longer distinguishes between his stewardship and that of the glazers and uses the same four -letter word for both. You can find it in Chaucer. Then there are the realities that are not just a matter of opinion. The competition position, the finances, a difficult start for new Ruben Amorim manager, the regulatory limitations that will continue to influence the hope of rapid recovery.
The fans thought they got a benevolent keeper who looked down and laughs devastating like the Sun Baby from Teletubbies. What they have instead is a billionaire who increases ticket prices, makes staff and makes judgments that are at best random, with important staff that is hired and dismissed at enormous costs. And the glazers. Yet the glazers. Still the majority owners of Manchester United, the club continues to serve their fault. The Ratcliffe advisers do not like to talk about his partners. If he speaks positively, and he does it, it distants him further from the fans.
Ratcliffe was driven from Craven Cottage – driver, not an angry crowd – when supporters surrounded his vehicle. United had won that day, but Ticket-Price Rises were announced without concessions for children or pensioners.
One of the critics of Ratcliffe said that tickets at Old Trafford should be a third of those in Fulham. Ratcliffe did not agree. He believes that it should be more expensive to view the largest club in the world and in their new stadium, with the planned 100,000 capacity, there will be room for more affordable seats. But that is far away, at least five years, and a lot of rough sea to cross, in particular the government encourage it to maintain its end of the deal. If this friction continues, or forbids heaven, can he make it worse, can he turn it off?
“It can be unpleasant,” he says. “And I probably failed in having a nice front. I mean, I can tolerate it for a while. I don't mind being unpopular, because I get nobody likes to see Manchester United where they are, and nobody loves the decisions we have to make at the moment. If I draw a bit of the anger, I can tolerate that. But I am no different than the average person. It's not fun, especially for friends and family.
“So in the end, if it achieved the extent that the Glazer family has been abused, then I should say, look, enough boys, let someone else do this. They can't really come to a competition, the glazers. They have now withdrawn a bit in the shade, so I get all the bloody stick.
“We bought and I haven't seen them since. It is: “Thank you, Jim, you are doing really well.” At the moment I have no security, I don't have to walk around like that. But it would beat the object, right? You could not tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn't be fun.
“I've not had it so far, not really. I had that guy because of the car window on the Fulham match that Arsey got with me, but I did not have what I would call threatening behavior – although my brother Bob sends me critical notes. It's a bit like me and Ruben, he gives me advice. “
That is not always taken by its sound. On holiday in the south of France four years ago I met Bob Ratcliffe. He told me that Sir Jim's company, where he carried out football activities, would never buy a Premier League club. Too expensive, no money in it. The only way in which football worked as an investment in England was, was to start in the championship, to build and win promotion. And then, December 2023, his big brother bought the largest Premier League club of all.
And here is the strange thing. Ask Jim his motivation and it is one of the rare cases that he is stunned for an answer. He could play the proud mancunian card, but not. And it's not the money, he keeps full. “That is 100 percent not where I come from. I earn enough money in chemicals and oil and gas and all that stuff. “So?” I can't answer honestly why we did it. It is a fairly difficult question. With Nice, in the French competition, you can buy a club for £ 100 million. It is much cheaper access. But I don't really enjoy watching Nice because there are some good players, but the football level is not high enough for me to get excited. “
So here is my theory. Ratcliffe Part is the owner of Manchester United for the same reason as their former chairman Louis Edwards, or a number of rich men have since the start of the professional competition of the professional competition: ego, prestige, because they can. He is not in it for the same reason as his partners, or the hedge founders and venture capitalists. He is in it, I think, because it is something to be the owner of the biggest club in English football.
If you like sports – and the portfolio of Ratcliffe from bicycles to sailing and Formula 1 confirms that he does that – is the possession of Manchester United Cool. Except when it is not. Like now, when Ratcliffe is the lightning rod for a regime that has been consistently failing for more than a decade.
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