Sir Jim Ratcliffe promised a clear new dawn for Manchester United.
More than a year later, the club is set up for their lowest Premier League finish and the worst domestic season since their 1974 relegation – all of them, while he is creating no fewer than 450 club staff.
The victory over Tottenham in the Europa League final of next week could change the story, sealing Champions League football to add to ambitious plans that were recently unveiled by Ratcliffe and Ineos -are multinational chemical company.
United is only part of a £ 2.2 billion-plus sporting empire that once looked dominant but now shows some cracks.
Here Martin Lipton from Sunsport breaks the rest of Sir Jim's Portfolio – Sport by Sport. . .
FOOTBALL
Before Manchester United there was Lausanne and Nice.
In 2017, Ineos announced a deal to take over the Swiss club, described as part of the “continuous investments of chemical giants in youth and community sports” in the area.
A promise of “full support” for Manager Fabio Celestini lasted until the club was relegated six months later.
Lausanne has been a yo-yo club in the Ineos era, but is now well free from relegation and settles in the 13,000 capacity Stade de la Tuiliere, which was opened in 2020.
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Two years after the Swiss investment, Ineos French Side Nice bought in a £ 89 million deal, in which Ratcliffe stated: “We made some mistakes at Lausanne, but we are fast students.
“These have been remedied and we are already seeing the benefits.”
Ineos arrived with Arsenal Icon Patrick Vieira in the Dugout, but he was fired after 15 months.
Since then, four full-time successors have come and gone, with Franck Haise now reaching the end of his first season, where he is well positioned to improve the best Ligue 1 finish of the Fifth of Ineos.
Despite a Winless Europa League campaign, Nice in the interior celebrated a competition.
They are one of the three teams at 57 points and can finish as low and seventh. But a home victory on Brest on Saturday will guarantee anything but a nice access to Champions League qualification qualification.
Last summer, after investing £ 1.3 billion to take over 'sports operations' at United, Ineos were forced by UEFA to transfer most of their shares in Nice to blind trust.
'So much better without our interference'
Ratcliffe admitted in March: “The best season that Nice has had, this is, where we are not allowed to participate because of the rules of multiple club ownership. They have been so much better without our interference! Maybe there is a lesson.”
When Ratcliffe confirmed his buy -out of just over a quarter of United's shares from the glazers, he promised to lead the Old Trafford Club back to the top, but said: “It will take two or three seasons.”
That seems like an understatement.
The resignation of Erik ten Hag was too late, but paid Newcastle £ 3 million for sports director than Ashworth to dismiss him after five months, was an expensive shame.
Ratcliffe publicly supports Ruben Amorim, but has criticized certain players.
The announcement of the £ 2 billion plan to build a “New Trafford” of 100,000 capacity, since the center of a huge development project next to the club's house since 1910 was an ambition washing signal.
Formula 1
Ineos was signed the 'main partner' of Mercedes in a five -year £ 100 million deal in 2020 and had taken a third place at the end of the year.
Back-to-back team championships in their first two years made it eight in a row, Sir Lewis Hamilton won the title of the drivers in 2020 and only lost Max Verstappen during the last round in 2021.
But that was the end of the dominance of Mercedes and Hamilton joined Ferrari for this season.
George Russell remains a title candidate, even if his car is slower than the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and the Red Bull from Verstappen.
With the finances of Ineos under control, it has been claimed that Ratcliffe could leave, but team head Toto Wolff said: “He is one of the three of our Amigos – Mercedes, Jim and me. We never separate.”
Rugby -union
The Ineos of Ratcliffe became a “performance partner” of the All Blacks in 2021 with a six-year-old deal with a value of £ 4 million per season but they could be kicked in contact.
New Zealand rugby launched a legal case with a “breach of contract” in February after the announcement of Ineos “had not paid the first episode of the 2025 sponsor costs, which the decision to leave” confirm the agreement.
That came with Ineos who admitted that it is financially due to rising levels of CO2 tax in Europe, making chemicals a “difficult industry to be in”.
Ratcliffe can't have Haka it, moaning in March: “We talked to New Zealand rugby about the fact that times are difficult.
“We wanted to see if we could find a compromise that you would have thought as a sponsor of the All Blacks they had listened to, but they didn't want to listen.”
NZ is currently an unacceptable NO2 in the world.
Misuse
Team Sky had become the dominant power in World Road Cycling under Sir Dave Brailsford with riders, including Tour de France winners Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Geraint Thomas.
They were renamed Teaminos in 2019 and became Ineos Grenadiers the following year. The company promised to match or even exceed the £ 34 million annual budget of £ 34 million.
Colombian Egan Bernal won the seventh Tour de France title of the team in the first year of sponsorship, but there have been no further triumphs in the Elite Race of Cycling.
Ineos Bankroll The team at an amount of £ 40 million a year, but conclude a multi-million pound sponsorship agreement with another petrochemical giant, totaleenergies.
Sail
Olympic soil legend Sir Ben Ainslie and Royal Yacht Squadron Commodore Jamie Sheldon were with Ratcliffe in 2018 to announce the launch of Ineos Team UK and his offer to finally win the America's Cup.
The crew, including another Olympic champion in Giles Scott, reached the final of the Prada Cup qualifying campaign in 2021, but was not stared by the Italian Luna Rossa, which in turn was comfortably defeated by the holders, Emirates Team New Zealand.
Ineos committed more than £ 110 million and renamed the Ineos Britannia team before the 2024 edition of the world's oldest sailing race.
This time, with another Olympic champion, Dylan Fletcher, who joined Ainslie at the helm of the Twin-held vessel, the British boat reached the final in the waters for Barcelona.
But they were short again, beaten 7-2 by the Kiwi ship.
In January Ineos announced a third challenge – but without the involvement of Ainslie.
Ratcliffe suggested: “Ben wanted to do his own thing and that's fine.” But Ainslie claims that he has the right to be the “challenger or record” with access to more information than other contenders.
The Ainslie team was “surprised” by the Ineos movement, and added “increases considerably legal and practical obstacles”.
ATHLETICS
Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge's successful attempt to break the two-hour barrier for the marathon distance in 2019, was brought by Ratcliffe by the Ineos 1: 59 challenge.
Kipchoge covered 26.2 miles in Vienna in 1: 59: 40.2, although it did not count as an official world record because he was allowed a series of tempo-letters and it was not an open event.
Later, in 2022, Ineos signed an agreement to become “performance partner” for the NN-running team of Kipchoge.
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