Man United insider breaks silence on Sir Jim Ratcliffe ending £40,000-a-year charity donations

Manchester United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have ended their yearly £40,000 donations to a charity supporting the club’s former players.

 The Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP) is a charity that was set up in 1985 to support players who had represented the club and did not make enough to retire after their footballing careers.

United legends such as Bryan Robson, Alex Stepney, Denis Law and Denis Irwin are among the 300 members at AFMUP.

However, it has been reported that the Reds have stopped making £40,000 yearly donations to the charity, which helps look after former players who ‘couldn’t pay for funerals’, as part of another cost-cutting measure under Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Jim Elms is a former United player and trustee of the charity and he told The Sun that the charity had only found out about this after contacting the club about payments that hadn’t been made.

Elms said that United’s chief executive Omar Berrada explained the decision to him on a phone call just before Christmas.

The decision has received major backlash from United supporters, who are far from impressed by some of Ratcliffe’s actions since taking over at United.

The British billionaire, who has a net-worth of over £12 billion, has made 250 staff redundant, increased ticket prices and slashed staff Christmas bonuses during his first 12 months in charge.

United insider responds to charity donation cut

According to the Manchester Evening News, a source from within United has said that the club ‘greatly appreciates’ the role played by AFMUP in maintaining relationships between former players.

It was further explained by the source that the club plans to continue working with the charity and supporting their events.

However, they explained that the decision to stop funding the charity was made due to the club’s significant losses.

“Our focus is on putting the club back on a sustainable financial footing so that we are in a position to invest in our priorities of achieving success on the pitch, and renewing our infrastructure,” they said.

Ratcliffe is forgetting one big thing at United

Everyone understands that the Glazer family left United in a very difficult position for any new investor. But it appears that Ratcliffe is forgetting one important thing.

While you’re saving £40,000-a-year by axing charity donations, fans know that you wasted over £3 million on a sporting director that lasted less than six months.

While you’re saving cash by cancelling staff bonuses, fans know that you’ve just offered Bruno Fernandes a new bumper contract.

While you’re saving cash by cancelling Christmas parties, fans know that you’ve just spent over £20 million by sacking Erik ten Hag just months after a contract extension – then bringing in Ruben Amorim and his staff.

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Those mistakes are amplified when you’re at Manchester United and not a normal company. And that means that these ‘cost-cutting measures’ look extremely questionable when you’ve wasted so much cash on poorly made decisions.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe wanted to put the Manchester back into Manchester United, but he is slowly losing the support of many of the local and global fans with his controversial actions.

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