Sir Jim Ratcliffe breaks silence on Man United women’s team as PFA investigate ‘growing discontent’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe addressed Manchester United’s women’s team this month as the Professional Footballers’ Association investigates ‘growing discontent’ regarding the team’s management.

INEOS-lead Ratcliffe took charge at United in February this year after his stake was ratified by Premier League authorities.

Since then, major changes have been made behind the scenes. Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox have agreed deals to become chief executive and technical director, respectively, while Dan Ashworth is expected to become the sporting director.

Erik ten Hag is also set to be offered a new contract by the club, with Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake expected to join as new members of his coaching staff.

Ratcliffe has also started to make changes to the men’s team building at Carrington. The £50 million project aims to produce’ a world-class football facility’.

However, the women’s team has not moved much. Manager Marc Skinner signed a new one-year deal, but there is still major doubt surrounding his longer-term future.

It has also been reported that the women’s team will be moved into portable buildings at the club’s Carrington training complex this season to allow the men’s squad to use the new women’s building that was built last summer.

After winning the FA Cup last term for the first time in their history, the women’s team were unable to celebrate at the club’s annual end-of-season awards ceremony as it was cancelled.

It was communicated that this was due to the fact that Ten Hag’s men needed to focus and prepare for their own FA Cup final – which they ended up winning against the odds versus Manchester City – although it was claimed that women’s team players found out about the news when it broke on social media.

This has all led to ‘growing discontent’ regarding the club’s management of the women’s team, and the Professional Footballers’ Association are ready to seek conversations with those at United after being made aware of the situation, as The Athletic revealed this week.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg this month, Ratcliffe was asked about his plans for the women’s team

“Well, they’ve just won the FA Cup,” responded United’s new co-owner. “We haven’t gone into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet.

“We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues in that environment, and that’s been pretty full-time for the first six months.”

Then, when asked whether the plans for the female side of the club are TBC, he said, “Correct”. The 71-year-old has received backlash following those comments.