Manchester United to axe up to 200 more jobs as part of ‘transformation’ plans

Manchester United will make a further 200 job cuts, it announced this afternoon, in a bid to balance its books.

These will be on top of the 250 redundancies already made last year.

The club told staff of the cuts at a meeting in Old Trafford this afternoon (February 24). It said the cull is a bid to “transform its corporate structure as part of a series of additional measures to improve the club’s financial sustainability and enhance operational efficiency”.

Last week the club released its interim results which showed  revenues of £341.8m, down from £382.9m the previous year, and a pre-tax loss of £32.889m, compared with a £5.585m pre-tax loss for the same period a year ago.

The report also revealed that United paid out £14.5m to terminate the contracts of former men’s first team manager, Erik ten Hag and his team, and former sporting director, Dan Ashworth.

Minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos group is now responsible for business and playing affairs since acquiring its stake a year ago.

Ratcliffe has been behind a swathe of cost cutting measures, including ending the £2m-a-year ambassadorial payment to former manager, Alex Ferguson.

Ticket concessions for pensioners and junior members have also been terminated.

Reports today also claimed the club is axing free staff meals at Old Trafford and at its training ground, other than for players.. 

United said its transformation plan aims to return the club to profitability after five consecutive years of losses since 2019. It said this will create a more solid financial platform from which the club can invest in men’s and women’s football success and improved infrastructure.

As part of these measures, the club anticipates that approximately 150-200 jobs may be made redundant, subject to a consultation process with employees.

Omar Berrada

Omar Berrada, Manchester United CEO, said: “We have a responsibility to put Manchester United in the strongest position to win across our men’s, women’s and academy teams.

“We are initiating a wide-ranging series of measures which will transform and renew the club. Unfortunately, this means announcing further potential redundancies and we deeply regret the impact on those affected colleagues. However, these hard choices are necessary to put the club back on a stable financial footing.”

He added: “We have lost money for the past five consecutive years. This cannot continue. Our two main priorities as a club are delivering success on the pitch for our fans and improving our facilities. We cannot invest in these objectives if we are continuously losing money.

“At the end of this process, we will have a more lean, agile and financially sustainable football club, while continuing to provide a world class service to our valuable commercial partners.

“We will then be in a much stronger position to invest in football success and improved facilities for fans, while remaining compliant with UEFA and Premier League regulations.”