Paul Scholes insists ‘nothing positive’ has transpired at Manchester United since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival at the club.
INEOS and its CEO Ratcliffe became co-owners of Manchester United last February and took over control of their football operations.
However, the Red Devils’ performances on and off the field have caused quite a stir since Ratcliffe’s arrival.
Under former boss Erik ten Hag, United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, their lowest-ever finish in the top flight.
Ratcliffe oversaw a surprise contract extension for Ten Hag after the FA Cup final upset over Manchester City, only to sack him in October as the club languished in 14th with just 11 points from nine games.
Ten Hag’s came after Ratcliffe signed off on a summer spending spree north of £183million, with a handful of those signings still yet to convince.
Ratcliffe has also stirred plenty of controversy off the field, with a swathe of redundancies across the board as well as cutting Christmas bonuses for staff members.
The club is also set to cut funding to its charitable arm, the Manchester United Foundation.
Ticket prices at Old Trafford have also been raised up to £66 per game with no concessions for children or pensioners.
It is an increase on the original prices, which were set at £40 for adults and £25 for children.
The issue of rising ticket prices in today’s climate was the topic of discussion on the latest episode of The Overlap’s Fan Debate.
Scholes took the opportunity to tear into Ratcliffe and felt he, and several other key decision-makers at other clubs when it comes to ticket pricing, ‘don’t care about poking the bear’.
“I keep going back to our club and you think of Jim Ratcliffe,” Scholes said.
“Confesses he’s a Man United fan, from Failsworth. Again, I’ll say, what’s he doing?
“If he was a United fan and he went to United all the time, there’s nothing positive happening within the football club. The team look bang average, as the position in the league would say.
“As I said before, they’re not doing anything for the fans. They’re making it worse.
“We talk about all these American owners, we’ve got Jim Ratcliffe who is supposed to be a United fan from Failsworth, an area in Manchester, and he’s still hiking prices up.
“It just shows there’s no care.”
The Overlap – YouTubeScholes tore into Ratcliffe over his call to raise ticket prices at Old Trafford[/caption]
As a co-owner of League Two side Salford City, Scholes has taken a vastly different approach when it comes to ticket prices.
Salford is owned by Project 92 Limited, with Red Devils legends Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Phil and Gary Neville as well as Singaporean businessman Peter Lim all involved.
Granted, the operating costs of United and Salford City are vastly different.
But when it comes to ticket prices, Scholes and his former United teammates knew from the very beginning they wanted the Salford City experience to ‘be affordable’.
“Now look, it’s not on the level of these Premier League clubs, we know that,” Scholes said.
“But we know Salford isn’t the wealthiest of areas in and around Manchester, as you’ll see with Manchester United with their ticket prices. There’s some very deprived areas, so we try to make it as affordable as we can.”
For the 24/25 League Two season, a fan who renewed their season ticket to Salford in their North and South Stands would pay £250, which works out to £10.87 per game.
Scholes pointed out a number of Salford’s League Two rivals ‘charge £20, £25 to go and watch them’, underlining the importance the club places on making it an affordable experience.
“I think it’s a big part of what we’re trying to do,” Scholes said.
“We could all add money onto it to make money and to make our finances better and losses not as much as they should be.
“But we choose to allow fans the chance to come and watch. OK, it’s League Two, but I still think people will enjoy it.”