Man Utd to axe 200 jobs today as morale hits rock bottom

Rumours last night's barbecue saw players scuffling to
get hold of the one bottle of ketchup before Luke Shaw.

Manchester United have told some staff working at their Carrington training ground that they will lose their jobs in the second round of redundancies since Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought into the club last year.

Club insiders say the actual process, which could lead to 200 staff losing their jobs, has been ongoing for a number of weeks, with most staff already aware if they are to remain at the club or not.

However, BBC Sport has been told some staff connected to the first team were not informed of their fate until Friday so that preparations for Wednesday's Europa League final against Tottenham were not disrupted.

It is anticipated that the sports science, medical and scouting departments will be among the areas that could be affected, with up to 200 jobs set to go.

Now the game is out of the way, staff in the affected areas are being informed. Sources claim those staff had earlier been told their positions would be clarified at a later date.

It means in cases of specific roles in those areas being cut back, staff affected are being told whether they are to remain at United or not.

Morale around the club is said to be at a low ebb given this latest news has come so soon after the defeat by Tottenham in the Europa League final.

Club sources are adamant the timescale for the redundancies has not changed.

United had about 1,100 employees before the first wave of cuts last year.

About 250 employees were made redundant during the first round of redundancies, saving the club between £8m and £10m.

United chief executive Omar Berrada said earlier this year that between 150 and 200 redundancies were set to follow.

Defeat in Bilbao means United will be without European football next season for only the second time since 1990, leaving a £100m hole in the club's finances.

Ratcliffe has embarked on a series of cost-cutting initiatives since purchasing a minority stake in the club in February 2024.

Club ambassadors, including Sir Alex Ferguson, have had their roles reprised, while a canteen for staff was closed and replaced with the offer of free fruit.

Ratcliffe and fellow co-owner Avram Glazer attended Wednesday's final in Bilbao, with Ferguson pictured alongside them.

Sources have told BBC Sport that a number of cars were driven to Bilbao before the final for the use of Ratcliffe and senior club officials during their time in Spain.

The club stuck to plans to hold a barbecue for the first-team squad and family members at Carrington following the defeat by Spurs.

But the latest cutbacks come against a bleak financial backdrop, with United losing more than £370m over the past five years. According to their 2024 accounts, they owe £313m in outstanding transfer payments to other clubs.

THERES BEEN AN ACTUIAL SCIENCE BEHIND HOW UTD PLAY, Jesus Christ on a bike its worse than even the most ardent l,pool fan thought

when they all got told they were going to watch the match on a big screen rather than being flown out, i'd imagine many of them guessed the reason

they pushed the announcement back until after the final and now they're hoping by the start of next season it'll have settled down

suspect they've lost the goodwill of those they keep given the way they have been treated, coupled with the money wasted on the likes of players that have proved to be gash and ashworths costs you can hardly blame them for being angry

Any business with 1100 members of staff and they can get rid of 450 staff does probably mean they where overstaffed to start with.

How many business give staff free lunches.

A lot of the so called penny pinching is in fact common sense.

Maybe he has gone a bit overboard, eg moving the youth team final away from Old Trafford to save £8k.

All of that is right, the problem comes when it is done whilst other decisions like handing ETH a deal after trying to get rid only to get rid a couple months later and the Ashworth debacle which cost millions are done alongside the redundancies.

i don't disagree with you but reading between the lines i think it's the way they have handled it and how many long serving people that are devoted to the club are being treated

to maleuk sry

Agree with both, some awful decisions re ETH contract, Ashworth all costing millions. That has made the other cost cutting look like penny pinching in comparison.

It is sad when so many lose there jobs and probably some very good staff.

But if they can get rid of 450 out of 1100 how many of them have had very cushy numbers while not doing much. I suggest quite a lot.

Getting rid of one bang-average player would save them more money than the 200 jobs going.

Most of them on the pitch.

1000 of those employees are probably averaging £25k a year. £25m total wages to them. Rashford is on about £15m, plenty not far behind. Puts it in to perspective imo.

Turnover roughly £700m. Google says a firm that size would have about 1000 employees.

Without comparing what other clubs staff levels in similar positions are amongst the highest payers of the last 10 years it's impossible to judge the worth or otherwise of the cost trimming...could be excessive may just reflect a massively bloated un-checked growing waste going on..

don't recall any articles about other clubs in this area of course..or any even comparative articles to justify the merit or otherwise..not many headlines in that..

the club has been badly mismanaged for years plus the glazers milking it has finally caught up, i'm fully with any business that needs to make changes but it isn't easy for staff to accept when the very people that have caused their redundancy are still there reaping the profits and making them pay for it

i bet if you aske ineos if they could turn the clock back they wouldn't go near that deal to buy a stake in utd

and the Glazers may well wish they'd taken the sheikh bid..one of the few consolations..

brentford, why do you think the utd fanbase have not fully gone for the glazer out protests and a concerted campaign to get them to sell?

There's only about 10,00 of the support that would be involved in that and to be fair they've been extremely vocal since before the deal was even done (Glazer takeover)..plenty of tourists and casual support elements that just aren't at all engaged in that stuff..

so the very reason they are a big club (in a commercial sense) means that the glazers can hide from the mess behind ineos and neither ineos or the real fans can do much to shift them

think that sums it up about perfectly tbf elise..

but be assured all these things will be coming to other 'big' clubs and indeed not so big without better systems to protect clubs..

yes, can think of a few that are being badly managed one way or another, in some ways football would be better for a rest on wages, values and what tv etc means fans have to pay

reset on wages sry

Not much you can do to get rid of owners in it for publicity
and self enrichment

See halls, shepherds, and ashleys

Just hope new owner arrives who wants a better footballing outcome.

DOGE didn't need 1000,s of people they sacked till they were begging for them to return a month later, its end of season/close season,lets wait till September to see if they were needed or not