Dan Ashworth will leave Old Trafford after chiefs at Manchester United ruthlessly decided to sack the highly-rated sporting director after just five months in the role
Manchester United’s women’s team have been left deflated by the shock exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Ashworth, 53, was confirmed to be leaving Old Trafford on Sunday, just five months after completing his period of gardening leave with Newcastle, as United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe spent months pursuing his services. Ratcliffe had described the ex-FA chief as a ’10 out of 10 sporting director’ but club chiefs pulled the trigger following a series of behind-the-scenes disagreements.
In Ashworth’s surprise departure, United are understood to have lost a passionate supporter of the women’s game. The 53-year-old was heavily responsible for the FA investing huge amounts of money into the women’s football and was influential in Newcastle achieving back-to-back promotions to the Women’s Championship.
United’s women’s team, who are currently third in the WSL, saw Ashworth as an important ally within the club’s hierarchy, along with new chief executive Omar Berrada. According to one club source, via the Telegraph, there’s a ‘sense of deflation’ following Ashworth’s exit.
The report comes days after Ratcliffe made fresh comments about the women’s team during an interview with fanzine United We Stand. “If not, you get spread too thinly. We need to sort out the main issue – the men’s team. The women’s team is an opportunity,” the INEOS chairman, who owns 27.7 per cent of United, explained.
“Women’s football is growing really quickly in popularity and size. We need to participate in that. The girls wear a Manchester United badge on their shirt and they’re representing the club.”
Ratcliffe, who’s made a series of ruthless cost cuts as co-owner, also said earlier in the year: “We haven’t got into that level of detail with the women’s team yet. We’ve been pretty much focused on how we resolve the first team issues… The men’s team make £800million, the women’s team cost £10m.”
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It was reported that Ratcliffe’s latest comments didn’t go down well, although boss Marc Skinner told the Halfway Line: “For us, we can only comment on the things that are in place and that we see every day. I see nothing but love for our team in this environment, and I genuinely feel that our players feel that.
“I know our club are working hard right now to identify the right structure for what it builds for not only the women’s team, but the men’s team and the academies. So we’re all working hard, we are new into that structure.” Skinner added: “There is no distraction from our players, our players will focus fully on what we need to do.
“But I can only say that when I walk into the building, I can feel the energy and the love from everybody. So that’s what we work from, we can only work on our controllables, and the rest will fold out in the future.”
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