Manchester United have decided to call off their end of season awards gala dinner for the third time in four years after the poor performance of the men’s team
Manchester United have cancelled the club’s end of season awards dinner after the dismal performance of the men’s team.
Traditionally United hold a huge gala dinner at Old Trafford for the men’s, women’s and youth teams at the end of each campaign, with awards handed out to the best performers of the season, including the Sir Matt Busby player of the year gong.
But with Ruben Amorim’s flops down in 16th place in the Premier League, it has been decided that an awards night is not appropriate this time around, despite United taking part in the Europa League final against Tottenham next Wednesday.
United’s women finished third in the WSL, qualifying for the Champions League, while United’s youngsters finished fifth in Premier League 2 and their under 18s finished second in their league.
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Instead of the dinner it is expected that the awards will be handed out on the Old Trafford pitch prior to the club’s final Premier League game of the season at home to Aston Villa.
Skipper Bruno Fernandes is the overwhelming favourite for the player of the year award, which he could win for a record-equalling fourth time.
It is the third time in the last four seasons that a planned dinner has been cancelled, with United also feeling it wasn’t appropriate to hold it after Erik ten Hag’s side finished eighth in the league last season. They did however then go on to win the FA Cup.
The players also opted to cancel the dinner at the end of the 2021-22 season, when they finished sixth with 58 points in a campaign which saw the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United have just 39 points from their 36 Premier League games this season having suffered 17 defeats. They are guaranteed to finish in their lowest position in Premier League history, with Amorim repeatedly criticising his squad since he arrived as Ten Hag’s replacement in November.
A report from The Times also states that internally the idea of a lavish dinner would not go down well after United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe embarked on a ruthless cost-cutting drive this year, reducing staff numbers by around 400.
United are also due to head to Malaysia for a post-season friendly tour immediately after the Villa game on May 25.
They are hoping to bank around £8m from matches against an Asian All-Star XI and a Hong Kong XI.
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