Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim decided to pay for tickets to the Europa League final for the family and friends of his staff after the club refused to provide complimentary tickets
Ruben Amorim has reached into his own pocket to counteract Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting crusade at Manchester United by buying Europa League final tickets for his staff.
United play Tottenham in Bilbao on May 21 in a shoot-out for much-needed silverware and a place in next season’s Champions League. But while 15,000 United fans will be inside the San Mames next Wednesday, many family and friends of Amorim’s support staff had been set to miss out.
Ratcliffe has proved an unpopular presence at the top of the club since taking charge last February, with his penny pinching and job cuts demoralising staff. But the petrochemicals billionaire has remained unbowed in his quest to turn around the financial mess at the club and told staff there would be no complimentary tickets for the biggest game of United’s season.
ESPN reports that Amorim’s coaches, physios and support team were told that they would have to pay for their own tickets for family and friends. The official reason is that the club wanted to ensure that as many as possible of United’s allocation went to supporters.
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But Amorim decided to step in and undercut Ratcliffe’s directive, quickly telling 30 of his staff that he would personally fork out for their tickets. The United head coach has endured a largely miserable first six months in charge and wants to reward his staff.
Amorim brought several of his staff from Sporting Lisbon with him to Manchester and needs to keep them close heading into a pivotal summer. The 40-year-old has admitted his United side are “maybe the worst” in the club’s 147-year history but knows victory over Spurs will change the narrative.
United’s players have been allocated two tickets each, but family and friends who do make the trip will do so at their own cost, with INEOS refusing to pay for their travel. It is the continuation of a strong theme of the Ratcliffe era, with a barbecue reportedly planned instead of a parade if they win in Bilbao.
The 72-year-old, who has a personal wealth of £12.3billion according to Forbes, has made headlines for making what he believes are unpopular but necessary cuts at United. He has cancelled the Christmas party, reduced ticket allocations and benefits for the FA Cup final and made hundreds of staff redundant.
With United sitting 16th in the Premier League following their 2-0 defeat by West Ham on Sunday, the club have cancelled their end-of-season awards dinner at Old Trafford. That decision is understood to have been taken due to the lack of success on the pitch, rather than to save money, but it is indicative of the direction of travel under Ratcliffe’s stewardship.
“Manchester United has become mediocre,” Ratcliffe said earlier in the season. “It is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. We have to make some difficult and unpopular decisions. If you shy away from the difficult decisions, then nothing much is going to change.
“I know we get criticism in the press, but we do need to challenge the cost of running this club because what I want to be free for us to do is buy really good footballers, not spend so much of the money on infrastructure. We can’t run a business at a loss, which is where United have been in the last couple of years.”
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