Manchester United staff are fearful of what measures the ownership may take if they lose the Europa League final and miss out on Champions League revenue given they’ve already culled hundreds of employees
Manchester United employees are fearful of more cuts should the club lose the Europa League final next week. Defeat to Tottenham in Bilbao would be another blow on the pitch, but also see the club miss out on £100million of Champions League revenue.
The club’s hierarchy, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, have already proved how ruthless they’re prepared to be in an effort to bring down costs. 250 jobs were made redundant last summer and a further 200 are facing the chop.
The dire situation on the pitch has seen United fall to 16th in the Premier League, but they can go someway to salvaging their season in a week when they face Tottenham, where silverware a huge financial rewards will be at stake.
But staff, having seen colleagues lost jobs as well as a number of their benefits taken away from them, are fearful that the INEOS bosses will want to find more ways to ease the financial burden should they lose the final.
A source told The Sun: “People say the environment is horrible to work in. Everyone is dispirited and looking over their shoulder. There’s no enthusiasm. I can’t imagine what it would be like if they don’t beat Spurs.”
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Ahead of the Ratcliffe has again shown how tight he’s prepared to be with the pennies – he has opted against handing free Europa League final tickets to staff members. Employees won’t be rewarded with complimentary tickets – which is in stark contrast to the decisions taken by Tottenham.
The club are holding a ballot where a small number of tickets will be available for their staff. They have chosen to host a screening for the majority of staff closer to home with the invite open to plus-ones. Staff will be given two free drinks – but their guests will have to pay for theirs.
Ratcliffe has continued to defend the decisions he’s taken, which include increasing ticket prices and ridding of concession fees. He said on The Overlap: “Change requires some unpopular decisions. I think I have to accept that I’m going to be unpopular. I don’t know how long I’m going to be unpopular, maybe I’ll be unpopular for a long period time.
“But I think it’s worth being unpopular to fight our way through the changes that are necessary to get Manchester United back to where it should be and hopefully the attitude will change a bit if we come out the other side with a successful outcome.”
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