Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS firm that he leads acquired a 25% stake in Manchester United this winter, and since the deal closed we’ve seen a lot of changes in the front office. As part of purchasing a quarter of MUFC, Ratcliffe/INEOS now have full control over the football operations.
INEOS have taken some power away from the Glazers, and that is a good thing for Manchester United supporters everywhere.
FA Cup Semifinal FYIs
Coventry City vs Manchester United
Kick: Sun. Apr. 21, 3:30 pm, Wembley Stadium, London, UK
Man United Preview Material: Starting XI Prediction Team News
Fun Fact: United has a form guide against Coventry City that looks like this in their last 15 (W13L2)
They actually seem to know what they’re doing when it comes to building a winning program, unlike a specific Florida based family of real estate moguls. Come July, you will have three new key figures in place, at critical positions near the top of the organization.
Thanks to Ratcliffe and INEOS, Omar Berrada will be the new CEO, former Newcastle United front office man Dan Ashworth will assume the Director of Football role (once his whole “gardening leave” period has passed) and Jason Wilcox starts on as Technical Director.
According to various reports, a new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer could be installed as well. Meanwhile current Sporting Director John Murtaugh (who very badly botched the Mason Greenwood situation) is on his way out.
Darren Fletcher may not have a future at the club either.
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Jason Wilcox as our new Technical Director.#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 19, 2024
And certainly not in the Technical Director role.
Sir Dave Brailsford, the right hand man of Ratcliffe and the head sports guy at INEOS ,is leading this revamp. He’ll be the guy to make the call on the next moves too.
What does it mean for United manager Erik ten Hag?
Hard to say, but we’ll cover that in the next post.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Twitter.