Manchester United supporters’ group says fans must not “pay the price” for the club’s financial “mismanagement” after the Red Devils announced revenues decreased by 12 percent in the last financial quarter.
The club announced on Wednesday that revenues had dropped to £198.7m for the final three months of 2024, down from £225.8m for the same period 12 months previously.
Overall, the club made an operating profit of £3.1m – down from £27.5m over the same period in 2023 – after spending £14.5m on the sackings of Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff, including the £4.1m cost of hiring and then dismissing former sporting director Dan Ashworth within five months.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of the club making over 200 redundancies and raising matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners.
United wrote to supporters in January to say “difficult” decisions would need to be taken as the club was “close” to breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.
The club did not deny reports that it is seeking to make further redundancies when approached by BBC Sport earlier this month.
It is expected by United that the restructuring decisions will lead to savings of between £30m and £40m.
“Fans should not pay the price for a problem that starts with our crippling debt interest payments and is exacerbated by a decade or more of mismanagement,” said Manchester United Supporters’ Trust in a statement.
“It’s time to freeze ticket prices and allow everyone – players, management, owners and fans – to get behind United and restore this club to where it belongs.”
Revenues down 12%, from £225.8m to £198.7m. Broadcast revenue down 42%, from £106.4m to £61.6m. Operating profit down 88.7%, from £27.5m to £3.1m. Commercial revenue up 18.5%, from £71.8m to £85.1m.
£14.5m spent on sacking of Erik ten Hag and his coaching staff, including £4.1m on hiring then firing of former director Dan Ashworth
Club debt up from £506.6m to £515.7m. They owe £414m on transfer fees to other clubs.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire pointed out that United have now paid more than £1bn in interest repayments on the debt used to finance the 2005 Glazer family takeover.
He said the FA Cup win last season, which resulted in Europa League football, has “saved their bacon”, and that winning the Europa League this season “should be the focus” to bring Champions League football back to Old Trafford.
Maguire said: “A good season in the Champions League can be worth far in excess of £100m. By the time you combine gate receipts, sponsor bonuses and the prize money available, the numbers involved are eye-watering.
“Europa League should be the focus. Winning that competition will give them far more flexibility in 2025-26.”
The main driver of United’s decrease in revenues was the drop in broadcast revenues.
The club said this was down to United’s men’s first team playing in the Europa League compared to the Champions League in the 2023-24 season.
Now led by Ruben Amorim, United sit a lowly 15th in the Premier League table but are through to the Europa League knockout stages, as well as the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Overall, the club made a quarterly operating profit of £3.1m, which was down from £27.5m over the same period in 2023, but United said club debt increased from £506.6m to £515.7m because of “unfavourable” exchange rate changes.
Included in the results is a £14.5m ‘exceptional item’ figure, made up of the £10.4m spent on sacking Ten Hag and his coaching staff in October and £4.1m for the departure of Ashworth in December.
Commercial revenue was up 18.5% from £71.8m to £85.1m, as a result of the front-of-shirt partnership with Snapdragon.
“We recognise the challenges in improving our men’s team’s league position and we are all working hard, collectively, to achieve that,” said Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive officer.
Berrada said the club’s redevelopment of the training ground was “on track”.
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The £11m cost of appointing new head coach Amorim and his staff is not specifically mentioned in United’s latest financial results.
United sources say that cost is being spread over their two-and-a-half-year contracts.
The club paid the sum to activate Amorim’s release clause at Portuguese outfit Sporting while he was under contract and with the 2024-25 season under way.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, United’s co-owner, has a 28.94% stake in the club through his Ineos group.
The British billionaire has sought a number of cost-cutting measures in order to help the club to comply with profit and sustainability rules.
Under profit and sustainability rules (PSR), clubs can record a maximum loss of £105m over a three-year reporting period.
United’s losses over the past five years total over £370m, but some costs – such as infrastructure costs, youth development and community spending – do not count towards PSR calculations.
Since Ratcliffe’s investment was announced in December 2023, United have made about 250 staff redundant.
The club made two men’s team signings in the January transfer window, with Patrick Dorgu arriving from Lecce and Ayden Heaven joining from Arsenal.
Marcus Rashford, Antony and Tyrell Malacia all left United on loan.
However, transfer activity in January is not included in the latest financial results as it falls outside the quarterly timeframe.
