When I met Sir Jim Ratcliffe, he did something at Manchester United that made the Glazers look bad

Mr. Andy Green, who is in charge of money at the Manchester United Supporters Trust, talked about the new partial owner.

For almost 20 years, Manchester United fans have been told nothing by the team’s owners. They feel like things are about to change.

A deal to buy a small part of Manchester United was finally finalized in December. Last month, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the founder of INEOS and a British billionaire, got his £1.3bn deal for 27.7% of the club approved.

The purchase of a minority stake may not have seemed to have much of an effect at first because the unpopular Glazer family still owned the majority of shares. However, the fact that Ratcliffe was given control over football and strategy for what happens at Old Trafford gave people reason to be hopeful, even if the Glazers stayed in their positions.

Ratcliffe has been in the news lately talking about what he thinks Manchester United should be like in the next few years. He hits all the right notes with jokes about “knocking Liverpool and Manchester City off their perches” and making Old Trafford the national stadium for the north.

United has had to deal with a lack of communication from ownership during the Glazers’ time in charge. Being able to talk to those at the top has been very helpful, and Ratcliffe has already done more in one day to build relationships with fans than the US owners could in almost 20 years.

According to Andy Green, finance head of the Manchester United Supporters Trust, the Glazers didn’t talk to the fans for 20 years. He said this on the first day of the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London. There was talk with the Fan Advisory Board after the Super League.

“Now, of course, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is a part-owner.” I got to know him. In one day, he met with more fans than the Glazers had done during their whole reign.

Ratcliffe started getting involved with fans, and Green thinks it is “negligent” for club owners not to have that kind of conversation with fans, who always support the team and create the atmosphere at grounds that makes them so appealing to broadcasters.

He said, “Clubs are crazy if they don’t interact with fans, especially fans who go to games.” There is a mutually beneficial connection between the fans in the stadium and the club. The goals are the same. Fans don’t like being associated with the “brand,” but they are associated with it and the TV show.

“A loud, noisy stadium full of the right fans who care, make noise, and come out in good times and bad is important, and the club would be negligent to ignore that.” Without a doubt, things have gotten a lot better at United.