Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been blasted after cutting funding for a charity helping former players.
The billionaire, who pumped a further £79million into the Red Devils this month, has slashed the £40,000 annual charity contribution for club legends.
The 72-year-old has overseen several controversial cost-cutting initiatives since investing £1.2bn for a 27.7 per cent stake in United.
Ratcliffe and the revamped Old Trafford board were labelled ‘utterly disgusting’ for hiking ticket prices by £26 at the start of December.
United were also revealed to have asked local rivals Man City if they could transport their stars to the Ballon d’Or ceremony to save the expense of hiring their own private jet for the glitzy do in Paris.
This comes after the decision was made to axe Sir Alex Ferguson from his long-serving paid ambassadorial role at the club – which saw Old Trafford legend Eric Cantona lead the protests.
Now another group of ex-Reds with the Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP) has hit out at the club’s latest penny-pinching scheme.
AFMUP, which was set up in 1985, counts former skipper Bryan Robson, Denis Law, Brian Kidd, and Denis Irwin among its 300 members.
United donated £40,000 each year so that the trust could support players from previous eras before the wealth of the Premier League.
AFMUP trustee Jim Elms, who was on the books at United’s youth team and reserves from 1957 to 1960, claimed the non-profit had not received the last two quarterly payments of £10k.
The 84-year-old told The Sun: “We sent a letter to say we’ve not been paid. Nobody came out and told us so we had to send another letter. That’s when we started hearing things that it was going to be the end of us.”
Elms revealed that United’s chief executive Omar Berrada broke the news of the funding cut over the phone in the days before Christmas.
5
5
“Omar was non-committal. He’s going to meet us again in January but he said he couldn’t see it changing,” he added.
“He didn’t seem to think that we were a necessity.”
Jim, of Bramhall, Cheshire, added: “We’ve ran it since 1985. Keeping the old players together. Looking after the ones that couldn’t pay for funerals. I just can’t understand them myself. It’s ridiculous.
“We give away around £10-20,000 to charity, mostly children’s charities in the local area.
“We’ve had £20,000 this year but not the rest of it.”
Reacting to the news with Natalie Sawyer and Tony Casacarino, talkSPORT presenter Angelina Kelly did not hold back.
5
5
Speaking on Saturday Breakfast, she said: “This is an organisation that helps a lot of ex-footballers who weren’t maybe earning the type of money that you see footballers earning now.
“They also help with things like funding funerals for former players whose families maybe can’t afford it.
“They actually have these events a Old Trafford – they rent the space and pay for it, they also donate to children’s charities, so, again, from a PR perspective, it’s disgusting really when you look at it and the way all this has been handled is just horrendous.”
Kelly continued: “£40,000 is a drop in the ocean when you’ve got players on £350,000-a-week, it’s just so so disappointing!”
talkSPORT pair Sawyer and Cascarino both agreed, with the former adding: “They’re stripping the soul out really from the fans.
“Even then they’re trying to price them out with some of the ridiculous ticket charges, it’s unbelievable!”