Manchester United’s ‘new’ sporting director Dan Ashworth only made the move to Old Trafford back in July and now, just five months later, he has officially left by ‘mutual agreement’.
Announced over the weekend, not only did the news come much to the surprise of United fans but given that his appointment was confirmed long before his start date, Ashworth actually spent almost just as long not quite having joined the club as he did on the job. Sounds messy, we know – because it is.
In short, both Newcastle and now Manchester United’s 53-year-old ex-sporting director was placed on gardening leave back in February after a clear approach by what would be his short-lived new home.
They also paid the North East side a large sum to secure his services – far from a measly number when you consider where else they’ve pinched pennies this year…
INEOS at Manchester United:
– Got rid of Dan Ashworth after five months having had him on gardening leave for the same amount of time. Oh and paid £3 million for him.
– Put ticket prices up to £66 for everyone, including children and pensioners.
To put things into context, while in footballing terms £3 million might not sound like a lot of money (the industry being as overinflated as it is), when you take into account what that money could have gone towards, it doesn’t necessarily make for great reading.
Oh yeah, you also have to tot up how much he was paid as his regular wage during a five-month stint in which even more money was spent on players and those hoping to grab a ticket to one of the remaining games this season (we’re not even in Christmas yet) were asked to fork of £66 for the privilege.
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The technical director for the FA’s elite development programme will have likely been on a higher wage in Manchester than he was in Newcastle, where he is said to have taken home around £1.5m a year, and probably notched a good chunk of that amount in less than half a year.
Even operating on the assumption that the INEOS Group matched his rate at St James’ Park, this means that he will have made at the very least an estimated £625k since switching Uniteds.
Add that on top of The Times‘ claims that the actual compensation figure Jim Ratcliffe and co. paid to release him from his previous role were actually upwards of the reported figure, then you’re looking at something closer to over £5m for as many months of work.
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Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth left his role after just five months.
Just as a reminder, roughly £200m has been spent on new players since Ashworth took up the position and 250 staff members were made redundant from various roles throughout the club, which was also said to have tacked on another £8.6m to the overall expenditure.
Although exact details are still yet to be fully verified, Ashworth and the new United hierarchy have clearly clashed: it is thought he was lumped with the decision to keep Erik ten Hag and extend his contract before his eventual sacking and also made clear suggestions as to his replacement.
It is also thought Ashworth had tipped other frontrunners to replace the Dutchman instead of new head coach Ruben Amorim, who CEO Omar Berrada to tie down before his former employers Manchester City could line up as Pep Guardiola’s eventual successor.
Whatever ultimately comes out in the wash, we think it’s fair to say it all sounds like a bit of a shambles and the atmosphere around the club – especially following the recent protests over increased ticket prices – looks to be less than rosy once again.
One thing is for sure, like most of those who have attempted since Sir Alex Ferguson, the new manager has walked into a much bigger task than he could have ever predicted and given the Ashworth developments, recent sackings and fan frustration on multiple fronts, United could really do with a win.
Featured Images — BT Sport (screenshot via YouTube)
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A documentary about Manchester’s famous homeless charity run has just dropped on YouTube
Danny Jones
An award-winning, short, and completely free documentary about Manchester’s famous annual homeless charity run is now available to watch in its entirety on YouTube.
Following a number of short snippets and teasers shared on social media over the last few months, the mini-doc by local moviemaker Gigi Shum was finally released on the streaming platform this past June.
Documenting not only the backstory of the inspiring Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness – now a much-loved annual tradition that has since spread to multiple other locations – it also gives a peek behind the curtain at those who organise it and the thousands of inspirational participants.
You can watch one of the most recent trailers here.
Capturing the sixth edition of the consecutive relay run, which spans the length of an entire day (which was another record-breaking year before being smashed in November 2025), Shum didn’t shy away from getting some laps done herself, but she also managed to shoot a truly important public access film.
A trail runner herself with a number of other works to her name already, including a well-supported Kickstarter revolving around neurodiversity, Gigi prides herself on “exploring the neglected truth in the world” through touching tales like The 24 Hour Run.
The adopted Manc and MetFilm School graduate’s roots may hail from Hong Kong, but she’s well and truly immersed and embedded herself in the Greater Manchester community through spotlighting local initiatives like this.
More importantly, this is much more than a student project: the bitesize 21:22 picture has been nominated and won at numerous festivals across the globe, including shortlists like the Florence Film Awards, a finalist in both the Independent Shorts and LEEDSflix competitions, among several others.
Aside from the obvious humanitarian and charitable angle of The 24 Hour Run‘s narrative, the talking heads with members of the team and numerous inspiring runners taking on incredible challenges on behalf of the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme make you proud to be from this part of the world.
You can watch it in full down below.
About the same run-time as most sitcom episodes – we’d argue this is a well more worthwhile watch.
Deeply moving stuff, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Speaking after a limited number of exclusive screenings, Gigi told The Manc: “What began as a question about why people run through the night transformed into an exploratory journey of human resilience, community, and active compassion on the streets of Manchester.”
It’s also worth mentioning that the young director and producer is doing lots more to contribute to the region, helping out as part of the Manchester Refugee Support Network (MRSN), supporting asylum seekers who may otherwise end up sleeping rough themselves.
They’ve raised hundreds of thousands for the likes of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity since the event’s inception back in 2019. Mayor Andy Burnham himself may be looking toward no.10 Downing Street moving forward, but fundraising on behalf of this organisation will always be a part of his legacy.
Better still, this dedicated crew of volunteers have also generated vital funds for similar causes in the likes of Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Hereford, and soon to be even more.
Set to debut in Liverpool later this year, another city renowned for backing themselves and looking after their own, we can’t wait to see how much more impact they make on the North West.
Featured Images — The MCR 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness (supplied)
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Government grants pubs permission to stay open until 5am for England’s next World Cup match
Emily Sergeant
Pubs across the country are being granted permission to stay open until the early hours of the morning on Sunday.
As England’s World Cup journey continues, the Three Lions are set to face Mexico in a Round of 16 knock-out match at the Azteca Stadium on Sunday night, but due to time differences between the two countries, this means that kick-off will be at 1am GMT here – a time when pubs are closed, and let’s face it, a lot of us are already in bed ready for work the next day.
But, in what is set to be a big ‘boost’ for pubs and bars – and football fans – nationwide, the Government has given permission for alcohol licensing hours to be extended for Sunday night’s match.
The Home Secretary has the legislative power to extend licensing hours on occasions of ‘exceptional international, national or local significance’, so this change removes the need for individual premises to apply for extended hours.
This extension to 5am adds to the already-granted extensions for England’s knock-out games that kicked off up until 10pm.
Communities Secretary Steve Reed is set to write to Council leaders across the country to inform them of these changes.
“Football might be coming home but we’re making sure fans don’t have to,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an emphatic statement.
Pubs are allowed to stay open until 5am on Sunday / Credit: Road to Victory | We Are Football (Supplied)
“Pubs staying open until the final whistle is good news for supporters and good news for the pubs and venues that bring our communities together. The whole country will be backing the team. Come on England.”
Michael Kill, who is the CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), said the extension is ‘fantastic news’ that will be ‘hugely welcomed’ by operators.
He continued: ““This pragmatic approach allows venues to focus on what matters most – bringing communities together to support the national team.
Danny Jones -
9th December 2024 
