Sport

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his stake in Manchester United

It's worth noting that the INEOS board have had a controversial few months, to say the least.

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 19th December 2024

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has increased his investment in Manchester United Football Club, taking his current stake from 27.7% to 28.94%.

The Failsworth-born billionaire officially became a minority shareholder in Man United earlier this year, bringing in the Sports arm of his INEOS petrochemical company and plenty of new personnel with him following an initial £1.25 billion acquisition which saw him buy over a quarter of the club.

While his tenure at Old Trafford has been a somewhat turbulent affair so far – having pleased most fans by taking at least some control away from the family but making a number of less-than-popular decisions of late – he is, at the very least, putting lots of money where his mouth is.

First reported by sports journalist Mike Keegan, Jim Ratcliffe has now made another big cash injection into the club to increase his overall ownership to nearly 30% of the club.

As per multiple outlets, the 72-year-old has pumped a further of approximately £79.3m into Man United to increase his overall stake just before the end of the year.

ADVERTISEMENT

This latest figure payment was actually promised as part of his initial partial takeover which was completed back in February, with a filing listed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirming the final payment this week, with Ratcliffe receiving additional shares in return.

It also detailed that the ownership of the shares has transferred from Ratcliffe personally to the INEOS Group as a whole, who also have stakes in French football club OGC Nice, the INEOS Grenaiders cycling team (formerly Team Sky), as well as Formula 1, sailing, rugby and more.

ADVERTISEMENT

Although supporters will be pleased to hear that Ratcliffe is committed to investing in the club, Keegan’s article details that the money itself won’t be strictly put towards any potential signings in the upcoming transfer window.

Similarly, Press Associates (PA) understand that the funds will be put towards infrastructure rather than player recruitment, as it is also expected that some squad members could be offloaded this January.

Is Marcus Rashford really gearing up to leave Manchester United in January?
Could Man United’s homegrown number 10 really be on his way out after nearly two decades in red?

News of Ratcliffe increasing his United stake won’t do much for many of his early detractors, however, as the Greater Manchester local has been accused of ‘forgetting his roots’ and ‘betraying the working class’ with some recent internal steps.

ADVERTISEMENT

In addition, making around 250 staff members redundant as part of widespread cost-cutting measures as he continues to streamline the club, he has been criticised for neglecting the women’s team and making them train in temporary facilities whilst Carrington is redeveloped.

Most recently, Sir Jim and his newly rebuilt executive board received immense backlash for increasing ticket prices for remaining games this season to a whopping £66 across the board, with no concessions made for young, old or disabled fans.

With sporting director Dan Ashworth having been dismissed after just five months – a man who spent just as much time on gardening leave at his former club as he did in his actual role at United – it’s fair to say Ratcliffe and co. could have been more economical.

Read more:

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Bloomberg Television (screenshot via YouTube)/The Manc Group

Sport

Manchester City Women part ways with manager Gareth Taylor just FIVE days before cup final

Danny Jones Danny Jones Gareth Taylor sacked by Man City

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Manchester City have sacked their women’s team manager Gareth Taylor less than a week before a crucial cup final.

Taylor has been in charge of the Man City Women first team since May 2020, having only just signed a new three-year contract last March, however, it now looks as though there’s been a big sea change at the Joie Stadium.

Having been with the club for the best part of eight years, first as a player (1998-2001) and then as a coach, it’s the end of an era not just for City but for him personally too.

Announced on Monday, 10 March, the club revealed that they have “parted ways” with the retired Welsh forward-turned-manager, adding that ex-head coach Nick Cushing will be replacing him on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

Writing in a lengthy statement, the club said: “Taylor has a long-standing association with Manchester City, having been both a player and having undertaken various roles within the boys’ academy prior to joining MCWFC in 2020.

“He led our women’s team to FA Cup and League Cup success in 2020 and 2022 respectively, before narrowly missing out on last season’s WSL title on goal difference alone.”

MCWFC Managing Director, Charlotte O’Neill, added: “Manchester City prides itself on competing at the top of the WSL and on its outstanding record of qualifying for European competition.

“Unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard. With six games of the WSL campaign remaining, we believe that a change of management will breathe fresh life into our bid to ensure qualification for the 2025/26 UEFA Women’s Champions League.”

“We would like to place on record our thanks to Gareth for all of his efforts during his many years at City. Our FA Cup and League Cup triumphs will remain special moments in the history of this football club. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Supporters have been posting their opinions on the news across social media:

Although not everyone will be totally surprised to see him go – especially after making his frustration at Chloe Kelly’s own departure from the club to title rivals Arsenal rather publicly known in a recent press conference – the timing is nevertheless curious.

With Man City set to face WSL top dogs Chelsea in the Women’s League Cup final this Saturday, not to mention another three crucial knockout ties on the horizon in the next few weeks, sacking a manager seems like a rather bold step by the Blues.

It’s also worth noting that Taylor led them to win the trophy in 2022 and the FA Women’s Cup just two years before that.

For context, their next six games include the final, a two-legged Champions League quarter (also against the East London giants) and a Manchester derby FA Women’s Cup semi.

Even with the league fixtures, there are no small games, as the saying goes.

Read more:

As for Gareth Taylor himself, we’ll have to wait to see if the now ex-Women’s manager shares any kind of response in the coming days and weeks but it’s fair to say the decision has been made at a crucial time.

The club currently sit fourth in the table and a full 12 points off the league leaders What do you make of it, City fans – right call or would you have liked him to stay?

As for the men’s team, there could be another interesting development in regards to the backroom staff and a potential new assistant coach:

Fernandinho has reportedly been offered a coaching role at Manchester City
Gareth Taylor might be sacked but another former player might be coming back.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Manchester City (screenshot via YouTube)

Sport

Watch Gary Neville join The Reytons and ‘play bass’ on stage in Manchester

Danny Jones Danny Jones Gary Neville joins The Reytons on stage in Manchester Aviva Studios

Remember when we kind of thought Gary Neville was joining The Reytons on tour? Well, turns out he sort of has – at least for one night, anyway.

The former footballer turned pundit and entrepreneur seems to crop up absolutely everywhere these days, be that in Greater Manchester or otherwise, and we know that he’s proven to be a bit of a jack of all trades since his playing days came to an end.

However, we never thought we’d put Gary Neville and ‘playing bass’ in the same sentence, let alone on stage with one of the fastest-rising Northern bands around, but Rotherham’s very own Reytons have turned that seemingly random combination of words into a reality.

Playing the incredible Aviva Studios venue on Saturday, 8 March, the Manc crowd were in for a treat when the Man United legend and ex-England defender popped up on stage, guitar in hand.

As you can see, not only did G Nev join for the cult favourite anthem ‘Low Life’ but he made quite the entrance and pyros blasted from the front of the stage.

For anyone needing a bit more context, this all came about following a humorous stunt back in September of last year where the band made it look like the Manc might be standing in as replacement bassist after full-time member Lee Holland broke his arm.

The 50-year-old filmed a skit of him going through a fake audition process as other candidates were ignored and he ended up being selected.

It was pretty funny, to be fair, especially when the final punchline was that he had absolutely no idea how to play bass.

Still didn’t stop him from going ahead and doing a whole photo shoot though, did it? Now they’ve gone even further and brought him out in front of a massive hometown crowd.

Credit: Graham Noble

Speaking on the cameo, frontman Jonny Yerrell thanked Neville for his support, telling the crowd: “He is honestly one of the most down-to-earth and nicest people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

Yerrell also went on to highlight their Grassroots Foundation initiative, explaining how they provided full football kits to 50 different grassroots teams in 2024, as well as applauding the Reytons fan base and the wider music community for rallying behind young mum Sophie White in a truly touching tale.

The 22-year-old Rotheram native, who has seen widespread support across Yorkshire, is currently battling a brain tumour; with that in mind, the band raffled off the stage sign from their flagship sell-out performance at Clifton Park performance.

With Sophie in attendance, Jonny announced to gig-goers that over £10,000 had been raised in just two days to help her undergo potentially life-saving treatment in Germany, which finally starts this week (Monday, 10 March 2025). Incredible stuff.

If there’s one thing we love more than a band with a sense of humour and who don’t mind a stunt or two, it’s the kind that does important stuff for their region like this.

Read more:

And, as Jonny puts it, this is just the start; “We’re planning to do even more this year!”, he says, so don’t expect this to be the last time you hear about these Northern trailblazers doing something brilliant.

Who knows, maybe we’ll see Gary Neville joining The Reytons for their headline set at Tramlines Festival this summer too?

After all, we’ve seen similar before…

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Reytons/Graham Noble (supplied)

More Sport

Man United protest The 1958 March 2025

News

Manchester United fan group The 1958 issue statement after ‘successful’ protest

Fernandinho coaching role Man City

Sport

Fernandinho has reportedly been offered a coaching role at Manchester City

Lowry Theatre interactive Going to the Match art experience Salford

Art & Culture

Watch Lowry’s ‘Going to the Match’ come to life at this new immersive experience in Salford

Audio

Clint Boon takes us around Manchester's iconic Deaf Institute

Eats

We go meatballs deep with Mira's traditional Neapolitan sandwiches