Ratcliffe warns he will quit Man Utd if fan abuse reaches Glazer levels

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has warned he would leave Manchester United if fan abuse towards him escalates to the level suffered by the Glazer family, resurfacing comments the Ineos billionaire made in a Times interview last year as United’s crisis deepens.

The remarks have taken on fresh significance after United’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday left the club sitting 17th in the Premier League — their longest winless run in all competitions since 1988, now stretching to nine games. Away supporters at Stamford Bridge directed chants at Ratcliffe alongside their customary vitriol towards the Glazers, with sections of the travelling end singing, “Just like the Glazers, Jim Ratcliffe’s a c”, “Sell United and f off home”, and “You can stick your new stadium up your a***”.

“I mean, I can put up with it for a while,” Ratcliffe said in the interview. “I don’t mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we’re having to make at the moment. If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I’m no different to the average person. It’s not nice, particularly for friends and family.”

He drew a direct comparison with the Tampa-based Glazer family, who have been deeply unpopular at Old Trafford since their leveraged takeover in 2005. “So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I’d have to say, ‘Look, enough’s enough guys, let somebody else do this,’” he added. “They can’t really come to a match, the Glazers. They’ve retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I’m getting all the stick.”

Ratcliffe, 74, purchased a 25% stake in United in December 2023 before increasing his share to 28.94% in February 2024. His tenure has been marked by multiple rounds of staff redundancies and ticket price increases, fuelling significant anger among supporters despite his stated ambition to restore the club to its former standing.

“At the moment, I don’t have security, I don’t have to walk around like that,” he said. “But it would defeat the object, wouldn’t it? You couldn’t tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn’t be fun.”

United have an opportunity to arrest their slide when they host Roma in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday.