Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club has renewed its criticism of Sir Jim Ratcliffe after his BBC interview on Saturday, saying his latest remarks about the UK being “on the slide” were again unacceptable. The group said it had already objected to his earlier language, and now wants him gone. Ratcliffe acquired a 27.7% stake in Manchester United in 2024 and has since overseen 450 redundancies.

The supporters group's response

The club’s supporters group went straight at Ratcliffe’s latest comments. “We condemned those comments then,” it said, before adding: “He [Ratcliffe] subsequently apologised for his choice of language. We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not.”

It was even more forceful on the new remarks: “We find these latest comments deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable.” The group then widened the attack to ownership itself: “Enough is enough. It is time for change. The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go.”

Ratcliffe's comments and the wider mood

Ratcliffe repeated his view that the UK is in decline, blaming high taxes, immigration and weak political leadership in separate interviews. In one, he said: “But unfortunately, at the moment, I think the UK is on the slide.” In another, he added: “Two things: we need politicians who are tough enough to deal with some very difficult problems, and we know what the problems are.”

The row lands in a period when criticism around Manchester United is already heavy. United entered the weekend sitting 13th in the Premier League, and the group has tied its anger to higher ticket prices and a stadium it says has been allowed to deteriorate. That makes the backlash broader than one interview, even if Ratcliffe’s words are what triggered this latest statement.

Ratcliffe’s comments were made in Denmark at the launch of the EU’s first carbon capture and storage system, according to one account, while the BBC said he spoke on Saturday. The dispute over where and when the interview happened is beside the point for the supporters group, which has now gone from criticism to an open demand for change.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →