Ratcliffe 'not reading room' as takeover anniversary nears

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been accused of "not reading the room" over the decision to increase ticket prices, as the anniversary of his takeover approaches.

Last month, United took the mid-season decision to raise Premier League matchday ticket prices to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners.

Across the Premier League, a growing number of supporters are unhappy with price rises, with Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool recently joining forces to protest against increases at their respective clubs.

Some will set aside the deep antipathy between United and Liverpool to highlight their concerns ahead of the two clubs' meeting at Anfield on 5 January.

This is not what was anticipated on Christmas Eve last year, when it was confirmed Ratcliffe had reached an agreement to buy part of the club from the Glazer family.

He increased his stake to 28.94% with a further $100m (£79.43m) investment this week, but his time has been marked by a succession of unpopular decisions, including slashing well-established staff perks and making 250 staff redundant.

"Everyday something else seems to be coming out," said Steve Crompton from the FC58 fans group.

"I don't think Ratcliffe is reading the room very well. For all his bravado about putting the 'Manchester' back into Manchester United, he is doing quite the opposite.

"It feels like they are putting the squeeze on us because of the mess the club is in, but he knew what a mess the club was in when he took this partnership.

"Are things worse than he realised? We are not naive. This £66 is not going to write off £1bn worth of debt. The damage he is doing, for insignificant gains financially, is bordering on the ridiculous."

United have defended the rises, saying they only affect 3% of tickets.

They also argue that cutting costs and driving up revenue will provide greater resource for the first-team, although the £21m spent on sacking manager Erik ten Hag and buying his replacement Ruben Amorim out of his contract at Sporting emphasises the huge sums being spent at that level.

Representatives of FC58 and the Spirit of Shankly Liverpool fans group will meet ahead of next month's Premier League game to finalise plans, but a joint protest is anticipated and a Football Supporters' Association '#StopExploitingLoyalty' banner is expected to be displayed.