19/02/2025
Manchester United Supporters Trust comment on Manchester United’s Q2 financial results
Ticket price hike would be “futile and counter-productive” against backdrop of Club’s financial problems
19 February 2025 - Immediate Release
Commenting on today’s financial results released by Manchester United, the Manchester United Supporters Trust has issued the following statement:
Today’s financial results lay bare the scale of the financial mismanagement we have seen at Manchester United.
Amongst the low-lights revealed in the figures are:
- A pre-tax loss for the three months of £38m
- The Club spent £14.5m on giving Erik Ten Hag a new contract and sacking him four months later
- £18.8m in debt interest payments over six months, taking the total interest costs since the Glazers’ leveraged buyout to more than £1bn
- Without the INEOS cash injection of £80m, the club would be down to £15m cash
- £210m drawn down on the Revolving Credit Facility (club “credit card”) leaving total debt at £731m plus over £300m in transfer fees owed
United has amongst the highest revenues in world football and yet we see huge financial problems in these results, driven by £19m in debt interest payments (over six months), mismanagement including paying £14.5m compensation to a manager only given a new contract a few months earlier, a disastrous record in player trading over the last decade, and now dreadful performances on the field making matters worse with every league place we fall costing a further £4m in prize money.
In this context, it is clear that ticket prices at United are plainly not the problem with the recent £66 changes raising less than £2m. This shows big increases in prices would be futile and counterproductive, making only a trivial difference to the financial challenge whilst hugely harming fan sentiment and worsening the mood in the ground which inevitably feeds through to even worse team performances.
Fans should not pay the price for a problem that starts with our crippling debt interest payments and is exacerbated by a decade or more of mismanagement. It’s time to freeze ticket prices and allow everyone - players, management, owners and fans - to get behind United and restore this club to where it belongs.
ENDS