The statement, issued on Saturday, sets out a single demand: “Enough is enough. It is time for change. The Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe must go.”

MUMSC, one of the club’s recognised supporters’ groups, said it had “lost confidence in the current ownership structure of Manchester United Football Club” after “years of decline, broken promises and repeated failure”. The trigger was another political intervention by Ratcliffe, but the group’s grievances stretch well beyond it.

What sparked the statement

Ratcliffe, who moved to Monaco in 2020, told the BBC’s Big Boss Interview that the UK was “on the slide” and that no politician was “tough enough to deal with the immigration problem” or the benefits bill. He said he would like to see the benefits bill cut in half and the savings redirected into robotics and AI, and blamed a mix of high taxes and migration for the country’s slide from what he called “the greatest empire in the world”.

It was the second time in seven months he had drawn a rebuke over the same subject. In February he told Sky News that Britain had been “colonised by immigrants”, then said he was sorry if the remark had “offended some people”.

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What the group actually said

MUMSC framed the new comments as proof the earlier apology had been hollow.

“We condemned those comments then. He subsequently apologised for his choice of language. We hoped a lesson had been learned. Clearly, it has not.”

The group set the ownership question above the manager or the squad.

“The cycle hasn’t. At some point, we have to stop looking at the latest person standing in the dugout and start looking at those responsible for the direction.”

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Alongside the political anger, it listed higher ticket prices, a stadium allowed to deteriorate and “years of poor decision-making” as reasons ownership itself was the problem. Other reporting on the statement pointed to the dismissal of around 450 club employees and a summer ticket-touting crackdown that revoked 685 season tickets as further flashpoints.

An ownership crisis meeting a bad start

The statement lands with Michael Carrick’s side 13th in the Premier League on four points from four matches. United lost at home to Manchester City the previous weekend and were knocked out of the Carabao Cup three days before the statement, throwing away a two-goal lead at home to Brighton.

Manchester United have not issued a response to Saturday’s statement. When Ratcliffe made the “colonised” comment in February, the club said it “prides itself” on being “inclusive”, and the BBC reported the Glazer family, who remain majority owners, were “horrified” by his words.

There has been no public reply from Ratcliffe since the no-confidence vote was published.

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