“A little bit grumpy at the beginning” - Jim Ratcliffe shares how Sir Alex Ferguson reacted to losing Manchester United role worth £2 million a year

By Deepungsu Pandit

Modified Mar 11, 2025 11:26 GMT

Manchester United part owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has hailed former manager Sir Alex Ferguson for putting the club ahead of himself. The legendary Scot spent almost 27 years at Old Trafford and is the Red Devils' most successful manager.

Sir Alex retired from football management in 2013, but remained associated with the club in an ambassadorial role that saw him earn £2m per year. However, Ratcliffe opted to end Sir Alex's role in October as he took multiple hard decisions to help Manchester United's faltering finances.

Speaking recently on the matter, the Red Devils part owner said that the legendary Scot opted to step down from his role to help the club.

"I take my hat off to Alex. I sat down with Alex, just the two of us in the room. And I said ‘Look, the club isn’t where you may think it is. It is spending more than it’s earning and we’re going to finish up in some difficulties. Honestly, we can’t really afford to continue to pay you £2 million a year’," said Ratcliffe.

He continued:

"I said “I’m going to leave it with you, let you have a think about it’. It was very grown up. Maybe a little bit grumpy at the beginning but he got it. He came back three days later, after talking to his son, and said ‘Fine, I’m going to step away from it. My decision’. I think it reflects really well on Alex, because he put the club before himself."

Manchester United won 13 league titles and two Champions League trophies under Sir Alex Ferguson.

How many trophies have Manchester United won since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement?

Manchester United have failed to win the league or the Champions League since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. However, they have managed to win two FA Cups, two EFL Cups, and one Europa League trophy.

The Red Devils have also won the Community Shield on two occasions in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era. The Premier League giants initially appointed David Moyes as the iconic manager's replacement, but he failed to last the season.

Louis van Gaal was roped in, followed by Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Ragnick, Erik ten Hag, and Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese head coach took charge as Ten Hag's replacement in November last year, but has endured mixed times so far. Manchester United have won 11 and lost 10 of their 24 games in charge.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Ankush Das