Furious fan protests leave Ratcliffe with decision to make on Man Utd quit promise

Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues to be pelted with abuse from furious Manchester United fans - and he's already suggested that it could make him quit. United co-owner Ratcliffe was targeted alongside the Glazer family and director of football Jason Wilcox as the club's supporters staged a protest at Old Trafford during Tuesday's 3-2 victory over Roma.

Green and yellow balloons - colours synonymous with the anti-Glazer movement - rained down from the Stretford End before kick-off, while in the 21st minute of the Champions League tie, play had to be paused as fans threw tennis balls onto the pitch. "Just like the Glazers, Jim Ratcliffe's a c***," was also chanted.

It didn't help that United were already 2-0 down and starring down the barrel of an 10th successive game without a win. A second-half turnaround prevented that, but the sentiment among the fan base remains firmy against Ratcliffe.

Nearly three years into the job, having acquired a 28.94 per cent stake in United and taken control of the club's football operations in February 2024, Ratcliffe is a deeply unpopular figure. In an interview with The Times last year, the 74-year-old made it clear that he won't tolerate the kind of abuse which the Glazer family has received since their controversial takeover in 2005.

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"I mean, I can put up with it for a while," Ratcliffe admitted. "I don't mind being unpopular because I get that nobody likes seeing Manchester United down where they are, and nobody likes the decisions we're having to make at the moment.

"If I draw a bit of the ire, I can put up with that. But I'm no different to the average person. It's not nice, particularly for friends and family. So, eventually, if it reached the extent that the Glazer family have been abused, then I'd have to say, 'Look, enough's enough guys, let somebody else do this'.

"They can't really come to a match, the Glazers. They've retreated into the shadows a bit now, so I'm getting all the stick. We bought in and I haven't seen them since. It's, 'Thank you, Jim, you're doing a really good job'.

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"At the moment, I don't have security, I don't have to walk around like that. But it would defeat the object, wouldn't it? You couldn't tolerate it at that level, it just wouldn't be fun."

Ratcliffe's plummeting standing with United supporters stems from decisions on and off the pitch. As well as getting several key appointments wrong, the billionaire - one of Britain's richest people - has overseen several rounds of redundancies and been accused of ripping the heart out of the club.

Match-going fans have felt particularly aggrieved by Ratcliffe's treatment of working-class employees at Old Trafford and made their feelings known for months. So with the foul-mouthed protests showing no signs of stopping, will he pack it in?