Soccer

Alex Ferguson to leave Manchester United role amid club cost-cutting measures

Former manager was paid €2.6m a year for the role but will remain as non-executive director of the football club board

Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson with the club's technical director Jason Wilcox during the recent Premier League match at Villa Park. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson with the club's technical director Jason Wilcox during the recent Premier League match at Villa Park. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire
Tue Oct 15 2024 - 12:45

Alex Ferguson will step away from his ambassador role with Manchester United at the end of the season as part of a club cost-cutting exercise.

The Scot won 38 trophies at United during a managerial reign spanning nearly 27 years, including 13 Premier League titles and two European Cups.

It is understood that Ferguson has reached an amicable agreement with the club to cease his ambassador duties when the season ends.

The news of the arrangement with Ferguson, which was first reported by The Athletic, is part of a wider cost-cutting exercise by United under Ineos, which has had responsibility for football operations at the club since its founder Jim Ratcliffe completed the purchase of a 27.7 per cent stake earlier this year.

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Ferguson turns 83 in December, and the ambassador role is understood to be one of a number of time-consuming duties he is planning to give up.

Club sources say there was no acrimony over this matter, with Ratcliffe having met Ferguson face to face to say the club could no longer sustain the ambassador payments. The Athletic reported Ferguson was listed as having received £2.16 million (€2.6 million) for his ambassador duties in United’s 2023 accounts.

Ferguson always remains welcome at Old Trafford, United sources said, and he will remain a non-executive director of the football club board.

Last month United posted losses of £113.2 million (€135.5 million) for the year ending June 30th, 2024, but the club insisted they are compliant with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) where breaches are punishable by points deductions.

The club are working to put themselves on a more sustainable financial footing and have instigated a number of cost-saving measures, including a redundancy programme which cut 250 jobs from headcount across all departments by the end of August. The club said in their year-end accounts that they anticipate severance charges related to the redundancies will cost around £10 million (€12 million).

The cost-saving measures taken together are expected to save between £40 million-€45 million (€48 million-€54 million) in total and the club anticipate that will have a positive impact on United’s financial results for 2025 and 2026.