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Sir Jim Ratcliffe was a no-show at the women’s FA Cup final as he snubbed the Manchester United women’s team yet again – despite being in London just days earlier for a men’s game.
The controversial British businessman has been criticised for a lack of interest in the women’s team since purchasing a 27.7 per cent stake in the club, which later rose to 28.94 per cent.
Since then, the Red Devils have endured a ruthless leadership and cost-cutting, which has seen the departures of legend Six Alex Ferguson, and Erik ten Hag throughout this campaign.
But his attitude towards the club’s women’s team has also caught the eye, with Ratcliffe himself suggesting the team was a ‘smaller issue’ and also seeming to lack knowledge of the women’s set-up.
On Sunday, Marc Skinner’s side took to the Wembley turf to contest the FA Cup final, bidding the retain the trophy and prevent a dominant Chelsea side winning the Treble.
They did so, though, without Ratcliffe present – despite him being in the capital for United’s Premier League game against Chelsea on Friday.
‘My main focus is on the men’s team because that is what moves the needle at Manchester United,’ said Ratcliffe in an interview with BBC Sport.
‘The women’s team is much smaller that the men’s team. Out of our £650million of income, £640m comes from the men’s team, £10m comes from the women’s team.
‘With my business background you tend to focus on the bigger issues before you focus on the smaller issues.’
It was also revealed that the minority owner asked former club captain Katie Zelem what she did when she gave him a tour of the side’s facilities.
Over the summer, the women’s team were moved away from their facilities to temporary accommodation to make way for the men’s side, currently undergoing their own £50million revamp of the training base.
Skinner remarked, ‘It’s hard for me to see those comments but actually that’s not what I see from the working group that is every day with us’.
