Neville should stand up to Ratcliffe over tone deaf Man Utd stadium plan
Imagine a business with an income of £650m, paying their stars £350,000 a week.
It has owners who have milked it for £155m of dividends over a seven year period, but needs cash to spruce up, or rebuild, its HQ. The new part owner is said to be worth £15bn, and lives in Monaco.
How deserving of taxpayer help would you think they are? You know, using the money you and I pay the Government to fund education and health, and supposedly build a better society?
Manchester United want to build the “Wembley of the North”, and new 27pc stakeholder Jim Ratcliffe wants help to build the £2bn New Old Trafford. And it seems they would like financial incentives from Government “Levelling Up” funds.
It is reported that talks have already taken place between Ratcliffe and Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester as well as local councillors. And Ratcliffe confirmed his plans to beg for some Government cash in his first interview saying: “If you look at that region of Manchester today – only a mile from the centre - it is tired and neglected and parts are quite run down.
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"There is quite a big argument in my view of regenerating that whole south side of Manchester. The nucleus of it would be building a new world class state of the art stadium which could take England games, the FA Cup final, Champions League finals. It could serve the north of England.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to use taxpayer cash to help fund his stadium project (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)“There is a bias in the UK in terms of where national stadiums have been built, they are all in the south. A lot of talk about levelling up, HS2 cancelled and all going to be spent in the rail network in London, the people in the north pay their taxes just as the people in the south but there is a significant bias I think in terms of major investments being in the south.”
I hope they are laughed out of the civic offices. And if Labour supporting Gary Neville - I’m a big fan of his political interventions - is part of Ratcliffe’s new “stadium task force” he should advise the club to use their own cash, because there are more deserving causes for public money and regeneration.
Football is capitalism in the extreme. The ultimate pursuit of profit based on a series of investment gambles. The message from politicians like Burnham should be: “Stand on your own feet. Fund it yourself.”
Of course the justification will be job creation because a new cinema or shopping area will be tagged on to the stadium complex. It may not be hard cash that flows to Man United, but it could come in the form of tax incentives.
But we still pay. While Man United cash in on a brand new 90k stadium for years and get a competitive advantage on rivals, North and South. Where does it stop? Will Man United rivals Newcastle feel entitled to public cash for a new St James Park, while being owned by Saudi Arabia and one of the richest companies in the world?
Why should Man United get a subsidy to build lucrative new corporate boxes to increase income? Will Leeds want their own Yorkshire Wembley with taxpayer help? Have small town clubs been bailed out by public cash? No, just ask Bury.
I am all for Ratcliffe making the case for more focus on the North and getting big events up here, including FA Cup semi finals and England games. St James’ Park hosts an England Euro warm up in June. Yes keep banging that drum.
But cash swills around in football being lavished on players, agents, executives. Punters are paying handsomely to watch it in person and on TV. They shoudn’t be paying out of their taxes to give Man United, or anyone else, a leg up on the commercial ladder.
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