CHRISTMAS EVE marks exactly one year since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival at Old Trafford.
And it is fair to say it has been a rather chaotic 12 months.
The British billionaire, 72, stumped up more than £1billion to take a 27.7 per cent stake in his beloved Manchester United.
His minority ownership was officially ratified in February - but the announcement from the Red Devils came late on Christmas Eve in 2023.
Pretty much every single Manchester United fan was delighted by the news of the Ineos chief’s arrival and received it as the best Christmas present imaginable.
With his successful business and sporting background - plus his promise to invest heavily into the crumbling Old Trafford infrastructure - it felt like a major turning point for the club after years of regression under the Glazers and various managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The reality, though, has been quite different from what the United supporters were hoping.
The Glazers still own the club.
United had their worst Premier League finish ever last season - and a lowest position at Christmas in 35 years in this campaign.
There has been major sackings galore in the boardroom and dugout.
Fans are unhappy thanks to several PR own goals.
And for the staff who still have their jobs, morale is through the floor.
So, what has happened in this tumultuous first year for Ratcliffe?
Well, it all started very positively indeed with CEO Richard Arnold resigning before the Ratcliffe news was even announced and United managed to poach Omar Berrada from rivals Manchester City in January.
In the same month, Ratcliffe and his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford were pictured smiling as they met Erik ten Hag and other staff at Carrington.
Then in February, Arnold quit the board and left the club for good while Ineos pair John Rees and Rob Nevin were added as Ratcliffe continued to stamp his mark and influence.
But there were the first signs that things weren’t completely going swimmingly as early as March.
On one hand, Ratcliffe gave fans a major boost by announcing his grand plans to replace the dated and leaking Old Trafford by building an epic new stadium dubbed a ‘Wembley of the North’.
But on the other, United’s share price on the New York Stock Exchange dropped to just $13.71 - down from $20.52 immediately after the takeover was announced just three months earlier.
And in a slightly strange twist, it came out that Ratcliffe had banned words such as “awesome” and “lukewarm cappuccino” as part of a very corporate lingo drive.
It was in April, though, that the ruthless businessman started to wield his cost-cutting axe when he cancelled company credit cards and private cars for senior members of staff.
Around the same time, there were more changes upstairs as football director John Murtough followed Arnold out of the exit door and Jason Wilcox arrived as technical director once a compensation package with Southampton was agreed.
Concurrently, the highly-coveted former FA and Brighton chief Dan Ashworth was on gardening leave from Newcastle.
May proved to be a crucial month for United - and for Ratcliffe.
On the pitch, the club followed up their nightmare Prem season where they came eighth by shocking City to win the FA Cup final, making it two major trophies in two years for Ten Hag, who had been on the brink of the sack.
Off the pitch, it was a catalogue of errors.
The extent of the leaking roof was laid bare as heavy Manchester downpours prompted waterfalls on the seats - before construction crew were pictured finally getting to work on fixing it.
Elsewhere, Ratcliffe started making himself not-so-Mr-Popular with the club’s staff.
It started with sending a strongly-worded email to employees slamming the “disgraceful” lack of cleanliness around both the training ground and the stadium, prompting a “toxic” atmosphere around Carrington.
He then announced plans for redundancies, giving staff just one week to decide if they would accept packages to leave.
And to make things worse, the new owner slashed FA Cup final benefits, limiting staff to just one ticket each and forcing them to pay for their own transport to Wembley.
The pre-match party and hotel for senior staff before the final was also axed - although a night of celebration in the capital did go ahead after the goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
Ratcliffe doubled down on his cut-throat approach in June when he introduced the “back to work” policy, forcing all staff to be in the office every day - or else they could leave for good.
He also announced plans for a £50m Carrington upgrade but scored an own goal with disparaging comments about the women’s team.
Ashworth finally made his long-awaited arrival in his role as sporting director after four months of gardening leave and a £3m compensation package agreed with Newcastle.
Jobs slashed
Ratcliffe made the most of the off-season to oversee a major overhaul of staff roles in July.
He kicked things off by slashing the number of staff to travel on the tour to the USA down to 125 and then made plans to make 250 employees redundant.
That included the departures of popular media man John Allen, historian Cliff Butler and kitman Alex Wylie in subsequent months as Ratcliffe showed he was at Old Trafford for business, not for sentiment.
Jean-Claude Blanc joined the board and ex-Chelsea technical director Christopher Vivell came in on a short-term basis as interim director of recruitment.
The month also saw a merry-go-round in the coaching staff - but crucially one man kept his job.
Ten Hag was tipped to get the boot regardless of the result in the FA Cup final but the club made a major U-turn and offered him a contract extension until 2026 - which he duly signed.
However, his backroom team underwent a major reshuffle.
Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake were appointed assistant managers, Andreas Georgson a first-team coach and Jelle ten Rouwelaar the goalkeeper coach.
Darren Fletcher - previously the technical director - came into the coaching staff as a first-team coach, too.
Steve McClaren, Mitchell van der Gaag and Benni McCarthy all departed - the former taking over as Jamaica's head coach.
By the end of August, the new-look board had given the green light for £199m on transfer signings in the summer window.
But that coincided with Ratcliffe ditching lunchboxes for matchday staff - with reports that some were even forced to eat hospitality suite leftovers beside the toilets.
Fergie axed
Ratcliffe once again demonstrated his ruthless streak by stopping the payment of Ferguson’s £2million-a-year salary as a United ambassador in October.
He also cancelled the staff Christmas party in yet another measure that infuriated those working for the club behind the scenes.
But all those savings were offset with the £15m pay-off for Ten Hag, sacked with the club 14th in the Premier League table just three months after putting pen to paper on his new deal.
And it emerged that the “back to work” policy was actually costing United a fortune - because there was not enough desks at Old Trafford so hospitality suites were being temporarily converted into offices between home matches.
November saw the arrival of Ruben Amorim as Ten Hag’s successor on a deal until 2027 but only after United were forced to stump up £10m to activate his release clause.
Amorim axed legend Van Nistelrooy, who oversaw three wins and a draw from his four matches in interim charge, to bring in his own coaching staff.
But despite the excitement of a new manager, friction from the former regime still lingered with Manchester United’s board members and chiefs locked in a bitter blame game over the summer shambles including transfer signings and the Ten Hag saga with his new contract and subsequent dismissal.
And while most of Ratcliffe’s policies had largely impacted staff and the playing squad, his actions towards the end of his first 12 months at Old Trafford started to directly affect fans.
Reports emerged he plans to cut the £40,000 budget paid to the Manchester United Disabled Supporters Association in half.
Then in December, supporters marched and protested against Ratcliffe after he scrapped OAP and children's concessions tickets for home matches and simultaneously increased the minimum cost of a home ticket to a whopping £66.
And he showed his Scrooge side by slashing the staff’s traditional £100 Christmas bonus, replacing it with a measly £40 M&S voucher.
Then in a shock twist, £3m man Ashworth was suddenly sacked after just five months as sporting director.
In the final match before the first anniversary of Ratcliffe's arrival, it was somewhat fitting that United lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, one of their summer signings gave away a penalty and the ceiling leaked during Amorim's press conference.
Ratcliffe ended the year by investing an extra £79m and increasing his stake in the club to 28.94 per cent.
But both he and those watching on know this first year has not gone as he would have hoped or envisaged.
Gary Lineker labelled the Ashworth rigmarole “bloody embarrassing”, “laughable” and a “terrible look” while Michael Owen insisted the way Ratcliffe has “ripped out” the core of the football club is “heartbreaking”.
And Ratcliffe himself admitted “mediocre” Manchester United is “still in the last century”.
So, will he be able to turn things around on and off the pitch in his second year at the helm?
Everyone connected to the Red Devils will certainly hope so…
