The 1958@The__1958
🗣️TODAYS PRESS STATEMENT IN FULL.
‘Jim Can’t Fix This’: United Fan Group To Target Ratcliffe
In New Wave of Glazer Protests
Influential fan group, The 1958, has announced a big new protest ahead of Manchester United’s opening game of the season - for the first time directed at part owner Jim Ratcliffe, as well as the hated Glazers.
Supporters are being rallied ahead of the Arsenal clash at Old Trafford on August 17th, with a new route planned and new banners produced including ‘Jim Can’t Fix This’. Ratcliffe has been branded ‘a devil in disguise’.
It's a new season but the same old ownership issues. Twenty years of the Glazers is 20 years too long. Enough is enough.
We won’t allow some natural optimism and a couple of shiny new signings to deflect from the bigger off-field picture. Jim Ratcliffe chose to get into bed with the Glazers and is helping keep them in charge.
So, on 17th August, we protest not just against the Glazers, but now also against Jim Ratcliffe – a man once seen by many, including ourselves, as a possible saviour, a beacon of hope but now revealed as complicit in the ongoing erosion of everything that makes our club what it is. This is no longer just about ownership; this is about survival – the survival of our identity, our community, and our values.
Disneyland of the North
The systematic eviction of long-standing fans from the South Stand - some who have held seats there for generations - is not just a policy decision, it's an attack on the very soul of Manchester United. These are the people who help build the atmosphere, the tradition, the heartbeat of the club. To cast them aside in favour of sanitised profits and premium experiences is nothing short of disgraceful.
The dilution of younger supporters, the austerity imposed on loyal club staff, and the push to create a “Disneyland of the North” show exactly where their priorities lie - not with the fans, not with the community, but with shareholders, executives, and a global brand that strips the club of its roots.
Let it be clear: this vision is not for us. It is not for the fans who travel up and down the country and across Europe. It is not for those who’ve stood in the same spot at Old Trafford for decades. It is for profit - pure and simple. The burden of this greed is being forced onto generational fans, who are being priced out, pushed out, and ignored.
Football is consuming itself. What’s happening at Manchester United is a warning to every other club - a calculated attempt to Americanise and franchise the game we love. If this continues, the sport will be left hollow, a commercial product with no soul.
Using our club to apparently “sound opinion” on the reaction to Personal Seat Licenses (PSL) is another alarm bell. This would further price out the youth, local communities, and generations of loyal fans. It’s another step in ripping football away from its working-class roots, showing just how out of touch our club and owners have become. This isn’t about the game or the supporters - it’s about profit and greed over loyalty and tradition.
No Saviour
We don’t believe a word the club say, as actions speak louder than words and their actions prove their intentions. We will not be silent. We will not be complicit. Jim Ratcliffe, you have chosen your side and it is not ours. You now stand shoulder to shoulder with the Glazers. The mask has slipped. You are no saviour. You’re a devil in disguise.
We protest for every fan who has been silenced, evicted, priced out, and disregarded. This is bigger than one club. This is about the future of football. To those in our fanbase if the penny hasn’t dropped yet. Wake up.
To fans of other clubs if you’re starting to see the similar measures being trialled at your club by your owners. You’re next.
Remember this: You will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
What’s being lost isn’t just about seats or structures - it’s about identity, community, and the moments that make football worth everything. Once that’s gone it will be lost forever.
More details to follow in the coming days.
The 1958 🇾🇪
