Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos are betraying Manchester United fans over ticket price hike

A long-serving Manchester United staff member had their suitcase packed the day before leaving for the pre-season tour. Less than 24 hours before their flight, they were notified they would not be on the plane as they were at risk of redundancy.

The employee is now one of the 250 former employees. The callousness has extended to hiking ticket prices, without any consultation, to £66. There has not been a peep from chief executive Omar Berrada or anyone from Ineos.

Despite attempts to unify the organisations, there is still a dichotomy between long-serving and caring United staff members and the Ineos cabal. Resentment was bound to fester when a recently-appointed official and his wife were present on the pre-season tour.

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United stayed in Beverly Hills for ten nights and Los Angeles is not an economical city to file expenses from. The summer cost-cutting was undermined by the presence of at least two 'outsiders'.

One Ineos official who is a regular at Carrington is particularly unpopular and figures are mystified by their presence. There is bound to be rancour with staff embittered, having seen close colleagues cut loose. Yet even someone at Ineos is questioning the colleague's existence.

This may all seem extraneous but when matchgoers are literally forced to pay the price for new co-ownership then every penny counts. The Fans' Advisory Board (FAB), whose members sign a non-disclosure agreement, and those on the fans' forum were not aware ticket prices would rise for the remainder of the season until United's announcement.

Club sources accept