Manchester United‘s 2025 Christmas party has been approved after Sir Jim Ratcliffe axed last year’s festivities, new reports claim. The United bosses halted any seasonal celebration 12 months ago amid a series of cost-cutting measures. The previous year’s bash was also scrapped after it was considered unsuitable to party following an initial wave of redundancies that saw 250 positions eliminated.
The cancelled festivities saved the club over £100,000, with the yearly staff bonus of £100 being swapped for a £40 voucher from M&S. But according to the Daily Mail, employees will now have the chance to mark Christmas this year, with chief executive Omar Berrada choosing to extend invitations to all staff. The event will take place in one of Old Trafford’s larger hospitality areas, featuring catering and live entertainment for workers.
This move follows United’s management shake-up after Ineos’ minority acquisition. An additional 200 job cuts, which slashed the workforce from 1,150 to 700, delivered millions in savings for the club.
Speaking in March, Ratcliffe addressed the personnel reductions and major behind-the-scenes transformations during discussions with the BBC and Sky Sports. “I just think when you are in a period of change, it is disruptive,” he said.
“It does, if you will excuse the pun, take people’s eye off the ball a bit. We have got a club which was in a level of financial difficulty. Manchester United would have run out of cash by the end of this year — by the end of 2025 — after having me put $300m (£232.72m) in and if we buy no new players in the summer.
“If we hadn’t have implemented the cost programmes and restructuring that we have done over the last 12 months. So we have to deal with all those things, and there’s only so many things you can deal with at once.
“We have a new management team, we have to deal with the financial restructure, then we have to move on to the squad, data analysis, and moving forward.
“But we are in the process of change and it’s an uncomfortable period and disruptive and I do feel sympathy with the fans. But I am not actually surprised where we are in the league because Ruben’s only got a certain size of squad he can deal with, and quite a number of those players are injured or not available to him.”
He added: “The simple answer is the club runs out of money at Christmas if we don’t do those things [widespread cuts and restructuring].
“Ultimately, if you look at running the club the size of Manchester United with an income of about £650m you spend a part of that £650m on operating the club and part of it on the squad.
“Where do you want to spend the money? Do you want to spend it on operating the club, or do you want to spend it on the squad? Because if you spend it on the squad you get better results.
“And at the end of the day what’s Manchester United here for if it’s not to win trophies and silverware. What we want to do is invest in the best players in the world if we can, rather than spend it on, I’m afraid, free lunches.”