Sir Jim Ratcliffe insists Man Utd tickets 'can't cost less than Fulham' as INEOS chief defends controversial ticket price hike

Supporters were left outraged when they were informed last month that ticket prices for club members would be increased with immediate effect, with the changes including charging a full price of £66 for over-65s and children, who previously received discounts. Speaking to the United We Stand fanzine, via The Athletic, Ratcliffe made a surprising comparison between ticket prices at Old Trafford and at fellow Premier League club Fulham.

Ratcliffe, who was born into a working class family in north Manchester before going on to become a multi-billionaire and one of the richest people in Britain, said the club must strike a balance between raising revenue to build a winning squad and ensuring local fans can still afford to go and watch the team. He explained: "I was brought up on a council estate in Manchester, I absolutely get that. I don’t want to end up in a position where the genuine local fans can’t afford to come, but I do want to optimise the ticketing. We need to find a balance. And you can’t be popular all the time either."

Ratcliffe said: "It’s an emotive one, ticketing, but we have to have some benchmarks with ticketing. We must make sure that we look after the community because at the end of the day it’s their football club. We need to make sure that people who are genuine supporters can afford to go. Maybe their circumstances don’t allow them to spend a fortune on tickets. The issue is whether this is the thin edge of the wedge. I don’t think it makes sense for a Manchester United ticket to cost less than a ticket to see Fulham."

Ratcliffe has accelerated a move towards building a new stadium for United. There remains a possibility that the club stays on the current site and develops the current stadium although Ratcliffe favours building a brand new arena adjacent to the existing ground.

It has been one year since Ratcliffe's INEOS firm purchased a minority stake in United last December and he said the club must continue to overhaul the club. He added: "We still have a long way to go and we still have a number of difficult decisions to make but we have to do that for the better. The club has drifted for a long period of time, a decade or so. Manchester United has become mediocre. It’s not elite and it is supposed to be one of the best football clubs in the world. That’s what it used to be under Alex [Ferguson]. There is major change to come to achieve elite status. There has already been huge change."