UNITED’S BERRADA COUP IS SIGN OF RATCLIFFE’S CLOUT

SOME have wondered how much say Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos group will have at Manchester United following their deal for 25 per cent of the club.

The answer is plenty, if the appointment of Omar Berrada as chief executive is anything to go by. Agenda understands the first approach to the highly regarded Manchester City man was made by Ineos’s Sir Dave Brailsford in December. A meeting followed with Ratcliffe, before a summit involving the Glazers. Another clue came in United’s statement on Saturday to announce what many see as a coup. It read: ‘The club is determined to put football and performance on the pitch back at the heart of everything we do. Omar’s appointment represents the first step on this journey.’ This is the first public admission that, on the Glazers’ watch, football has not come first.

INEOS could do worse than rectifying the mess they have made of United’s walk-on music. Last week, Gary Neville told BBC Sounds he asked officials to introduce The Stone Roses’ This Is The One to Old Trafford as the players wait in the tunnel to come out. Neville spoke about the feelings of anticipation and tension it built, branding it ‘special’. Not so special, sadly, to prevent it being hacked to pieces this season. The rousing intro and build-up — the whole point — are now gone.

QUICK-THINKING owners of takeaways and pubs around Goodison Park are seeking new premises close to the club’s new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock. The outlets rely on matchday trade and are scouring the waterside area for places to rent ahead of the Toffees’ planned move at the start of the 2025-26 season. One Chinese takeaway is already thought to have a found a new home.

CHELSEA Pitch Owners PLC, the group who own the freehold to Stamford Bridge and the name Chelsea Football Club, disclosed at their AGM this weekend that players have been reluctant to sign shares. Signed and framed shares are a vital source of income for the group of about 13,000, protecting the stadium’s future while allowing fans to own a part of the club they love. The meeting was also told the group have sought pitch valuations. Chelsea denied there was any ‘reluctance’ but said they had introduced a system to clear the backlog.

LATE postponements led to two sets of fans ending up at random matches on Saturday. When their game at Stevenage was called off at 1pm, a group of Barnsley supporters went to Peterborough, where they went into the away end to cheer on Shrewsbury — to no avail — against their League One promotion rivals. Meanwhile, 60 Oldham supporters headed to eighth-tier Rugby Town after the national League clash at Eastleigh was postponed at 11am.

THERE is considerable disquiet in the Olympic community over social media and filming rights at Paris 2024. Under current, outdated rules the likes of the British Olympic Association (BOA) would not be able to film their athletes in the Olympic Village or other official venues for social media purposes. The BOA’s highly respected communications director, Scott Field, spoke on a recent call with the International Olympic Committee and other countries on behalf of the sector to make their case.

TEAM GB’S young athletes had better watch their conduct at the Winter Youth Olympics in South korea this week, with a Gladiator on the management team. Montell Douglas, a past winter and summer Olympian, recently made her debut as ‘Fire’ on the cult TV show.

WITH padel increasingly popular across the UK, leading law firm JMW Solicitors has formed a specialist team to service the sport’s community with legal and business expertise. There has been an overwhelming response to the creation of the Padel Business Team, with multiple projects already on the go and a huge number of new business enquiries.