Thomas Frank had a secret meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in his London garage last spring, before Manchester United parted ways with Erik ten Hag. The Danish tactician, who was at Brentford at the time, claimed he met with both the Red Devils and Chelsea in May 2024, when the Premier League giants were exploring a potential managerial change.
Mr Frank’s morning meeting with INEOS chief executive Mr Ratcliffe took place in a London garage before they moved to the prestigious Mayfair Hotel overlooking Hyde Park for talks with Mr Chelsea. Frank ultimately decided to remain at Brentford for another season and United ultimately appointed Ruben Amorim following Ten Hag’s sacking in November, while Chelsea put their faith in Enzo Maresca.
In an interview with TV2, Frank admitted he was overwhelmed by the opportunity to speak to two footballing powerhouses.
He explained: “I know I didn’t get either job, but it was still huge.
“I remember walking through Battersea Park between the two interviews and thinking, ‘Thomas Frank, who fucked up Frederiksberg, am I really going through this?'”
After playing sparingly for Frederiksvaag from 1995 to 2004, Frank began his coaching career with Denmark’s U16 team in 2008.
He progressed through the youth ranks to the Under-17 and Under-19 teams, before taking a break from international football in 2013 to become Brondby manager.
Frank had only been with the club for three years, when club president Jan Beck Andersen resigned after it was discovered that he had anonymously criticized Frank on a fan forum.
This resulted in him taking a two year break from football until he secured a place at Brentford.
In the then-Championship side, Frank led them to Premier League status in 2021 with an impressive 2-0 victory over Swansea City in the play-off final.
While many newly promoted teams fail to adapt to top-level football and face relegation the year after achieving promotion, Frank not only maintained Brentford’s Premier League status over the next few years, but also turned the team into a real powerhouse, finishing 10th last season.
