Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently made comments that sparked a massive backlash on social media. In that wave, he found both die-hard supporters and fierce detractors, and for a time dominated the conversation.
His claims about Britain’s changing demographics have received much support from allies of US President Donald Trump, who has publicly declared his passion for the “Red Devils”. The connections between the billionaire owners and America’s “MAGA” people may seem distant, but they are bridged over common narratives about national sovereignty, identity, immigration issues, and the colonization of Western economies by what they obscenely call “aliens.”
“Britain was colonized by immigrants”
In a recent interview with Sky News, he spoke of his concerns about Britain’s future. As reported by OutKick, the INEOS founder and Manchester United minority shareholder claimed that the growing number of people deliberately depriving taxpayers of benefits and resources is a major problem in the country.
“You can’t have an economy with 9 million people on benefits and huge numbers of immigrants coming in. So Britain is colonized. It’s too expensive. Britain is colonized by immigrants, isn’t it? The population of Britain was 58 million in 2020 and now it’s 70 million. That’s 12 million.”
These comments were quickly labeled as xenophobic or racist, sparking the ire of a large audience who did not hesitate to express their anger.
But for Trump supporters, Ratcliffe’s words sounded like they reflected concerns within the UK, so they expressed their gratitude and support to Trump.
Will his comments split the club?
If you’re a casual soccer fan, you probably know that Manchester United is not only the team that represents England, but also Europe. Their fan base, one of the largest in the world, is also known for its incredibly proud diversity, so these comments are sure to bring up future discussions.
The United community, formed by Manchester’s local fans, is largely made up of working-class and historically left-leaning people, and they find themselves in a very awkward position at the moment. We must remember how complex and long the transition to an American-owned club was in June 2005, when the majority of supporters were completely against it. Local fans have never stood by the owners since the takeover, and there are even fewer of them now.
For American fans, this has nothing to do with soccer, but supports what they perceive as a position against traditional Western economic colonization, something they strongly defend in the United States, and which will be at the center of debate for a long time.
