Manchester United insiders have told Mirror there will be ‘no official trip’ to the FA Cup final for the families of players, meaning they’ll have to make their own way there
The FA Cup may lose some of its magic for Manchester United WAGs this month as their lavish freebie trips to the final at Wembley stadium face the axe.
And staff at the troubled club have been told there will be no spare tickets for family members, the traditional free lunch or transport to the clash against rival Manchester City on May 25. Its 1,100 workers will receive just one complimentary ticket each and are expected to contribute £20 to their coach travel to London
It comes amid fears multi-billionaire new part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is bringing in a season of austerity in a bid to save cash at Old Trafford – despite the club being football’s fifth richest.
United has previously laid on plush hotels, hosted exclusive after parties and paid for flights to big games for relatives of the players.
Anna Mariana is married to Man United star Casemiro (
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Luke Shaw and Anouska Santos tend to keep their romance private (
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But club insiders have revealed there will be “no official trip” to this year’s final for them, meaning they will have to pay their own way there. Sources said a decision “was yet to be made”.
Stars such as Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Casemiro are likely to be cheered on by the WAGs. Maguire, 31, is likely to need no fewer than eight seats for his wife, Fern, 29, two children, his parents and two brothers, who are regulars at big games.
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Shaw, 28, will hope to have his girlfriend, Anouska Santos, 31, and children Reign, four, and daughter Storie, who turns two this month, in the stands. Lindelof’s wife Maja and Casemiro’s Anna Mariana are also likely to attend.
But while not many ordinary will shed a tear about multi-millionaires having to fork out for a trip to Wembley, there will be sympathy for staff who can only dream of those riches.
They were dealt the blow via a club-wide email which claimed it was a bid to “spend the club’s money effectively”. But just 24 hours later the club picked up the tab for a WAGs swanky day out with Harvey Nichols goody bags, adding insult to injury for workers.
According to Deloitte, United pulled in revenue of £640million last year. But since Glazers’ leveraged buyout, net debt, including a credit revolving facility, has hit £710m.
The club has also suffered dwindling revenue after disappointing results on the pitch have meant missed opportunities to win the sort of trophies and prize money it has been used to in better times under Sir Alex Ferguson. And despite the club’s high position in the football riches league, fans have to endure a stadium that springs massive leaks in the rain.
During United’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, footage showed water pouring through the roof from a great height onto seats below and cascading through the stands. There was also videos of rain leaking through the ceiling of the Arsenal dressing room, leaving it flooded.
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Workmen were pictured performing checks of the stadium roof. Sir Jim, 72, who bought a 25 percent stake in the club for £1.2billion has told of his a desire to build a new “Wembley of the North” stadium to replace Old Trafford.
But United have put plans to fix the leaking roof on hold until a decision has been made on that.
The club has looked at the feasibility of installing a new roof, but it is a costly project which is unlikely to be happen while Sir Jim’s projects are looked at.
Knocking down Old Trafford and building a new state-of-the-art stadium on the same site, could cost as much as £3billion.
Another option is to refurbish the historic ground, which would not be as costly as demolishing it, or take as long as building a new one. That has been estimated to cost around £1billion.