Manchester United’s interim chief executive Patrick Stewart and chief financial officer Cliff Baty are leaving the club.
Jean-Claude Blanc, the chief executive of INEOS Sport, will now be the club’s latest interim CEO ahead of Omar Berrada’s arrival from Manchester City in July.
Former INEOS CFO Roger Bell will take over at United in the same position.
Advertisement
Club staff were informed on Tuesday of an all-company meeting scheduled for Wednesday where Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Blanc would be present and plans for the next step in INEOS’ restructure would be revealed.
Both Stewart and Baty were present on behalf of United at the Premier League’s meeting in London on Monday just a day ahead of Tuesday evening’s announcement.
GO DEEPER
Manchester United's newest interim CEO Jean-Claude Blanc: Motorbikes, star players and Bjorn Borg
Joel Glazer said: “I would like to thank Patrick and Cliff for their dedicated service to Manchester United and wish them well for the future. Both have been a source of invaluable advice and expertise over many years, and Patrick has served an important role as interim CEO during this transitional phase.”
Ratcliffe added: “I would like to personally thank both Patrick and Cliff for their support in helping us get to know the club and making us feel welcome and I respect their decisions to now move on as we establish a new management team for the club.”
Stewart, who has been with United since 2006, replaced Richard Arnold as CEO on an interim basis at the start of the year.
Baty was appointed chief financial officer in March 2016 and has been on the board of directors since December 2017.
Arnold left United following the minority investment of Ratcliffe and INEOS in December. As part of their stake in the club, they have taken control of football operations.
INEOS initially appeared to be focusing on football and performance but swiftly concluded that the necessary improvements would also require Ratcliffe’s team taking a firm grip of the club’s business, commercial and operations arms.
This has led INEOS to engage the consultancy firm Interpath to oversee an audit of how the club spends money, with a focus on cutting expenses.
Senior staff have had company credit cards removed and club staff were also informed last week they would need to contribute towards the coach service that would ferry them to the upcoming FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.
Advertisement
Stewart previously held the role of chief legal officer and general counsel and was responsible for overseeing the club’s legal and regulatory affairs as well as managing relationships with key stakeholders, such as the Premier League.
United have made a number of backroom changes since INEOS’ minority investment was confirmed, with it being announced earlier this month that John Murtough had stepped down from his post as football director after more than 10 years at the club.
Murtough will effectively be replaced by Dan Ashworth, once the Newcastle United sporting director’s spell of gardening leave finishes. The Athletic reported that Ashworth is set to take Newcastle United to arbitration to help facilitate his move to Manchester United.
Jason Wilcox was appointed as United’s new technical director in April and he will report to Ashworth once he has joined. Darren Fletcher, meanwhile, is remaining, with the club saying in a statement that he “will continue to play a key role in the football leadership team working across the men’s first team and academy”.
GO DEEPER
INEOS and Ratcliffe finally have the keys to Old Trafford. What does it mean for Man United?
