What Jim Ratcliffe’s immigration comments tell us about football’s ownership problem

“The UK has been colonised by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?” So said Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the Monaco-based billionaire tax exile and owner of Manchester United. The comments (for which he has now sort of apologised) have provoked condemnation from Sir Keir Starmer, Andy Burnham, the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust and Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club.  

The incident followed a familiar pattern – public figure makes controversial comments, generating a widespread outcry, and then they issue an apology that does little to quell the outcry, and the condemnation rumbles on. For many PR pros, regardless of the sector they work in, this will unfortunately be a familiar situation.   

Having previously worked with a sportswear-mogul-turned-Premier-League-club-owner, I know as well as anyone that it can be nigh-on impossible to stop high-powered execs from saying what’s on their mind. Good luck to whoever wants to stop characters like Evangelos Marinakis at Nottingham Forest or David Sullivan at West Ham from telling the media what they really think.  

But whatever you think of them, most people who end up owning a football club have been very successful in another industry. And a big part of that is being able to tell a compelling story, sell a vision and bring people along with you on a journey. And I think fans are crying out for more of that kind of communication from their clubs’ owners. They want to know that the people at the top genuinely care about this precious thing in their lives and have a plan to make it a success. Vague background briefings to sports journos from “people connected to the club” or “familiar with the situation” don’t really cut it anymore.  

Owners of football clubs haven’t bought a business. They have taken on the temporary stewardship of a community asset loved by millions of people both in the local community and around the world. This needs to be reflected in the comms from owners. Engaging fans and celebrating the institution they look after must be the focus for owners and their PR teams.  

That’s not to say that they can’t express their opinions on issues around football, but they must be sensitive to the wider environment. Wading into highly controversial topics like immigration risks alienating fans and proving divisive, as the Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club has pointed out. It also undermines the extensive comms work done by Premier League clubs to make football matches a welcoming place for everyone, regardless of their background.  

I hope the reaction to the Jim Ratcliffe comments doesn’t make other Premier League comms teams think it’s too risky to put their owners up for interviews. Fans want to hear from the people that run their clubs, and it is not beyond the wit of the hard-nosed PR pros in football to make this happen, without their owner ending up being called a “race-baiting hypocrite” by Piers Morgan. 

By Fergus Lynch, Corporate Reputation lead

A version of this post was originally published on PR Moment in February 2026.