Ed Woodward has resigned from Manchester United | 2024: Returns to football

MrMarcello

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You shouldn't be. He did well with 1 or 2 deals early on most likely thanks to most expecting us to bounce back, sadly that well seem to be running dry now. If you look at our pre covid financials we are stagnating in terms of commercial revenues for last 3 years , our match day revenue has been stagnant for nearly all his tenure as CEO thanks to complete neglect of OT. He's incompetence in terms of football matters is going to start costing the next guy off the pitch.
That's a Glazer issue. They do not want to put in a single dollar of their own for anything. OT is lagging behind modern era facilities and will need an overhaul or an entire new structure in the coming years. This is probably when they will look to sell their entire holding or bog the club down with more debt.
 
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Max_United

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Woodward has been in charge of commercial side since 2007 (first as director of purely commercial operations, then in 2013 as a CEO). I decided to compare purely commercial revenue to other clubs using Deloitte Money league.
So here is the annual growth in commercial revenue from 2006/2007 to 2019/2020 for the clubs who were top-20 in both years:

Juve - 14%
Liverpool - 13%
Man Utd - 13%
Barcelona - 13%
Bayern - 12%
Spurs - 12%
Inter - 10%
Real Madrid - 10%
Arsenal - 10%
Chelsea - 9%
Schalke - 6%
Lyon - 2%

So the range for top clubs is basically 9-14% annual growth - Schalke and Lyon decreased their standing in the game a lot (Lyon was the dominant side in France, Schalke one of the top German sides) so not really comparable.
This list of course misses the ones which were top-20 in 2007 but performed badly after that (like Milan), but it also missed those who grew rapidly and broke into top-20 (PSG, City, Atlético, Dortmund etc).
In absolute numbers we were 4th in terms of commercial revenue in 2007 (behind Barca, Bayern and Real). In 2020 we are in the same 4th position behind the same clubs. Plus PSG and City are now 5th and 6th and close to us and growing rapidly - so with no success on the pitch I would say even our 4th position is under threat.

So in sum, on purely commercial side over Woodward tenure we just kept up with peers, nothing less but nothing more.

Commerical-Revenue
 
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Jippy

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Woodward has been in charge of commercial side since 2007 (first as director of purely commercial operations, then in 2013 as a CEO). I decided to compare purely commercial revenue to other clubs using Deloitte Money league.
So here is the annual growth in commercial revenue from 2006/2007 to 2019/2020 for the clubs who were top-20 in both years:

Juve - 14%
Liverpool - 13%
Man Utd - 13%
Barcelona - 13%
Bayern - 12%
Spurs - 12%
Inter - 10%
Real Madrid - 10%
Arsenal - 10%
Chelsea - 9%
Schalke - 6%
Lyon - 2%

So the range for top clubs is basically 9-14% annual growth - Schalke and Lyon decreased their standing in the game a lot (Lyon was the dominant side in France, Schalke one of the top German sides) so not really comparable.
This list of course misses the ones which were top-20 in 2007 but performed badly after that (like Milan), but it also missed those who grew rapidly and broke into top-20 (PSG, City, Atlético, Dortmund etc).
In absolute numbers we were 4th in terms of commercial revenue in 2007 (behind Barca, Bayern and Real). In 2020 we are in the same 4th position behind the same clubs. Plus PSG and City are now 5th and 6th and close to us and growing rapidly - so with no success on the pitch I would say even our 4th position is under threat.

So in sum, on purely commercial side over Woodward tenure we just kept up with peers, nothing less but nothing more.

Commerical-Revenue
Or guided the club to joint second largest revenue growth in world football, depending on your take.
 

Max_United

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Or guided the club to joint second largest revenue growth in world football, depending on your take.
Well, we are definitely not second since PSG, Man City, Dortmund, Atletico, Everton etc etc had very little commercial revenue in 2007, but now they are comfortably top-20, so they likely grew a lot faster than us. I just did not have the base for 2007 to calculate growth for them since Deloitte collects only top-20, and they were outside of top-20 in 2007. But I can imagine Woody showing it like you said that in the presentations to Glazers though :)
 

AneRu

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Woodward has been in charge of commercial side since 2007 (first as director of purely commercial operations, then in 2013 as a CEO). I decided to compare purely commercial revenue to other clubs using Deloitte Money league.
So here is the annual growth in commercial revenue from 2006/2007 to 2019/2020 for the clubs who were top-20 in both years:

Juve - 14%
Liverpool - 13%
Man Utd - 13%
Barcelona - 13%
Bayern - 12%
Spurs - 12%
Inter - 10%
Real Madrid - 10%
Arsenal - 10%
Chelsea - 9%
Schalke - 6%
Lyon - 2%

So the range for top clubs is basically 9-14% annual growth - Schalke and Lyon decreased their standing in the game a lot (Lyon was the dominant side in France, Schalke one of the top German sides) so not really comparable.
This list of course misses the ones which were top-20 in 2007 but performed badly after that (like Milan), but it also missed those who grew rapidly and broke into top-20 (PSG, City, Atlético, Dortmund etc).
In absolute numbers we were 4th in terms of commercial revenue in 2007 (behind Barca, Bayern and Real). In 2020 we are in the same 4th position behind the same clubs. Plus PSG and City are now 5th and 6th and close to us and growing rapidly - so with no success on the pitch I would say even our 4th position is under threat.

So in sum, on purely commercial side over Woodward tenure we just kept up with peers, nothing less but nothing more.

Commerical-Revenue
I think he initially did well but in recent years our poor on-pitch performance has caught up with us. The mere fact that others have caught up with us has a correlation with how poor we have been since Fergie retired so in essence Woodward has been part responsible for both the growth and decline of the club.
 

Jippy

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That sounds about right, plus he no doubt had plenty of low hanging fruit to go for in the early years that the rivals went on to follow and catch up.
 

Max_United

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I think he initially did well but in recent years our poor on-pitch performance has caught up with us. The mere fact that others have caught up with us has a correlation with how poor we have been since Fergie retired so in essence Woodward has been part responsible for both the growth and decline of the club.
Yes, that is exactly what happened. Our commercial revenue between 2007 to 2013 grew at 17% annually. Nothing outrageous, some clubs grew at similar rates at the time - but if we consider clubs that already were among leaders in 2007 (so could not take advantage of low base) - only Bayern had better growth rate than us at 19%.

Post-Fergie between 2013 and 2020 our commercial revenue grew at 9% annually only - most of the biggest clubs did better. So it can clearly be seen that lack of on-pitch success started hampering our commercial side. Which is (however unique football might seem) just like any other business. If you are in a competitive industry, good marketing will bring you only so far - without a good underlying product/service.
 

Fortitude

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Imagine being this guy right now. Even when trying to save face and put himself before the club, he makes a horrific error and cements his legacy as the guy who kept Ole on to be humiliated like this, and in turn, remove any last shred of doubt he’s been a disaster at the club.
 

Rightnr

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This guy should be hounded out of the club. We need someone competent between the leeches and our football side.

Absolute wasteman.
 

Monkey bus

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Took his Exec Vice Chairman (joke title) role with us as Champions and leaves us with this mess.

Which other corporate business wouldn’t have sacked their leader a long time ago with such poor results? Have to heap the blame on the owners again for this. Anybody could make money for Man Utd. His role should have been removed and he should have remained as commercial Director. He’s got every major decision associated with football wrong in his tenure. Joke of an MD and turned us into a joke of a club with fans turning on one of our legends (rightly so at this moment in time) as he either doesn’t have the bollox to fire him or doesn’t have the foresight to come up with a plan B.

Would love to see this clown’s CV and how he turns this role into a positive.
 

Fortitude

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Took his Exec Vice Chairman (joke title) role with us as Champions and leaves us with this mess.

Which other corporate business wouldn’t have sacked their leader a long time ago with such poor results? Have to heap the blame on the owners again for this. Anybody could make money for Man Utd. His role should have been removed and he should have remained as commercial Director. He’s got every major decision associated with football wrong in his tenure. Joke of an MD and turned us into a joke of a club with fans turning on one of our legends (rightly so at this moment in time) as he either doesn’t have the bollox to fire him or doesn’t have the foresight to come up with a plan B.

Would love to see this clown’s CV and how he turns this role into a positive.
I mean, he got it wrong over and over and over again. Such gross incompetence - to make the wrong call at every single juncture a judgement needs to be made.

It’s truly pitiful.
 

Rightnr

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The Boris Johnson of football CEOs. Shameless and clueless.
 

Ayoba

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I couldn't quite believe it when I read this joke of a chairman was going to be kept on as a consultant after his departure. An utter failure with numerous bad decisions, this Wally needs to feck off now and never be associated in any capacity with our club.
 

elmo

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Can a mod please change the title of this thread? I get so happy everytime to see this thread bumped because I think this cretin is finally gone but no, he's still around.
 

Seij

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Took his Exec Vice Chairman (joke title) role with us as Champions and leaves us with this mess.

Which other corporate business wouldn’t have sacked their leader a long time ago with such poor results? Have to heap the blame on the owners again for this. Anybody could make money for Man Utd. His role should have been removed and he should have remained as commercial Director. He’s got every major decision associated with football wrong in his tenure. Joke of an MD and turned us into a joke of a club with fans turning on one of our legends (rightly so at this moment in time) as he either doesn’t have the bollox to fire him or doesn’t have the foresight to come up with a plan B.

Would love to see this clown’s CV and how he turns this role into a positive.
I don't even think he's planning on leaving. He announced his resignation when the pressure on him after the Super League trainwreck was too much and something needed to give, but I think the plan all along was wait it out until the pressure diffuses and then stay on.

He was supposed to quit at the end of the calendar year. Now it's being said that he's staying on until the end of the season.
 

Rightnr

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+ Pogba and Martial
Stop talking shite. This is about Woodward and yet we have some on here they would put our foreign players in the debate for capital punishment. Pathetic.
 

elmo

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I think he initially did well but in recent years our poor on-pitch performance has caught up with us. The mere fact that others have caught up with us has a correlation with how poor we have been since Fergie retired so in essence Woodward has been part responsible for both the growth and decline of the club.
He was just reaping the rewards of the work done by Sir Alex and David Gill. We're a mess on the pitch ever since Ed took over and our commercial side is affected too.
 

hungrywing

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Imagine being this guy right now. Even when trying to save face and put himself before the club, he makes a horrific error and cements his legacy as the guy who kept Ole on to be humiliated like this, and in turn, remove any last shred of doubt he’s been a disaster at the club.
Overheard during the 'emergency meeting':

Darcie Glazer: See? Eddie was right all along! Can't we just keep Eddie and not have him go in December? Who's with me? Come on, guys, he helped daddy purchase the club, we can't turn our backs on him now! Let me see some hands, people!
 

clarkydaz

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I don't even think he's planning on leaving. He announced his resignation when the pressure on him after the Super League trainwreck was too much and something needed to give, but I think the plan all along was wait it out until the pressure diffuses and then stay on.

He was supposed to quit at the end of the calendar year. Now it's being said that he's staying on until the end of the season.
i thought this at the time. just his ususal PR spin. 'He knew nothing about the superleague', ahh but no 'when he knew about it couldnt continue'. The Glazers need him to look after the money
 

marktan

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The Boris Johnson of football CEOs. Shameless and clueless.
A spot on comparison.

I bet he's dying to outlast Ole, so that he doesn't have another big decision to make in choosing his replacement that he knows he'll feck up.

Made out with a lot of money despite being clueless (footballing-wise) and will continue to get paid by the club after he leaves, a solid gig if you can get it.
 

Seij

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i thought this at the time. just his ususal PR spin. 'He knew nothing about the superleague', ahh but no 'when he knew about it couldnt continue'. The Glazers need him to look after the money
I figured this was the case as well. Announcing resignation a year in advance?
 

clarkydaz

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I figured this was the case as well. Announcing resignation a year in advance?
My theory at the time was if the superleague took off he would leave united and be a part of that, as joel announced himself joint chairman of of it. Ed would never have to set foot in OT again, that was when he was getting all the abuse. The club feels more like a political party now with spin and power control
 

The Purley King

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…….

Would love to see this clown’s CV and how he turns this role into a positive.
He’ll be like a failing politician.
feck things up horrifically, go out of the public eye for a year or so and then materialise into a similar role he’s just failed miserably at without anyone batting an eyelid.
Should have stuck to banking…….
 

croadyman

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Can't tell if Ole's sacking will lead to him bringing forward his resignation, wouldn't be surprised if we went the other way knowing his ego.
 

horsechoker

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He's been abysmal in the footballing side of his job. And it appears nothing'll change with the successor.
 

TheMitz

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£38 million paid out in managers compensation.

The man takes incompetence to a new level