Jim Ratcliffe links Brailsford exit to Manchester United board change
jim ratcliffe’s Manchester United board reset took another step on April 30, when Sir Dave Brailsford’s directorship ended. The change removes a visible INEOS-linked figure from the football club board and brings Rob Nevin, the chairman of INEOS Sport, into his place.
April 30 was the date Companies House showed Brailsford’s role as a director terminating, closing a board appointment that began after Ratcliffe’s minority stake was confirmed in December 2023. For supporters and shareholders tracking who sits around the club’s decision-making table, the change narrows the INEOS footprint without altering the separate New York Stock Exchange-listed parent company board.
Manchester United board on April 30
April 30 marked the end of Brailsford’s directorship at Manchester United, leaving the 62-year-old off the club’s football board for the first time since his appointment. He had stayed on the board alongside the six Glazer siblings, former manager Sir Alex Ferguson and ex-chief executive David Gill even after stepping back from day-to-day duties last summer.
December 2023 was the starting point for that board role, when Brailsford was appointed after Ratcliffe’s minority stake was confirmed. The move placed him inside the club’s football board structure while the ownership side around Manchester United was still being reshaped.
Rob Nevin enters INEOS Sport
Rob Nevin, chairman of INEOS Sport, will replace Brailsford on the board. That keeps an INEOS Sport executive at the table, but with a different name attached to the seat as the club continues operating through a board that sits apart from the parent company’s listed board.
Last summer, Brailsford relinquished his day-to-day role at United and returned to acting as director of sport for INEOS, while also focusing on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Grenadiers cycling team. He still remained on the football board after that shift, so the April 30 filing completes a separate step from the operational change made last year.
United decisions under Brailsford
Brailsford played a key role in the appointments of chief executive Omar Berrada, former sporting director Dan Ashworth and now-director of football Jason Wilcox. He was also influential on the renovation of the men’s training facility at Carrington and led target-setting missions aimed at restoring United to former glories.
Mission 21 targeted a 21st league title, while Mission 1 was created to win the first Women’s Super League title. Both sat inside Project 150, the plan built for the club’s 150th anniversary in 2028. With Brailsford off the board and Nevin moving in, the INEOS-linked structure is changing by seat rather than by ambition.
