Executive Pay.

Key Figures

Total director compensation (2012–25)

~£125M

BBC Verify, June 2025

Estimated Glazer family share

~£63M

Board member fees 2012–2025

Ed Woodward cumulative (2013–20)

~£21M

Swiss Ramble analysis

Richard Arnold departure payment

£5.7M

FY2024 termination benefit

Total severance costs (2014–26)

~£98M

Managers, coaches, executives

Average annual board comp (FY20-25)

~£8.5M

Aggregate key management

Overview

This entry documents the structure, scale, and alignment of executive compensation at Manchester United plc from the Glazer acquisition in June 2005 through fiscal year 2024–25. Manchester United plc has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since August 2012.¹ Executive compensation disclosures therefore follow SEC Form 20-F reporting requirements. Prior to the NYSE listing, pay data is available from Manchester United Football Club Limited filings at Companies House.

The BBC Verify team, analysing Manchester United financial statements and stock market disclosures, reported in June 2025 that since the club's 2012 NYSE listing, approximately £125 million had been distributed in director compensation in aggregate, with an estimated £63 million attributed to Glazer family board members.²

Pay Levels Over Time

Manchester United plc discloses aggregate compensation for the board of directors and executive management combined in its annual Form 20-F filing. The elevated FY2024 figure of £11,030,000 is attributable to £5,725,000 in termination benefits, understood to correspond substantially to the departure of chief executive Richard Arnold in February 2024.³ Excluding that item, underlying aggregate compensation in FY2024 was approximately £5,305,000, the lowest recorded figure in the available series.

Ed Woodward held the position of executive vice-chairman from May 2013 until his departure in April 2022. Over the period from 2013 to 2020, his cumulative remuneration is estimated at approximately £21 million, based on analysis published by Swiss Ramble in January 2021.⁴

Pay Structure and Governance

The 2012 Equity Incentive Award Plan (the Equity Plan) was established at the time of the NYSE listing, reserving 16,000,000 Class A ordinary shares for issuance as share-based compensation.⁵ Because Manchester United is classified as a "controlled company" under NYSE rules - the Glazer family retaining effective voting control through Class B shares, each carrying ten votes against one vote per Class A share - the company was not required to comply with NYSE governance rules mandating that executive compensation be determined solely by independent directors.⁶

The company states in its Form 20-F that it does not maintain a bonus or profit-sharing plan for the benefit of executive management as a group. Certain members of executive management are eligible for individual annual bonuses, the terms of which are not publicly disclosed in aggregate.⁷

Alignment with Financial and Sporting Performance

Ed Woodward earned £3,160,000 in FY2019, the season in which Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League - their lowest finish in the post-Ferguson era at that point.⁸ In FY2020, the club finished third; Woodward was paid £3,090,000, recorded at the time as the highest salary of any Premier League chief executive disclosing individual director remuneration, above Daniel Levy of Tottenham Hotspur at £2,960,000.⁹

Short-term employee benefits for key management in FY2020 and FY2021 - the two COVID-impacted years when matchday revenue was eliminated - were £9,507,000 and £8,326,000 respectively, representing the highest short-term benefit figures in the available series.¹⁰

The Glazers paid £11 million in dividends in June 2022, following a season in which Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League, failed to qualify for European competition, and conceded 57 Premier League goals. The Manchester United Supporters' Trust publicly described the payment as occurring "at the end of one of the worst seasons in living memory."¹¹ Total aggregate key management compensation in FY2022 was £7,185,000.

Termination and Severance Costs

The FY2024 termination benefit of £5,725,000 arose in the context of Richard Arnold's departure in February 2024. Arnold formally received £5,529,000 listed as compensation for loss of office, disclosed in the club's interim financial report filed with the SEC.¹² His annual salary at departure was £2,560,000, making the severance equivalent to approximately 2.1 times annual remuneration.¹³

The club's second-quarter NYSE accounts also disclosed £14.5 million in exceptional items covering the departures of both Erik ten Hag and Dan Ashworth.¹⁴ Sky News, analysing SEC 20-F filings, reported in 2026 that the club had paid approximately £98 million in costs associated with loss of office to former managers, coaches, senior staff, and board members since 2014.¹⁵

Glazer Family Director Compensation

Director fees have been paid to Glazer family members serving on the board, disclosed at approximately $200,000 annually per director in Form 20-F filings.¹⁶ With six Glazer family members serving as directors across much of the period from 2012 to 2025, the aggregate Glazer director fee income would total approximately £63 million over the period - consistent with the BBC Verify estimate.²

No written employment or service agreements with outside directors - including the six Glazer family members serving on the board as at June 2025 - are disclosed in the Form 20-F, which states the company may enter into such agreements in the future.¹⁷

Summary

Executive compensation at Manchester United between 2012 and 2025 totalled approximately £125 million in aggregate, of which approximately £63 million is attributed to Glazer family board members. Individual CEO remuneration peaked under Ed Woodward, whose estimated £21 million over 2013–2020 coincided with a period of sustained trophy drought and declining league position.

The structural feature of Manchester United's governance - its status as a "controlled company" under NYSE rules - means that executive pay was not required to be determined by independent directors. The specific metrics and targets governing individual annual bonuses have not been publicly disclosed. Termination and severance costs across all departing executives, managers, and senior staff since 2014 are estimated at approximately £98 million.