Manchester United vice-president Ed Woodward has resigned after refusing to support the club’s desire to join the rebel Super League.
United’s American owner, the Glazer family, was among the main leaders when they tried to get support for the project, where Joel Glazer sealed a place as vice president of the Super League before it finally collapsed on Tuesday night.
Woodward took much of the blame for the Super League plans | Craig Mercer / MB Media / Getty Images
Woodward, however, had faced much of the backlash. UEFA President Alexander Ceferin branded him a “snake and a liar” for offering his support for the Champions League reform just before the Super League revelation, but according to Sky Sports News, Woodward was genuine with his support.
When it was announced that United were planning to leave the Champions League, Woodward wondered if he could support the owners’ desire to shake up football, and when he decided he could not submit his departure on Monday, a day before the Super League rasade.
Yes, you read that right. Woodward was actually the good guy in all of this. Mental.
Woodward did not agree with Glazer’s vision | Michael Regan / Getty Images
It never looked good for Woodward from the start. The CEO was an investment bank for JP Morgan, the US financiers of the competition, before moving to Old Trafford, so it was immediately assumed that he had played a role in the deal being agreed.
The timing of his departure did not help either. The news was announced shortly after Chelsea and Manchester City withdrew from the Super League and sent the plans that crashed to the ground, suggesting that Woodward lost his problems, but that does not seem to be the case.
Instead, Woodward was frustrated with Glazer’s plans to leave the current system so abruptly, especially given that he would always take a lot of the blame because of his role as the key decision-maker at Old Trafford.
Woodward resigned before plans crumbled Alex Livesey / Getty Images
As a result, he felt his position was unsustainable and left at a time when he would have thought the Super League was moving forward.
In his farewell statement, Woodward wrote: “I desperately wanted the club to win the Premier League during my time and I’m sure the ground is in place for us to win it back for our passionate fans.”
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