Dave Brailsford’s Manchester United exit confirmed as focus returns to Netcompany Ineos

Dave Brailsford has left his position on Manchester United’s board of directors. The Times has reported that Brailsford had resigned on April 30, with official confirmation coming on Thursday in the filings at Companies House for Manchester United Football Club Ltd.

Brailsford played a key role before and after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a minority stake in the club and was officially appointed in February 2024, stepping down from his role as team principal at Ineos Grenadiers.  

The 62-year-old was involved in the restructuring of the club’s hierarchy, as well as the £50m revamp of the Carrington training ground. 

Brailsford was also key in the appointments of chief executive Omar Berrada, who joined from Manchester City, former sporting director Dan Ashworth, who joined from Newcastle but departed after just five months, and now director of football Jason Wilcox.

In June 2025, it was reported that Brailsford would be sidelined from his role at Manchester United, following the 2024-2025 season. In that season, the team, led by Ruben Amorim, recorded their lowest finish since the Premier League was formed, 15th with 42 points. 

In addition, the team lost the Europa League final in Bilbao 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 17th in the league. As a result, Man United missed out on qualification for European football for the 2025/2026 season, for just the second time in 35 years.

Following the end of the football season, it was also confirmed in June that Brailsford would return to an active role in the cycling team, and he was involved in the process of appointing Geraint Thomas as Ineos’ Director of Racing ahead of the 2026 season.

With the arrival of Danish IT company Netcompany as a title sponsor of the team ahead of the upcoming Giro d’Italia this May, reportedly bringing in €100 million to the team budget over the next five years, Brailsford has outlined his ambition to win an eighth Tour de France. 

The team won the Tour seven times from 2012 until 2019 with four different riders; Bradley Wiggins (2012), Chris Froome (2013, 2015-17), Geraint Thomas (2018) and Egan Bernal (2019).

Ineos currently have 18 victories so far in 2026, a tally which is only bettered by UAE Team Emirates-XRG.