Jim Ratcliffe cancels annual donation to Man Utd player charity without informing them

Bryan Robson and Denis Irwin are just a couple of players to be affected

This latest news comes as per Mail Sport, and is the most recent cost-cutting measure in a string of tight-fisted calls made by the new part-owner.

It follows on from the INEOS owner swapping £100 staff bonuses for £40 M&S gift cards, ticket price hikes and cutting a yearly bonus for legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The club used to provide £40,000 a year to the trust known as the Association of Former Manchester United Players, which is now at risk of going under without this monetary injection.

The trust was set up in 1985 to help footballer from past eras who were not paid the astronomical sums their modern day counterparts receive.

Four events take place yearly that sees former players connected with others who signed on professional deals but never made a first-team appearance.

The charity only realised the payments had stopped after two of the quarterly payments of £10,000 failed to arrive.

Trustee Jim Elms, 84, who played for United’s youth team and reserves from 1957 to 1960, called the move “ridiculous”.

He called on the club to reconsider its stance and noted that the charity does “so much good for the club for so little”.

He told The Sun: “We sent a ­letter to say we’ve not been paid. Nobody came out and told us so we had to send another letter. That’s when we started hearing things that it was going to be the end of us.”

Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, called Elms only days before Christmas to tell him the news.

The charity's 300 member include legendary names such as former skipper Bryan Robson, Alex Stepney, Denis Law, Brian Kidd, Arthur Albiston, Frank Stapleton, Denis Irwin and David May.

A source said on the decision: “Everyone knows the club needs to save money but some things just shouldn’t be cut. Some of the players who benefit from this organisation never earned a penny from football and aren’t in the best financial circumstances."