Sir Jim Ratcliffe has cut £40,000 annual funding to the Association of Former Manchester United Players (AFMUP), the charity has claimed.

Ratcliffe has overseen radical cost-saving measures and job redundancies since taking control of football operations at Old Trafford, with the latest cutback to stop payments to the trust set up to support players from previous eras before the wealth of the Premier League.

AFMUP was set up in 1985 and received an annual sum from the club, helping them host events for ex-professionals at United.

It puts on four events a year where ex-players can rub shoulders with others who signed professional forms with the club but never made a first-team appearance.

But AFMUP trustee Jim Elms, who played for United’s youth team and reserves from 1957 to 1960, says they have not been paid their last two quarterly payments of £10,000 and have been told it is part of Ratcliffe’s cuts.

Elms, 84, 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.”

United’s chief executive Omar Berrada called him in the days before Christmas with news of the funding cut, according to Elms, who has contacted the club to urge them to reconsider.

“Omar was non-committal. He’s going to meet us again in January but he said he couldn’t see it changing,” he said. “He didn’t seem to think that we were a necessity.

“We’ve ran it since 1985. Keeping the old players together. Looking after the ones that couldn’t pay for funerals. I just can’t understand them myself. It’s ridiculous.

“We give away around £10-20,000 to charity, mostly children’s charities in the local area. We’ve had £20,000 this year but not the rest of it.”

Ratcliffe has cut perks for staff such as travel to the FA Cup final last season and a Christmas Party, while Sir Alex Ferguson is also set to leave his ambassador role.

Manchester United have been approached for a response.