Woodward’s resignation comes after Manchester United were heavily criticised by their own supporters for agreeing to join a breakaway European Super League.
It is understood Woodward will leave the club at the end of 2021. Woodward took the post at Old Trafford in 2013.
Why has he resigned?
Woodward’s decision to resign as Manchester United executive vice chairman comes after a tumultuous 48 hours following the announcement of a breakaway European Super League.
Legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson was among those to voice his opposition to the decision.
“Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football,” he told Reuters.
“Both as a player for a provincial team Dunfermline in the 60s and as a manager at Aberdeen winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, for a small provincial club in Scotland it was like climbing Mount Everest.”
The club were also heavily criticised by former player Gary Neville on Sky Sports, while current players Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw all made their displeasure known.
What next for the Super League?
Plans for a European Super League now hang by a thread after Chelsea and Manchester City withdrew from the planned breakaway tournament on Tuesday night.
15 clubs had announced that they were ‘founding members’ of the new tournament on Sunday.
But the double withdrawal plus the news of Woodward’s departure from Manchester United, another founding member, means the breakaway tournament now hangs in the balance.
Seriously, did his tenure not begin in 2012? Did we not win the league in 2013?