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Aug 6, 2024 · “Old Trafford is a huge and iconic building but it is old and tired,” says Ian Nuttall, founder of The Stadium Business website, the leading source of information on the sports and ...
Jul 29, 2024 · Manchester United will aim to build a 100,000-seater stadium should the club press ahead with plans to move to a new Old Trafford. The six-figure capacity is seen as a realistic number...
Sep 29, 2024 · There would be, “no football club in the British Isles able to boast of better headquarters”, reported the Manchester Guardian. A stadium capacity of 80,000, with a sixth of them afforded the ...
Aug 10, 2024 · Andy Cole said the SoFi Stadium's regeneration of Inglewood can be mirrored in Manchester with a new or redeveloped world-class ground at Old Trafford.
- 1 min
- Overview
- Could Man Utd get a new stadium?
- What is Man Utd's stance on this?
- What's wrong with Old Trafford?
- What do Man Utd fans think about the situation?
- What have other clubs done recently?
- And the big one... how much would this cost?
Are Manchester United getting a new stadium? What will it mean for the future of Old Trafford? And how much will this all cost? Sky Sports takes a look at the key questions...
Manchester United have said they are supporting council plans to regenerate an area surrounding Old Trafford, which includes a dedicated 'Stadium District'.
But chief operating officer, Collette Roche, did not offer any indication of what that development could look like when quoted alongside Trafford Council's executive member for economy and regeneration, councillor Liz Patel.
Roche said: "We will continue to work closely with the council, and other local stakeholders, on how any future development work at Old Trafford can complement their vision and, most importantly, benefit the local community."
The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to create a new stadium for United, who have spent the last 114 years at Old Trafford, which holds nearly 74,000 spectators.
The plan, according to the report, would see United create a 'Wembley of the North' to rival the 90,000-seater national stadium in north London.
•The Future of Football Stadiums: Renovation, not relocation
According to the Telegraph, Ratcliffe is against the idea of relocating the club, but feels supporters will be behind a stadium move if they stay within the same land.
United own around 100 acres of land around Old Trafford, 43 acres of that land is ripe for development. Around 25 acres are said to be unused.
As part of the Future of Football series, Jim Heverin, a director at Zaha Hadid Architects, said the manner in which Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool have renovated their own stadia, rather than building new ones, is the template United should follow.
"At Old Trafford, you'd definitely expect them to be thinking about repurposing and not going anywhere else. Look at what Liverpool has been doing with these small modifications and upgrades. That looks like the future and not brand new stadiums," he said.
"I know why Everton are moving but that is looking more like the old way of looking at new stadiums, particularly when you have something already that is an asset."
Gary Neville has been very vocal about the need to improve the Old Trafford facilities. "Maybe what Liverpool have done is the way forward," he said late last year.
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Speaking on his podcast, Gary Neville called on Manchester United's new owners to make improving Old Trafford one of their top priorities
Oh, quite a lot. "Old Trafford is falling down" is the first line of a chant that fans of rival clubs have continually used to point fun at United this season.
The falling standards of United's ground have been well-documented. Videos of run-down parts of the ground have circulated online in recent years and even though it is the largest club stadium in England, it was not selected to be one of the host venues for Euro 2028 in the UK and Ireland.
"The main stand does need doing, so does the roof, but the exterior of the stadium needs doing too," added Mitten.
"It looks a little bit red in different areas and there are fundamental issues with Old Trafford which are not great. The legroom is notorious in the stadium.
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United We Stand editor Andy Mitten says Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been making the right noises with regards to updating Old Trafford and says the stadium needs remodelling or rebuilding
Mitten believes the Manchester United fans are divided on how they want Old Trafford to be redeveloped, but adds that money and costs will come into the equation.
"From what I can see Manchester United fans are split on the decision of re-developing or building a new stadium," he said.
"I've been lucky enough to see some stadium developments around Europe such as Marseille. I've always favoured a re-development but I'm open to hearing and so are other fans. If the re-development ends up costing more money than a new stadium then that sheds the debate into a different area.
"Some fans love the idea of a new stadium. I love what Real Madrid have done and what Barcelona are doing, but I'm not completely against the idea of building a new stadium.
Image: The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium opened in 2019
Staying on the same land is a move Tottenham made when they developed their new stadium. Spurs left their old White Hart Lane ground in 2016, spent nearly three seasons at Wembley, before moving back into their new 61,000-seater venue in early 2019.
One issue is that Old Trafford is located between a railway line and a canal, making the logistics relatively challenging. While Brentford managed to overcome a similar challenge for their Gtech Community Stadium in 2020, their stadium is much smaller, holding just 17,000 fans.
The renovation of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin's Lansdowne Road also saw railway-line-related challenges, with a line running alongside the west of the stadium. That renovation was completed in 2010.
Image: How will Man Utd pay for a potential new stadium?
The Daily Telegraph reports that expanding Old Trafford would cost United around £800m, whereas a new ground would cost around £1.5bn to £2bn.
Tottenham's new stadium cost the club around £1.2bn, according to Spurs owner Daniel Levy in an interview in November 2020.
As part of his £1.2bn deal to buy a stake in United, Ratcliffe is putting £239m into the club to help boost the club's infrastructure. Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim, who rivalled Ratcliffe in the running to control United, was willing to pledge £1.27bn for the same work.
United could lobby the government to fund part of this stadium project as part of the 'levelling up' pledge, according to the Telegraph. Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said last week: "Whatever it is they [Ratcliffe and INEOS] want, we will facilitate and we will be there to make sure the club is set up for the future."
But if those requests are not granted, then the only way United can afford this stadium is if either Ratcliffe ups his £239m pledge, the Glazers suddenly invest in infrastructure for the first time, or the club borrows more money.
Feb 23, 2024 · Having visited Old Trafford and Carrington, the club’s training base on the south-western outskirts of Manchester, multiple times in recent months, Ratcliffe is thinking big — but will the UK...
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Mar 8, 2024 · Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium is set for major development. United co-owner Ratcliffe said: “This can be a major regeneration project for an area of Greater Manchester which has...
