For some, it is a shame to see a once-great football club like Manchester United struggling to compete at the top of the Premier League.
For others, it is amusing to watch a club that had the same number of league titles and European Cups as Aston Villa before the arrival of Alex Ferguson return to their mean.
Whichever side of the fence you happen to find yourself on, the one thing that can’t really be debated is that Old Trafford is not the jewel in the crown that it once was.
The problem is, that deciding what should happen next is another thing that not everyone can agree upon, but where are the plans for the stadium currently up to?
Jim Ratcliffe’s Grand Plans
When Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over the ‘football operations’ side of Manchester United, he pledged more than £200 million towards the ‘future infrastructure’ of Old Trafford. The British billionaire grew up supporting the club, making him keen to see it return to the top of the English game, with Old Trafford being his starting point.
His first few months in office saw him weighing up whether to renovate the current stadium or to look to build an entirely new one, even going so far as to say that the Football Association should help to pay for the construction of a ‘Wembley of the North‘ that Manchester United would call their home.
so Jim Radcliffe wanted government to pay for Utds stadium, the public perception was a poor one, so they have rebadged it into “regenerating the area for the good of the locals” & will get government funding that way instead! Fella is a tax exile billionaire,make him pay for it! pic.twitter.com/kX7I4qWb2d
— Jambags (@jambags) March 8, 2024
Then, after internal talks, it as decided that United would join forces with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Trafford Council in order to create a ‘strategic partnership’ that would look to redevelop Old Trafford.
Lord Sebastian Coe was brought on board as Chair of the Task Force, saying, “The objective of this once-in-a-generation project is not only the development of a world-class stadium for the north of England but also to ensure that this brings broad social and economic benefits to the local area and surrounding region”. Foster + Partners were then brought on board to develop a plan for the redevelopment.
A Boon for the Local Economy
A report by Oxford Economics, which is one of the leading independent global advisory firms, said that the new stadium project could deliver as much as £7.3 billion a year into the British economy. As well as 92,000 new jobs being created as a result of the new ground, 17,000 homes would be built and nearly two million people a year would come into the area each year.
Although Ratcliffe believes that supporters would be against the club relocating, he does think that supporters would remain on board if the new stadium was built within the area that is owned by Manchester United, which stretches around Wharfside.
Meanwhile, Jim Heverin, who is one of the Directors of Zaha Hadid Architects, believes that following in footsteps of Real Madrid, Barcelona and even United’s main rivals Liverpool by redeveloping the current Old Trafford probably makes the most sense. 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”.
It would also ensure that the money would stay in the same area that Old Trafford has always existed in, with a necessity to redevelop the land around the stadium being clear to anyone who has been there.
Is Old Trafford Really That Bad?
One of the key questions that anyone associated with Manchester United Football Club will be asking themselves is whether or not Old Trafford is really in that much of a bad state to need redevelopment. The answer, though, is a resounding yes.
Rival fans turn up at the ground each week and sing, “Old Trafford is falling down”, no doubt inspired by the fact that rain floods through the roof on days when there is a heavy downpour. It is not just the roof that is demonstrating problems either. Any time supporters attend the ground, new videos emerge of an issue in another part of the famous old stadium that needs to be dealt with.
@sportbible The roof was leaking at Old Trafford at the end of the Arsenal game 😬🏟️ 🎥 IG/saeedtv_ #sportbible #sports #football #soccer #manchesterunited #oldtrafford ♬ original sound – SPORTbible
Andy Mitten, a representative of supporter group United We Stand, said, The main stand does need doing, so does the roof, but the exterior of the stadium needs doing too. 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…I’m not a fan of the roof because I think it comes in too low.
Old Trafford shouldn’t be getting smaller, it should be getting bigger”. It is expected that the club will make an announcement about the future of the stadium by the end of 2024, but whether the plans will please supporters remains to be seen.