Monday was revealed by The Athletics that Manchester United hope to build a 100,000-seater stadium near their home ground of Old Trafford.
Our United writers discuss the news from the latest episode of the Talking about the devils podcast; here’s a shortened version of what they had to say.
You can listen to the full episode for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all the usual podcast platforms by this link.
Laurie Whitwell: So we feel that a new stadium is the preferred option, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made no secret of that. He wants a kind of campus feel that we’ve seen here in Los Angeles with the SoFi Stadium and what Stan Kroenke and the local authorities have been able to produce. A refurbishment of the ground might cost £1 billion but that brings its own problems in terms of having to renovate stands as you go and a temporary reduction in the capacity of Old Trafford, where United have 51,000 season ticket holders.
Ian Irving: We’ve seen a lot of teams change stadiums in recent years and it usually takes time to build up a sense of ownership in those stadiums, so it’s going to be a big deal for United given the long history of Old Trafford.
(John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Whitwell: The process is being led by the taskforce, which is chaired by Sebastian Coe. You’ve got Andy Burnham (the Mayor of Greater Manchester) in there, you’ve got Gary Neville, and you’ve got people with links to the local authority. Collette Roche is the club’s chief operating officer and she’s been leading discussions on stadium plans for a couple of years, but it feels like Ratcliffe wants some kind of full recommendation by the end of the year. Obviously there has to be consultation with fans and there’s going to be a sub-taskforce set up, including Duncan Drasdo, the CEO of the Man United Supporters Trust.
Transport links need to be improved, which raises the question of whether it will be a public-private partnership with the government getting involved. We saw Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister, at Old Trafford in May having those kinds of conversations with the club. So it feels like a significant development because, okay, now there’s progress towards a new stadium.
Starmer at Old Trafford in May 2024 (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Andy Mitten: It is the most important issue for the next decade, and heritage is important. Supporters are going to use the stadium, whether it is new or redeveloped, but they need to be properly consulted about it. But something needs to be done. Old Trafford is not big enough and has been left to its own devices for the last 20 years. It is still a very good stadium, but as we saw here on Saturday, stadium technology has come on in leaps and bounds.
Architecturally, SoFi Stadium was a complete surprise. It’s miles, miles bigger than Old Trafford because there’s so much space. You have so much space between your seats. And I’m not even making a passionate case for that because I like people being crammed into Old Trafford, but there are elements to it. The bottom line is that something has to happen. This is Ratcliffe’s big project. This is what I think he wants people to remember him by.
(Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Whitwell: It’s old-fashioned stuff, isn’t it?
Because: And fortunately there is land around Old Trafford and some of it is very desirable. It’s not the problem that Chelsea have or Arsenal had when they wanted to leave Highbury. There is land here. Old Trafford will remain Old Trafford, whether it’s a new stadium or a redevelopment. You have to consult the fans properly and ask them what they want, but it’s quite exciting. I’ve been writing about this (the stadium situation) for 20 years. We’re not at the stage where the cranes are in place yet, but there is real momentum here.
Old Trafford undergoes redevelopment in the 1960s (Chapman/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
Irving: The big question is how it’s going to be funded. That’s obviously going to have to be addressed seriously as we go along, but it could be the best part of a decade before we see Manchester United in a new stadium.
Carl Anka: Here’s a cheeky, thought-provoking question. Was Alex Ferguson the last Manchester United manager to lift the Premier League trophy at Old Trafford? Imagine if the team of 2013 were the last United team to win the league at Old Trafford.
Whitwell: What do we make of this? Because I’ve been advocating for Old Trafford to be retained if we can. You’ve changed your mind a bit haven’t you Andy? As for the new build, you can see the reasons for that, to future-proof it. That’s why the naming rights…
Irving: …will pose a potential problem.
Whitwell: But will fans be okay with that if it means they have a stadium that they are proud of and that they genuinely enjoy going to? But again, as Andy said, you don’t want to lose sight of what still makes Old Trafford such a great place to watch football. It has a great atmosphere when it’s lively.
(Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Anka: My view is that when Andy Burnham turned up before United beat Everton halfway through last season and explained how the taskforce would work, that was a huge indicator that the direction of travel was towards a total rebuild, plus the way Burnham described how you create the kind of campus that you describe above. So you have a stadium, you have an even smaller pitch, you have an arena and you have better transport links into the city centre.
That’s a huge growth, not just for Manchester United but for Manchester as a city. That means thousands of new jobs that are potentially coming to the city. Why not future-proof yourself and try to make whatever you build last for the next 50 years? You can do Old Trafford for £1 billion now, but at some point you’re probably going to have to do it again for a billion. So why not just do it in one go? At the same time, you’ve got to make sure that your local residents don’t feel left out. Even this morning. I’ve had two or three United fans ask, ‘Is it still going to be called Old Trafford?’ So that’s going to be a big consideration.
GO DEEPER
It will always be Old Trafford, but the mood around selling naming rights has changed
Because: I wrote a piece a few weeks ago for The Athletics about the naming rights. I don’t think it’s the same issue it was 20 years ago. Maybe Old Trafford can be kept, maybe it can be a second stadium if that’s what it needs to be. But the local community needs to be consulted about it and the development needs to improve it as an area where people can live. There’s a railway line that goes right through Gorse Hill, which people from Gorse Hill can’t use because there’s no stop. Old Trafford should have a stop! There’s an opportunity to do something big here. I don’t know what it looks like, but I’m glad something’s going to be done because it’s been too long.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
