January 20 – The Manchester United stadium saga could be closer to resolution as the club are set to decide whether to build a new temple to the Red Devils or redesign the aging edifice that is their spiritual home, Old Trafford.
The aptly named Old Trafford regeneration task force will make a decision at the end of the current season after publishing its option report.
Sticking a band-aid on Old Trafford or as the designers like to say, redeveloping the existing structure, could raise the capacity to 87,000, up from the current capacity of 74,310.
Minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has bigger ambitions though and would like to build a brand-new stadium that would host 100,000 supporters. Whether the current majority owners, the notoriously tight-fisted, Glazer family are on board is unknown.
The task force states that both options have viability to “deliver transformative benefits for the club as well as Trafford and beyond, but these are amplified under the new build option.”
As always with any kind of stadium expansion or new build the devil is in the cash. A new build will set the club back an estimated £2 billion, which invariably will grow to a far larger number. To refurbish Old Trafford will cost half that amount.
The club, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and Trafford Council have entered into a strategic partnership to combine the stadium project with the regeneration of the wider Trafford Wharfside area.
Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “These proposals offer the biggest opportunity for urban regeneration this country has seen since London 2012 and are an important part of our 10-year plan to turbocharge growth not only around Old Trafford but across Greater Manchester.”
United will have one eye on the stadium development of Barcelona’s, Camp Nou which is experiencing cost overruns, but also on any potential naming rights that have the potential to bring in some much needed funds.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1737390320labto1737390320ofdlr1737390320owedi1737390320sni@o1737390320fni1737390320