August 19 – Manchester United’s Old Trafford has undergone a £20 million facelift with the dressing rooms and broadcast media facilities refurbished.
Inaugurated in 1911 and with a capacity of 74,140 seats, it the largest club stadium in the UK but has been starting to look a little ‘tired’. The club has modernised the dressing rooms, broadcast media positions and barrier seating, and introduced a relaid pitch and new floodlights to ready the stadium for the new season which kicked off last weekend when the hosts stormed past Leeds United. New disabilities facilities will also be opened soon.
“Old Trafford is at the heart of Manchester United and while we have spent over £100 million over the last 10 years on infrastructure projects, we will now accelerate the process of planning much more significant investment and upgrades to the stadium,” said co-chairman Joe Glazer said in the fans forum last June.
“I do want to stress that these projects take time to plan and get right. But, rest assured, we will consult with supporters throughout the process to end up with a result we can all be proud of.”
The refurbishment will still not be enough to shed the perception that the stadium is in need of a major overhaul. 2006 was the last major redevelopment at Old Trafford when the capacity was expanded by 8,000 seats.
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