Manchester United have unveiled plans for a new £2 billion, 100,000-seater stadium, which will be the largest football ground in the United Kingdom, MySportDab Reports.
The new stadium would be situated adjacent to Old Trafford and claims it will be “the world’s greatest football stadium”, with completion hoped for within five years.
It has come after a long debate over whether the club should refurbish Old Trafford or build a new world-class venue. Old Trafford, which has served as the club’s home since 1910, has faced growing criticism over its aging infrastructure, including leaks in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand. The stadium has not been significantly redeveloped since 2006.
The stadium, which will have an umbrella-style roof and a public space described as being twice as large as Trafalgar Square, is a different one, one designed by the architect Foster and Partners.
One of the design’s most eye-searing characteristics will be three 200 metre high masts dubbed ‘the trident’ that will be able to be seen 25 miles away.
United’s owner, Joel Glazer, is the group chairman, but the club has not explained how it will afford the project despite being £1 billion in debt. The stadium is part of a wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area which has the backing of the government via Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The redevelopment would generate 92,000 jobs, 17,000 homes and an extra 1.8 million visitors each year. The total project is expected to deliver £7.3 billion each year to the UK economy.
To do this, United spoke at length with important decision-makers behind other large stadium projects, like SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and Real Madrid’s renovated Santiago Bernabéu.
The club also consulted local residents and fans to discern whether they would prefer a full rebuild or extensive renovations to the existing Old Trafford, which consultants estimated would come in at a cost of £1.5 billion.
It will be an emotional and controversial decision to leave Old Trafford. But Sir Alex Ferguson has endorsed the decision, saying:
“Manchester United was always there to win the best in everything it did, on and off the pitch, and your stadium should be no different,” Neves said in a statement. “Old Trafford means so much to me personally and it carries with us so many great memories but we need to be bold and take the opportunity to create a new home that is fit for the future, where we can create much more history.”
Other figures to welcome the plans include Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who described it as an opportunity for historic regeneration that could surpass the impact of London 2012.
