old trafford stretford end pitch under artificial lighting

Your guide to Man Utd’s Old Trafford redevelopment

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Do you risk destroying the soul of the club, to create a world class stadium or redevelop a decaying ground, which may never become ‘state of the art’ again?

This is the predicament new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team face, after expressing their intent to improve the stadium.

Old Trafford has been Manchester United’s home since 1910, overseeing the glory years of Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson as well as the decades of struggle without silverware.

In the United Kingdom, only 114-year-old Ethel Caterham was alive when United didn’t play at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. (Bar during WW2 and up until 1949 due to reconstruction following German bombing.)

What is Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s stance?

Since becoming co-owner, the boyhood United fan has always expressed his preference for United to build the ‘Wembley of the North,’ in a 90,000 seater ground, which would stand among the best arena’s in the world, like the recently built Tottenham Hotspur stadium.

However, such a feat wouldn’t be cheap and according to the Daily Telegraph would cost about £1.5bn to £2bn.

Whereas, to keep Old Trafford and just redevelop, it would reportedly cost around £800m.

When attempting to buy the club, Ratcliffe pledged £239m to be put towards redevelopment of Old Trafford.

At the time, this statement was met with hostility from fans, as Sheikh Jassim, the other frontrunner in the sale race, was willing to put forward £1.27bn.

Now you’re probably thinking, if Ratcliffe is only willing to invest £239m, where is the rest of the money going to come from?

Financing

With the Glazer family avoiding any sort of investment into United in their 18-year ownership of the club, financing from the majority owners seems unlikely.

One solution Ratcliffe has proposed is to use tax-payers money.

Ratcliffe said: “There is a bias in the UK in terms of where national stadiums have been built – they are all in the south. There is a lot of talk about levelling up. HS2 has been cancelled and all that is going to be spent on the rail network in London. The people in the north pay their taxes just as the people in the south.

“Why shouldn’t there be a venue in the north of England for England to play at? Why does everyone in the north have to go to the south for the semi-finals of the FA Cup?”

However, a use of taxpayers cash to fund a ‘Premier League giant’ has been said to be highly unlikely.

So, if the Glazer family won’t pay and Ratcliffe can’t secure public financing, how are United going to afford it?

It remains to be seen how this issue is worked out, but with Ratcliffe estimated to be worth 16.2bn dollars and INEOS’ revenue standing at 68 billion in 2022, some leverage on their investment might help fund this new development.

The Task Force

To make this huge ambition a reality, Ratcliffe has assembled a ‘task force’ to lead with the project.

Chairing this is Lord Sebastian Coe who was also chair in the organising committee for the London 2012 Olympics.

Alongside Coe sits Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Sara Todd, the Chief Executive of Trafford Council and Gary Neville, a former captain of ‘The Red Devils.’

Their focus will be to support development in the area between Trafford Park and the banks of Salford Quays in an overall aim to increase investment in the north of England.

Fan Divide

While this group takes control of the project, the fans of United are left split on what they think should happen to the stadium.

Many feel Old Trafford is too special to leave behind, with a plethora of memories which can’t be lost.

By leaving ‘The Theatre of Dreams,’ INEOS risk losing the identity of United and everything it stands for.

Every high and every low has been in this stadium.

Every ‘Fergi time’ winner, every title and every heartbreak.

Old Trafford is the soul of this football club.

But not everyone is adamant on staying.

Some see the state of Old Trafford, decaying after years of neglect and feel this leaves the club with no choice but to build a new stadium.

The amount of cash needed to make it ‘state of the art’ again, would be unjustifiable, particularly with the option of a new stadium.

An uncertain future

With rival fans singing ‘Old Trafford is falling down,’ week in, week out, INEOS and Ratcliffe have a big decision to make for United to be playing in a stadium fit for the legacy and history of this football club.

According to Burnham, who sits on the taskforce, Ratcliffe will make a decision on plans to redevelop Old Trafford in mid-to-late 2024.

We’re five months into the year already, so the second half of the year is sure to be turbulent and incredibly significant for the future of Manchester United football club and Old Trafford.