Manchester United could leave Old Trafford for brand-new 100,000 seater stadium
By Ben Gray
On Monday morning, it was widely reported by Laurie Whitwell of the Athletic and others that Manchester United are potentially planning to leave Old Trafford, with minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his consortium favouring this over redeveloping the existing site.
Back in April, Dan Sheldon of the Athletic reported that a task force had been set up to explore new stadium options, featuring the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Gary Neville and Lord Sebastian Coe. They have concluded that the best option is to build a new stadium from scratch, which is reportedly set to have a capacity of 100,000, making it the largest in the UK and the second-biggest in Europe, behind only Camp Nou, which is currently being rebuilt.
This stadium would be situated adjacent to their existing home on land already owned by Manchester United, thereby allowing the team to continue to play at Old Trafford while construction takes place, while stand-by-stand renovation could mean they'd be unable to house their 51,000 season ticket holders. It's estimated this project will cost around £2 billion and take at least six years, with financing the major sticking point before a final decision is made in December.
Why now for Manchester United's stadium move?
Back in 2003, Old Trafford hosted the Champions League Final for the very first time, as A.C. Milan beat fierce rivals Juventus on penalties, following a very dull goalless draw. Two decades on, back in October, 2023, UEFA confirmed the ten venues across the UK and Ireland that had been nominated to host matches at the 2028 European Championships, with the Etihad Stadium, despite a significantly smaller capacity, Manchester's representatives. This was symbolic of Man United's decline, there has already been a notable powershift off the pitch, with Man City winning seven Premier League titles since the Red Devils' last in 2013, but this now extends to off the field too.
In February, following his minority takeover of the club, purchasing 27.7% of shares for £1 billion, Sir Jim Ratcliffe told Dan Roan of the BBC he wanted to build a "Wembley of the north", admitting Old Trafford and the surrounding area was "tired and in need of refurbishment". Three months later, following Man United's penultimate home game of the Premier League season, a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal, their leaky roof went vital, with visiting supporters having frequently been heard singing 'Old Trafford is falling down' all throughout the campaign, a statement that had never been more true than that afternoon.
On Saturday, Manchester United began their pre-season tour of the United States with a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, but the game's venue, as oppose to the scoreline, is what is pertinent here. The match took place at SoFi Stadium, home to both Los Angeles NFL teams, the Rams and the Chargers, opened in September 2020, costing a reported $6 billion to construct. The venue will host eight fixtures at the 2026 World Cup, before also staging the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as swimming, at the Olympics two summers later. SoFi is widely-regarded as one of the best modern stadia in the world, with Manchester United officials in attendance at the weekend reportedly inspired by what they saw, according to Simon Stone of BBC Sport. The stadium has rejuvenated the Inglewood area through gentrification, with Radcliffe hoping a new home for Man United can do something similar for Trafford and surrounding areas.
Of the current 20 Premier League clubs, nine have, or are poised to, move stadium in the 21st century: Southampton (2001), Leicester (2002), Manchester City (2003), Arsenal (2006), Brighton (2011), West Ham (2016), Tottenham (2019) and Brentford (2020), while Everton will do so next summer. It appears ever more likely that Manchester United will join this list, although fans of the near-dilapidated Old Trafford won't be saying goodbye to the club's home since 1910 for a little while yet.
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