Manchester United Plc (NYSE:MANU) has unveiled plans to build a new 100,000-seat stadium to replace its current 115-year-old Old Trafford home.
What would be the largest stadium in the country, topping Wembley's 90,000 capacity, is part of plans for a regeneration of the Old Trafford area, also including the building of 17,000 new homes.
The football club said this would tie in with the UK government’s growth agenda and focus on infrastructure investment, potentially delivering an additional £7.3 billion per year to the UK economy from an additional 1.8 million visitors annually.
Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said: "Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport.
"By building next to the existing site, we will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience only footsteps from our historic home."
Architecture firm Foster + Partners has been appointed to design the stadium and surrounding area, with initial conceptual images said to provide a "masterplan" for a more detailed feasibility, consultation, design and planning work in future.
Man United CEO Omar Berrada hailed feasibility work completed by the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, including Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, which explored options for the future of Old Trafford.
"We have carefully considered its findings, together with the views of thousands of fans and local residents and concluded that a new stadium is the right way forward for Manchester United and our surrounding community," he said.
The initial design of the stadium shows it will be contained by a vast umbrella that will harvest energy and rainwater, containing a public plaza twice the size of Trafalgar Square.
Lord Norman Foster, executive chairman of Foster + Partners, explained: "The outward-looking stadium will be the beating heart of a new sustainable district, which is completely walkable, served by public transport, and endowed by nature.
"It is a mixed-use miniature city of the future – driving a new wave of growth and creating a global destination that Mancunians can be proud of.”