For the second time since the turn of the millennium, a new football stadium is being built in Manchester.
Indeed, over 20 years on from the construction of the City of Manchester Stadium, now known as The Etihad, home of Manchester City, for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester United are set to demolish Old Trafford and build a new ground.
Of course, demolishing a stadium and rebuilding on an adjacent site is a complicated procedure, and, in previous years, we’ve seen clubs have to temporarily find new homes in these case.
Tottenham famously spent 18 months at Wembley during the construction of their new stadium in the late 2010s, while Fulham spent some time at Loftus Road in the early 2000s as Craven Cottage was being redeveloped.
Manchester United will want to avoid having to temporarily move if possible, but, as Spurs’ move showed a few years ago, sometimes, these things are more complicated than anticipated, and the football calendar won’t stop for any team and their stadium plans.
One key point, and one of the reasons Man United have chosen to build a new stadium, is that there are no plans to play games at another venue. New stadium will be on the same site, but not the same footprint. United would continue to play at OT until the new stadium is ready.
— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonESPN) March 11, 2025
We have been here before with United planning a big stadium move or redevelopment, and at one point, a groundshare with Manchester City at The Etihad was mooted.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
How Manchester City felt about groundsharing with Manchester United
According to a report from The Sun in 2018, Manchester City were indeed open to groundsharing with Manchester United if work was to be done on Old Trafford.
Of course, new stadium plans have now been confirmed, and this could lead to this conversation being re-ignited.
City fans have mocked United’s new design, and there could be ramifications for City in the coming years.
City were open to the idea of United coming to play at The Etihad in 2019, but they were planning to hike the rent prices for their rivals – something Jim Ratcliffe probably wouldn’t be best pleased about.
Ratcliffe has previously said he wants to smash Man City on the pitch.
Manchester City and Man Utd have shared grounds before
Manchester United playing home games at The Etihad does seem like an alien idea, but this isn’t an unprecedented situation.
Indeed, United have played home matches at City’s stadium before, back in the 1956/57 European Cup.
At that time, Old Trafford didn’t have floodlights installed after being damaged by bombing during World War II, so the Red Devils had to make the trip across the city to Maine Road for three Euoropean games.
Remarkably, United had an incredible record at Maine Road. They won all three of their games they played at City’s home ground, including a 10-0 win in one of those matches.
Date Result Venue Attendance
26/9/1956 Manchester United 10-0 Anderlecht Maine Road 43,635
17/10/1956 Manchester United 3-2 Borussia Dortmund Maine Road 75,568
6/2/1957 Manchester United 3-0 Athletic Bilbao Maine Road 70,000
United have a brilliant record when they have to play at City’s stadium as the home team, and who knows? Perhaps that sort of change of scenery could be just what the doctor ordered at United. After all, their form couldn’t get much worse than it currently is.