Manchester United have announced plans for an incredible new 100,000-seater stadium to be built on an adjacent site to Old Trafford, but will still be able to play at the famous ground
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New proposed Manchester United stadium
Conceptual images and scaled models of what Manchester United’s new stadium and surrounding area could look like
(Image: Foster and Partners / SWNS)
Manchester United are buzzing with optimism, banking on the chance to host matches seamlessly at Old Trafford, while their eye-watering £2billion, 100,000-seat future home is being built on an adjacent site.
The club unveiled grand blueprints for the colossal new stadium this past Tuesday, a venture that has minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe's fingerprints all over it — he's pinning high hopes on the Foster + Partners-led project, run in tandem with a government regeneration squad, to breathe new life into the precincts of their historic ground.
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Sir Jim's vision frames the would-be arena as a world-leading football citadel; beyond the pitch, the scheme is poised to be a boon for local employment and housing, projected to generate some 92,000 jobs and usher in 17,000 homes as part of the sweeping revamp effort.
While questions about the timeline have stirred up some worry, with ten years initially pegged for execution, United’s camp is confident that several fortuitous factors could trim that estimate down by half.
However, United have no plans to play their matches at another venue. The stadium will stand on the same site as Old Trafford, but it isn't on the same footprint.
It will allow the Red Devils to continue playing at 'The Theatre of Dreams' before they bid an emotional farewell when it is knocked down as part of the regeneration of the wider area.
A nod to innovation, the stadium will materialise from 'pre-fabricated' modules, capitalising on the Manchester ship canal's proximity to Old Trafford to ferry pieces to the construction site — a logistical manoeuvre set to whittle building time down substantially.
Architect Sir Norman Foster was quoted, shining a light on the expedited methodology: "Normally a stadium would take 10 years to build. We halve that time to five years. How do we do that? By pre-fabrication. By using the network of the Manchester Ship Canal, shipping in components, 160 of them, Mecano-like."
Ratcliffe expressed his vision for a new home for Manchester United, stating: "We needed a stadium that befitted the stature of Manchester United. It's more challenging to build a stadium of 100,000 but I think the north is the place to build it and it will be a stadium recognised around the world.
"Past Governments have sponsored a number of these regenerative schemes, but they have primarily been in and around London. One of two smaller ones in the north, but this will be the biggest of this scale in the north. We will underpinning government growth plans with a new stadium. It's obvious the more iconic or extraordinary the stadium is, the more successful the regeneration scheme will be."
On the subject of Manchester United's global fanbase, Ratcliffe added: "We have one billion people around the world who follow Manchester United and they will want to come and visit this stadium. I think it will create enormous value for the region. United is the world's favourite football club and it must have a stadium equal to the best in Europe."