Given Manchester United has felt like a circus this season, with clowns in charge, it is fitting their new £2billion stadium resembles a Big Top.
The bold and ambitious design has divided United supporters, with many fearing further ticket price hikes to help meet the cost of building it.
There are also legitimate concerns among United fans over the impact the new stadium will have on investment in the team, the atmosphere at games and the club's overall debt, which currently stands at around £1bn.
What is indisputable is that Old Trafford has served United for 115 years and gained iconic status as one of the world's great football arenas, but has now fallen into disrepair and is no longer befitting of that lofty standing.
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Against that backdrop, United have decided to demolish the Theatre of Dreams and build a new state-of-the-art stadium which, if you buy into the rhetoric of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his troupe, will be the best in the world.
United plan to finance the new stadium privately, raising funds through investment and sponsorship, with cost of the wider regeneration of the surrounding area met by the Government. “We won't be asking for taxpayer money to fund the stadium,” said chief executive Omar Berrada.
“But, at the same time, the new stadium in isolation does not make sense if there's not an investment in the wider generation project. The way the club was tracking, with all the losses that have been accumulated – more than £300million in the last five years – was not sustainable.
The plans for the new stadium have been divisive
The plans for the new stadium have been divisive
“So all the plans we've been putting in place over the last months address the short-term issue, which is that the club was losing money. Once we stop losing money, we then put ourselves in the best financial position to continue investing in our team and to be able to have the ambition to build a new stadium.
“The goal that we have is to become the most profitable club within the next two years. Once you become profitable, then everything else becomes more manageable and it also allows us to invest in the future, which is what this stadium is about.”
The new stadium features an umbrella design and a new public plaza that twice the size of Trafalgar Square. The focal point is three masts, representing the trident on the United crest, which will be 200 metres high and visible from 25 miles away.
But fan groups were quick to condemn the design, claiming it has no connection with the rich history and heritage of Old Trafford, accusing those behind it of betraying the soul and legacy of arguably the world's biggest club. The 1958 group, which organised the mass protest before Sunday's 1-1 draw with Arsenal, described the design as a “generic, soulless corporate structure, more akin to a modern entertainment venue than a football cathedral”.
The Manchester United Supporters Trust [MUST] raised legitimate concerns in a statement which read: “Everyone wants the biggest and the best for our club and the visuals look both stunning and exciting.
“But against the backdrop of uncertainty around next year’s ticket prices, continuing poor performance on the field, speculation around sales of key young players, and the recent financial results, the news probably does beg more questions than it gives clear answers.
“If the club are able to produce a new stadium as stunning as the plans suggest, without harming the atmosphere, without hiking ticket prices and without harming investment elsewhere, then this could be very exciting.
“But until the questions are answered, our optimism about plans to make Old Trafford the biggest and the best again will be restrained by caution about what the consequences for fans might be.”
The move is not without controversy
Leaving Old Trafford is a seismic move for United, following in the footsteps of many top-flight clubs before them, including Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton, who will move into their new home this summer.
Yet United's move, given the toxicity around the Glazers and Ratcliffe, and the current financial plight of the club, makes it more controversial than any that have come before, which is why those in charge at the world's most famous football club simply cannot afford to get it wrong.
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