Manchester United plan for 100,000-seater stadium at potential new Old Trafford

According to Laurie Whitwell of The Athletic, Manchester United are working on plans to build an 100,000-seater stadium if they decide to move to a new Old Trafford.

The joint task force employed to discover future options for the stadium – which includes members such as the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and former United captain Gary Neville – decided the six-figure capacity is realistic and would adequately ‘future proof’ the ground in terms of the high demand for tickets.

Having met four times already, the task force have concluded at this stage that building a new stadium would be the best way to ‘transform’ the experience for fans. As such, they are now focusing on assessing what the plans may look like, and how it may be financed, having already assessed the route of redevelopment for the current ground.

The club own land adjacent to the current Old Trafford, and therefore believe undertaking a new build on this land would be feasible, whilst consequently allowing the team to play at the current ground throughout the construction work.

Alternatively, The Red Devils could aim to build the ground stand-by-stand, but this would cause complications with different capacity’s at different stages of the building process, thus creating concerns over whether all of United’s 51,000 season ticket holders could be seated.

However, whilst a new Old Trafford is believed to be the preference of United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, this would attain a major difference in cost compared to a redevelopment.

The cost of a new build, which could take up to six years to complete, is expected to exceed £2billion – an estimation that has been internally acknowledged could rise throughout the process – whilst a renovation of the current 74,310 capacity ground could be around half that amount.

Meanwhile, the task force are also wary of building a stadium with ‘too modern’ a finish, but are confident that the heritage of Old Trafford should, and can be maintained, with red bricks and ‘distinctive roofing’ important aspects that may be maintained.

As for how to finance a new build, Ratcliffe and United have considered multiple options, including the INEOS owner himself providing funding, the club borrowing money, or a naming rights deal from a sponsor.

The latter option is one that has been heavily discussed to potentially ‘drive up’ revenue of the new ground, and could see the name of the 114-year-old Old Trafford changed completely for the first time, or slightly altered with an associated stadium partner, akin to Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou.

Finally, Ratcliffe is said to want a full recommendation as to which direction to take the stadium plans by the end of the year, with a sub task force also being established to consult with fans, as well as engagement with the community, as United believe the project could regenerate the wider area around the stadium.

This regeneration could be similar that of the campus that surrounds the LA Rams’ $5.5bn SoFi stadium in Los Angeles – a City which multiple United executives are currently visiting to get a first-hand view of how a new stadium could help stimulate further development of an area.

Travis Levison | Get Football