Updates from Old Trafford (but for how long 👀?) as Man Utd look to be heading in the direction of building a NEW state of the art stadium.
The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell reports that the club "will aim to build a 100 000-seater stadium should the club press ahead with plans to move to a new Old Trafford." While that capacity may seem large, Whitwell continues to say that "it's seen as a realistic number designed to future-proof the ground."
More from that article is that Sir Jim Ratcliffe would prefer to build a stadium from scratch instead of a renovation which the club believe would be better rather than to revamp Old Trafford.
As the club want to build this on land owned by United which is just next to the current stadium, it will mean that games could continue to be played at Old Trafford.
ESPN have also said that United hope to complete the build of this new stadium within the next six years and that a final decision will be made at the end of the year to determine whether a new stadium should be built or redevelop Old Trafford.
Final Thoughts
Out with the Old, in with the New?
It seems that way.
And this makes me sad.
All my life, our home has been Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams. To think that it might be no more makes me heart-sore. It literally is like the house you grew up in or the one you've been staying at for quite some time. To see it go, 😢.
I don't want anyone though, to be on the backs of INEOS. It isn't their fault that we are in this situation and in need of a new home. This is the work of the Glazers who've failed to maintain the stadium throughout the 19 years they've owned the club.
As they are the major owners, I'm sure that this 'New Trafford' proposal has to go through them first. I wonder what they will say.
It's thanks to their lack of care that we saw 'Old Trafford Falls' and the leaks in the away dressing room that left us all feeling quite embarrassed. To know that this is your home and it isn't worthy of housing oppositions is simply unacceptable.
We know how praising Sir Jim Ratcliffe was about the new Santiago Bernabeu and how a club of the size and stature of United should have something similar as their home ground.
This is what the biggest and best football clubs do.
There are also several other stadiums that are far better than Old Trafford when you look at The Etihad, The Emirates, Spurs Stadium and even Anfield, which had it's own revamp. While on tour in the US, we can see the quality of those stadiums as the SoFi has to be one of the best venues for playing football in America.
That is the type of home we need for United.
While it is sad to see Old Trafford go (if they do decide on building a new stadium), I can understand it. It also makes the most sense as to revamp Old Trafford into something modern given how unkempt it has been over the years maybe harder (and potentially more expensive) than just building a new stadium.
I suppose the positive is that if they do decide to build a new stadium, at least we'll have Old Trafford for a few more years at least as games will continue to be played there while the new stadium is being built not far away.
And of course, we'll have a new state-of-the-art facility worthy for a club like ours.
How would you feel if we built a new stadium instead of revamping Old Trafford?
I mean, we all do want something akin to the Bernabeu, right?
Background Image: Old Trafford at night | Image credit: Getty Images via Eurosport