What is wrong with Old Trafford? Why Manchester United want a new stadium, redevelopment latest
Manchester United are unhappy with Old Trafford as it is now.
In April 2022 it was announced that the club wished to expand and/or refurbish the famous stadium, with the assumption that many new and improved venues had surpassed it in terms of facilities and appearance.
United have hired two consultancies to decide on plans for the future, although the situation is complicated by the Glazers’ proposed sale of the club.
So what happens under a new owner? What’s going on with Old Trafford right now? And what will a new or remodeled stadium look like?
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What’s wrong with Old Trafford?
Many Manchester United fans and executives have accepted Old Trafford being left behind.
New-age Premier League sites such as Tottenham Hotspur and the new Everton stadium under construction, as well as clubs such as Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid and the sides of Milan that are either planning or have already implemented refurbishment work , are famous old floors look decidedly outdated.
The stadium has not undergone any major modernization since 2006 8,000 seats were added to the second tiers in both the Northwest and Northeast quadrants. Since then any improvements have only been superficial and in truth the floor looks a bit run down.
Old Trafford’s roof has been known to leak after heavy rain (which is common in Manchester), while the club’s hospitality areas are massively overbooked. The media area has seen long-needed improvements in recent years, while security areas and disabled areas have been established, but these have only really scratched the surface of the issues that need to be addressed.
It was reported that the main focus of each project would be to transform the lucrative corporate hospitality sector as well as increase capacity from 74,000.
Does Manchester United want a new stadium?
The two advisers United spoke to, Legends International and Populous, have presented two conflicting recovery plans. One will cost £1 billion and the other £2 billion.
The latter plan calls for the current site to be completely demolished and a brand new, state-of-the-art arena to be built on the site surrounding Old Trafford.
The first plan is cheaper but complex due to the railway line running directly behind the smaller Sir Bobby Charlton (South) Stand at Old Trafford – this has proved problematic and has prevented redevelopment of this stand in the past.
Former United star Gary Neville, now a TV pundit, believes the club need to take a more drastic approach despite fans’ affinity for the current ground.
He said: “I think until they’ve spent money on Old Trafford, the existing one, then I think you’d be better off building a brand new, better, super stadium.
“I think Manchester United should always be at the top of the stadiums, should have the best facilities and they’ve fallen behind.”
How the Manchester United takeover will affect stadium plans
It has now been widely reported that the rebuilding of the stadium is effectively on hold and an expansion is likely to be decided upon by new owners.
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and a Qatari consortium are believed to be among the contenders to buy the club from American owners, the Glazers, who are asking for a sum in the region of £5bn.
But even after paying this sum, the new owners will have to allocate more funds to the new stadium plans, which of course will be an expensive project.
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Old Trafford Premier League Capacity and Grounds
Even ahead of expansion, Old Trafford remains the highest-capacity ground in the Premier League, but others have caught up recently.
Here are the top 10 Premier League stadiums in terms of capacity:
| Association | Stadion | capacity |
| man united | Old Trafford | 74,310 |
| Tottenham | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium | 62,850 |
| arsenal | Emirates Stadium | 60,704 |
| west ham | London Stadium | 60,000 |
| man city | Etihad Stadium | 53,400 |
| Liverpool | Anfield | 53,394 |
| newcastle | St James Park | 52,305 |
| AstonVilla | villa park | 42,657 |
| Chelsea | stamford bridge | 40,343 |
| everton | Goodison Park | 39,414 |