Sir Jim Ratcliffe is in a hurry.
It’s been less than 12 months since the British billionaire took a 27.7% minority stake in his boyhood club but many elements of the club are now unrecognisable.
From the manager to the inaugural appointment of a Director of Football, it’s been a period of unprecedented upheaval – even for a club that has felt like it trades in turbulence at times over the last 11 years.
Ratcliffe’s short-term goal is to return Manchester United to the top of the Premier League and make them challengers in Europe once again.
If successful, that would be a long-term legacy in itself after the fallow years post-Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
But Ratcliffe has the keys to the Theatre of Dreams and with them, the single biggest decision the club has ever faced; whether or not to demolish Old Trafford after 114 years.
Make no mistake, the decision is that big and an irreversible one at that. Get it right and Ratcliffe will be forever remembered as the man that wrestled control away from the Glazer family and ushered in a new dawn. Get it wrong and Ratcliffe’s legacy, whatever success he masterminds on the pitch, will be tarnished.
‘Once in a generation opportunity’
Ratcliffe’s preferred option is to build a new stadium on land owned by the club next to Old Trafford.
The club owns around 100 acres in the immediate vicinity of Old Trafford, half of which, it is felt, could be used for development, while a quarter of it is currently not being utilised at all.
The stadium as it stands is sandwiched between Bridgewater Canal and a train station. Space is limited as it is, and building a completely new arenaon the same site would be futile, particularly given the desire to expand.
Under plans to build a new stadium nearby, United hope to construct a 100,000-seater complex – which would make it the second biggest club stadium behind Barcelona’s revamped Camp Nou, which will hold 105,000 spectators when completed.
It would be the boldest option on the table, allowing United to maximise the footprint of the land they own while delivering a new, world class stadium boasting a 35% increase on the existing capacity of the 74,000-seater Old Trafford.
The club, in conjunction with Trafford Council, would work together to regenerate the area. Trafford Park, once the largest industrial estate in the world that powered the industrial revolution, could welcome up to 5,000 new homes in a city lacking affordable housing. At its full potential, the regeneration area would span over one million square metres, bringing the Wharfside area in line with Media City across the canal.
Global architecture firm Foster + Partners have been hired by the club to design the masterplan for the stadium and the wider area. The group masterminded the reconstruction of Wembley Stadium – the largest arena in the UK – as well as the Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 Qatar World Cup final. Working under the anticipation of a new build, the group have studied the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to use as inspiration. The arena, costing around £3.9bn, has transformed the overlooked area of Inglewood in LA by creating a stadium district.
United need only to look to the east of the city, where rivals Manchester City have transformed the area around the Etihad, as a demonstration of whatis possible. A quarter of a century ago the area was a wasteland. Today, the ‘SportCity’ complex is home to the Etihad, City’s Campus, the National Cycling Centre and Velodrome and the National Squash Centre. The Co-Op live, the largest indoor music arena in Europe, opened adjacent to the Etihad earlier this year.
By contrast, the Glazer family have not sanctioned any significant upgrades to Old Trafford since they acquired the club in 2005. An extension of 7,500 seats in 2006 was commissioned before they took charge, and the capacity has stood still for the last 19 years. Old Trafford’s leaky roof has become a source of mockery for rival fans and a symbol of United’s decline on and off the pitch. The truth is that the problem has occurred for decades, stretching back to the 1990s. With Manchester’s infamously rainy weather, some fans have suggested the club build a retractable roof in any stadium. Metro Sport understands the club have ruled this out. It’s felt the £400m cost of a retractable roof is too high for a feature that is barely used and requires the permission from both teams to be utilised during a match.
Nevertheless, the club have already discussed several new features that could be included in the event of a new build.
United have discussed the possibility of:
- A weather-proof year-round entertainment zone, allowing fans to mingle before and after matches, as well as on non-matchdays
- A club-owned hotel
- A new academy complex for youth and women’s matches
- On-site accommodation for youth team players
- A new train station behind the current South Stand
- Improvements to canal transport for matchdays
- A new bridge linking Wharfside with Quayside
- A ‘Wembley way’ walkway to the stadium
But there are a number of stumbling blocks that could hinder or even derail Ratcliffe’s plans.
The first is the cost. Even for someone of his unimaginable wealth, finding £2bn for a new stadium will not be easy. It remains to be seen whether Ratcliffe will invest more capital in the club, as he did with a £237m cash injection following his investment last December. This could, in theory, allow Ratcliffe to increase his shares in the club, having failed to get his wish of buying a majority stake last December.
Even then, the numbers are eye-watering and will require strategic thinking, and further debt is the last thing that supporters want to see after 20 years of the Glazers taking money from the club, rather than putting it in. It means there’s unlikely to be large amounts borrowed to finance the move, particularly at a time when interest rates are stubbornly high.
Instead, Metro Sport understands the club has already sounded out private investment groups to gauge interest in financing the project.
Lord Seb Coe, chair of the taskforce
‘The objective of this once-in-a-generation project is not only the development of a world-class stadium for the north of England, but also to ensure that this brings broad social and economic benefits to the local area and surrounding region.
‘There is a huge opportunity to connect Trafford Wharfside regeneration with the ongoing growth of neighbouring Media City in Salford, and Greater Manchester’s Western Gateway and Central Growth Cluster plans, to create a project of national significance. The tripartite advisory team will help fully unlock this incredibly exciting potential.’
How this looks remains to be seen but Real Madrid financed their £850m revamp of the Bernabeu through private funding and American private equity groups. The Spanish club agreed a deal with US private equity group Providence in 2017 that gave the group a share of future sponsorship revenues in exchange for €200m. A similar deal was struck four years later with stadium-management specialists Legends, where the group received 30% of stadium-based revenue – excluding ticket sales – in exchange for €360m.
The club know that fans will be more forgiving of stadium naming rights should they move to a new arena and have all but conceded that they will seek partnership with a sponsor to raise revenue should they move into a new home. A partnership with current front-of-shirt sponsor, Snapdragon, is possible.
Whatever route is taken, debt will be involved. How it looks may be different to the £570m the Glazers saddled the club with in 2005 but in exchange for a new stadium the club will have to compromise somewhere to make it happen.
Unlocking the land
The second biggest obstacle to overcome is the existence of a freight terminal behind Old Trafford.
Behind the Streford End, just to the west of the ground, is a freight terminal that is co-owned by the club.
Currently, it’s an important distribution area for the north-west, handling around 20 daily Freightliner services to and from sea ports.
It may not interest fans in the same way the design of a new stadium would, but unlocking the land used by the freight terminal could hold the key to the club’s future.
Without it, United will be limited to using the awkward pockets of space that they already own and would likely seek a revamp of the existing stadium.
Luckily for the club, there appears to be a willingness from all involved for the freight terminal to be moved to nearby St Helens.
Ratcliffe on building the ‘Wembley of the North’
‘The people in the north (of England) pay their taxes like the people in the south pay their taxes. But where’s the national stadium for football? It’s in the south. Where’s the national stadium for rugby? It’s in the south. Where’s the national stadium for tennis? It’s in the south. Where’s the national concert stadium? It’s the O2, it’s in the south .Where’s the Olympic Village? It’s in the south.
‘All of this talk about ‘levelling up’ and the Northern Powerhouse — where is the stadium in the north? How many Champions Leagues has the north west won and how many Champions Leagues has London won?’
The possible use of ‘public money’ being utilised for an regeneration project has been a controversial topic but in this scenario, United could expect financial assistance in relocating the freight terminal as it’s a ‘win-win’ for all parties.
Why? Primarily, freightliner can significantly boost operations at a new, modern site on Merseyside. Secondly, it would free up significant capacity on the existing Liverpool-Manchester line that runs behind the Sir Bobby Charlton stand. It would allow the club, alongside the local government, to revamp the transport links in the area.
The train station behind the south stand, meanwhile, hasn’t been used since 2017 due to security fears.
Under plans for a new stadium, United want to erect a new train station – likely to the east of the current site. With potentially up to 26,000 more fans attending Old Trafford than is the current case, it’s vital to deal with a significant increase in footfall around the area. Currently, trams that serve Old Trafford, Trafford Bar and Wharfside are at capacity, while many fans feel they have no option but to drive to the ground, which further congests the area.
Improving the transport links in the area is an obvious open goal for the government, particularly after the cancelling of the Birmingham-Manchester leg of HS2. The Conservatives’ ‘levelling up’ pledge via the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ has never moved beyond a slogan – anyone that’s attempted to commute via train between Liverpool and Manchester or Manchester and Leeds will tell you that.
What does this mean for Old Trafford?
A recent survey of supporters showed that 52% of fans prefer the option of building a new stadium. 31% of fans were in favour of revamping the current arena, while 17% were unsure on what route to take.
That is only indicative of supporters’ thoughts and does not deal with the complexities or either option.
Fans were asked if they would like the club to build a new stadium. If the same supporters were asked whether they want Old Trafford to be demolished. it’s unclear if there would be the same results.
But that is the decision facing the club and after initially suggesting that Old Trafford could be stripped back and remain on its current site, Metro Sport understands that option is now deemed financially nonviable. Simply, it would cost too much to run.
What, then, of Old Trafford? It remains to be seen, but the club are looking at how best to preserve as many relics as possible, while the Trinity, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Matt Busby statues can all be incorporated into the new area.
It is possible that Old Trafford’s current site could be turned into community gardens, allowing fans to essentially walk along the old pitch to the new stadium.
Gary Neville on Old Trafford’s future
‘I’m not one of those that says that because I’ve watched football out there for 45 years that I need to watch the exact same players on that exact blade of grass. You know, if you think of the development, that is not the stadium that’s been there 110 years. You know, the Stretford End is not the Stretford End that I saw growing up. The stands all around the ground have been redeveloped in the last 30-40 years.
‘I’m not one of those people that says we can’t develop behind while we still play here and then move into a new stadium. On the other hand, if the best solution is to refurbish the current stadium and do what Real Madrid and Barcelona have done, which is essentially wrap their stadium and sort of, if you like, fit it from the inside out, then if that is the best solution then I’m not against it.’
It should be said, no decisions have been made. But the ground holds too much value to supporters for the club not to consider how best to preserve it and there will not be a ‘simple’ demolition.
A new stadium would allow United to continue to play at Old Trafford, which is considered critical both for performance on and off the pitch.
A redevelopment of the stadium would cost around £1.2bn in terms of reconstruction and could cost the club significantly more in lost revenue as parts of the stadium would have to close for long periods at a time.
The south stand – the smallest of the four – is arguably the most crucial in terms of operation as it houses the media gantry. But, as the only single-tier stand, it would be non-operational during the time the club would have to expand it.
What next?
United, led by a taskforce including Gary Neville, Andy Burnham and Lord Seb Coe, had been expected to deliver final recommendations to the club by the end of 2024.
While the ‘options report’ is still likely to be submitted, United are now set to delay a decision on whether to demolish Old Trafford until after Mayor’s budget in 2025.
This will give more clarity over the freight terminal’s future and how much public assistance can be used in regenerating the area.
By that point, United would have had their first full season with Ratcliffe in charge of football operations.
Whether it’s a redevelopment or a new build, reaching the final product of either decision will take the club ten years. Building time for a new stadium is slated at around seven years, with a further 18-24 months for design and up to 12 months to be granted full planning permissions. Redevelopment would take up to eight years but it could mean ten years away from Old Trafford.
At 72, Ratcliffe is in a hurry to see the fruit of his labours.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE: Ed Sheeran slammed for being ‘insanely disrespectful’ after gatecrashing Sky Sports interview
MORE: Ruben Amorim urged to sign £52m Chelsea star for Manchester United
MORE: Ruben Amorim hails ‘smart and crucial’ Manchester United star after Ipswich draw