Sir Jim Ratcliffe has pressed pause on a decision to demolish Old Trafford and move forward with plans to build a 100,000-seater stadium on the site.
Manchester United have played at Old Trafford since 1910 and it’s been renovated and redeveloped many times. It’s in need of another upgrade and the United co-owner is known to favour a complete rebuild to create a ‘Wembley of the North’.
Years of neglect under the ownership of the Glazer family have left Ratcliffe and INEOS with a puzzle to solve. Finding a more sustainable home and training base for United’s women’s team also factors into Ratcliffe’s conundrum.
Manchester United’s Wembley of the North
Ratcliffe and INEOS own 25 per cent of Manchester United and their exploration into how the club’s home could be improved found that building a new stadium from the ground up was the best option.
But the decision has been delayed after consultation with the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force and Manchester United supporters.
The Regeneration Task Force, which includes former United captain Gary Neville, Lord Sebastian Coe and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is pushing for a huge regeneration project that would transform 100 acres of land.
That project would require the acquisition of land occupied by a rail freight terminal. Burnham and his Liverpool counterpart, Steve Rotheram, hope to agree with the owners of the terminal to move it to St Helens.
Until the outcome of that decision is known, United’s options aren’t considered clear enough to make a final call.
Ratcliffe’s ‘Wembley of the North’ concept has been in the works as long as he’s had a financial interest in Man United.
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As well as investing in the project privately, it’s hoped that working on an ambitious regeneration plan with Burnham and the UK Government will allow some access to public funds.
“He feels the club needs an absolute state-of-the-art, knock-it-out-of-the-park, ‘wow’ stadium,” a source told the Telegraph at the start of the year.
“And we feel there’s a strong argument for the country having a top-class major venue in the North – a Wembley of the north.”
Bringing Old Trafford back to life
Once synonymous with the glamour of the Premier League and the unimpeachable might of Man United, Old Trafford has been left to decay while the stadiums of United’s rivals – and Wembley Stadium – have overtaken it in terms of prestige.
West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle United now play in front of capacity crowds above 50,000. Old Trafford is still the biggest stadium in the Premier League but it’s no longer the automatic competitive advantage it was in years gone by.
Finding a way to increase its capacity is a key motivation for Ratcliffe, who wants to reopen the gap between Old Trafford and the next largest club ground in England, currently West Ham’s London Stadium.
Providing a modern, well maintained, safe and profitable home for one of the world’s biggest football clubs is another obvious goal.
United have canvassed supporters and their clear preference is that the current site is redeveloped in order to fulfil that ambition.
The estimated cost of a new stadium is reported to be £2 billion and understood to be prohibitive to any idea of downscaling the current facility as a home for Manchester United Women at the same time.
Should a full rebuild go ahead, Populous – the architects responsible for the design of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – would be instructed to come up with the plans for a new Old Trafford.
A positive relationship with the Mayor and access to public funds in the name of the levelling up agenda would help the club to cover the necessary investment in transport and infrastructure beyond the cost of building a new stadium.
Burnham will unveil his budget in March. Ratcliffe and United are keeping their powder dry until they know more and a decision is now expected in the summer of 2025.
