When Manchester United fans protested outside Old Trafford last May against the Glazer family, wheels began to slowly be set in motion for changes the fans have long demanded.
One of the big complaints directed at the Glazers has been the lack of care paid towards Old Trafford, with a lick of paint every now and again simply not enough.
Once regarded as England’s premier stadium, Old Trafford has been derided for a leaky roof, and even back in 2015, The MEN reported a mice infestation.
Meanwhile clubs in England and Europe have been renovating spectacular new-builds, from Tottenham’s new stadium to Real Madrid’s, and United are in danger of being left behind.
Following a fan forum event last summer, co-owner Joel Glazer pledged there is ongoing work to explore and redevelop new options.
Glazer told the club website: “Over the last 10 years, we’ve spent about £100 million on infrastructure at Old Trafford, but that was just annual upkeep and minor changes here and there. We’re now going to begin the process, and we had always planned going through a process of a much more major development of Old Trafford.”
United fans remain sceptical. Seeing is believing, and suspicion remains that the Glazers will plump for the cheaper options, but what is clear, and has remained so for a while, is that there is no easy decision when it comes to improving and re-scaling Manchester United’s famous stadium.
United are considering all options
United have three main options the club are considering at this early stage, The Mail report, with the project at an early stage.
Option 1: Construct an entirely new stadium on land the club owns in Stretford. This would see Old Trafford demolished.
Option 2: Concentrate the rebuild on renovating the South Stand around the existing railway line it backs onto.
Option 3: Smaller scale improvements revamping the design of all four stands.
The Mail‘s report claims Option 2 is most appealing, now noting: “Current building technology would enable the railway line to be navigated, an issue that was considered prohibitive for many years, on the way to increasing capacity from the stadium’s current 74,000 to beyond 80,000.”
But it does claim Option 1 is a ‘real’ possibility and competing teams of architects are drawing up plans for the club to consider.
Demolishing Old Trafford would be controversial, but not a complete ‘no-go’. United’s history has risen from the ashes before, when the stadium was bombed during World War Two, and the club’s tradition will live on wherever the Red Devils are based providing it is in the local area.
What we do not know at present is the budget the Glazers are allocating, and some of these options, particularly number 1, are likely to be the most expensive, with Option 3 likely the cheapest.
What is clear, is that the stadium does need to be improved, and this comes as part of a related project to renovate Manchester United’s Carrington training base.
It is long overdue for the club to finally be looking at this, but better late than never, and if the possibility to work around the railway line is possible in 2022 when it simply wasn’t practical before, then the delay may have inadvertently paid off.
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