The mystery surrounding Manchester United's bold new stadium plans

Independent

11-03-2025

The optics surrounding the whole event did not initially look good.
After Sir Jim Ratcliffe 's rather revealing round of interviews on Monday, it became clear a major announcement surrounding the much-anticipated new Manchester United stadium was due to come out the following day.
To reveal the elaborate plans for an extravagant, state-of-the-art 100,000-seater stadium in London will hardly endear Ratcliffe to supporters who believe the Monaco-based billionaire to be out of touch with their local needs.
When Ratcliffe took to the stage, all the PR-heavy references to Manchester's industrial past, how the north deserved a stadium of this magnitude and why the regeneration of the entire area around the proposed new stadium, which will create a 'mini city of entertainment' to rival anything in the world, were prevalent.
Lord Sebastian Coe, currently running to become the next president of the IOC, did his customary comparison to the 2012 London Olympics, architect Norman Foster explained his Mancunian roots, while Andy Burnham's bold promises came via video link.
But when the models were unveiled, and the actual designers of the project could be questioned, we quickly gained a truer picture of the mammoth scale of what Ratcliffe is undertaking and how he and United will deliver it.
Financing remains a mystery, with CEO Omar Berrada keen to highlight the 'investment opportunities' the project offers, but given the work that has already gone into the elaborate design, Ineos are clearly confident they will have no issues raising over £2bn in funds, 24 hours after Ratcliffe said the club would have gone out of business by Christmas had it not been for his cash injection.
For architects Fosters and Partners, work can begin in earnest.
'Talking to stakeholders at Trafford Council, because it's with them that we will be kind of going through the planning process with,' Nigel Dancey, from Fosters and Partners, said. 'We would love to start work this year, but as Jim was saying, that involves everyone being aligned we are very, very excited about bringing this project forward and doing it quickly.'
The project 'underpins' government plans to regenerate the area, Ratcliffe insists, so revolves around them starting their own south Manchester redevelopment project.
The result will be a stadium 'the north of England deserves', according to Ratcliffe. The design resembles a circus tent-like structure, one held up by three masts in a trident shape, one of which will be 200m high – visible from the Peak District and, most importantly, the edge of Liverpool.
It is a nod to the Red Devils' nickname – something that Ratcliffe is understood to have pushed for, after designers had already finished their plans.
'I think to try and encourage the dwell time for fans around the football, we thought that was interesting too,' Dancey said. 'So that's really how it developed. It was really a combination of things to do with structural engineering, to do with making it be iconic. 'I want to go in that place, that would be a great place' – that is what we want to create.'
Rivals supporters have been quick to point out the circus tent is a fitting venue for the current United incumbent, with some club executives admitting their initial doubts over the design.
Designers insist everything at this stage is subject to change. If supporters don't like it, they are urged to let the club know.
'Consultation is a big part of the process,' Patrick Campbell, from Fosters and Partners, said. 'Obviously this is the beginning of the process. We want to continue these conversations. We think there are some fantastic parts of the design. The idea of creating a global destination people want to come to is the aim.'
The stadium is only part of this incredible entertainment structure, under a canopy that makes it 'one of the largest enclosed outdoor spaces in the world'. The whole area under one roof, where bars, restaurants and other entertainment facilities will be housed, measures larger than the original Millenium Done site.
It rains a lot in Manchester, I hear you cry. Fosters and Partners, however, have thought of everything.
'The procession down here (walkway to the stadium) to arrive in this huge covered space, we felt that was completely different and new,' Dancey aded. 'With there being 136 days of rain here, we thought it to be important to get people under this covered space quickly. We want people saying 'I want to come to that place'.'
They even plan to harvest that rainwater and power much of the site using renewable sources attached to the over-arching structure. Even in an project as extravagant as this, Sir Jim will do anything to save a few pennies.
One huge advantage of rebuilding rather than remodelling is that the designers insist United will not play in a reduced-capacity venue at any point.
Despite plans to scale down the current stadium for use by the women's team and youth sides, the current project sees Old Trafford as we know it is likely to be flattened, to make way for more regeneration of the area surrounding the new structure.
That will only take place, however, once the new stadium is built. At no point will part of the new stadium require the old one to make way – despite how close the sites are to each other.
Part of why this is the case is that designers believe less parking space will be needed, given the vastly improved public transportation options available, once a new train station has been built.
Therefore the new stadium can be built on an old car park next to the current ground and United will try to restore their former glories on the pitch in the old stadium, next to the huge construction site.
Elements of the previous stadium will be incorporated into the new one. The iconic Trinity Statue of George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton is likely to be at the end of a Wembley Way-type procession up to the new arena, while it will house another tribute to the Munich Air Disaster.
But an arena fit for concerts, NFL and football, one of the biggest in the world, surrounded by an area the public will want to visit on any day, one that is accessible by better public transport, is Ratcliffe's vision coming to life.
Now for someone to pay for it.