New Stadium or Revamp Old Trafford | Aim is to build 100k seater stadium

Would you rather a new stadium or rebuild Old Trafford?

  • New stadium

    Votes: 1,033 57.2%

  • Rebuild Old Trafford

    Votes: 772 42.8%
  • Total voters
    1,805
Yay let’s replace one of the worlds most iconic & unique stadiums with just another soulless 100k seater bowl. How wonderful. Truly baffles me how so many people are in favour of this.

Old Trafford is one of the most magical things about this club. It’s iconic. Just like Anfield, Bernabau, Nou Camp, San Siro etc etc These stadiums are full of rich history & culture. They represent the club. They’re part of what makes these clubs special.

All these modern day stadiums, Emirates, Wembley, Spurs Stadium, Etihad etc may look nice and have great facilities but they’ll never compare with the historical stadiums. They’ll never have that romance.

The day United leave Old Trafford will be a sad day indeed. Part of the club will die.
 
Malone_Post said:
Yay let’s replace one of the worlds most iconic & unique stadiums with just another soulless 100k seater bowl. How wonderful. Truly baffles me how so many people are in favour of this.

Old Trafford is one of the most magical things about this club. It’s iconic. Just like Anfield, Bernabau, Nou Camp, San Siro etc etc These stadiums are full of rich history & culture. They represent the club. They’re part of what makes these clubs special.

All these modern day stadiums, Emirates, Wembley, Spurs Stadium, Etihad etc may look nice and have great facilities but they’ll never compare with the historical stadiums. They’ll never have that romance.

The day United leave Old Trafford will be a sad day indeed. Part of the club will die.
Click to expand...
Ignoring the fact that a big part of the project is trying to avoid it looking like a soulless bowl and incorporating the history of old Trafford - red brick, iron girders etc.
 
Incorporate the Munich Tunnel and the dugouts into the new design, otherwise build a new one from the ground up.
I’m sure it would look rad and far from your “modern bowl”.
Whether or not it will be soulless will only depend on whether or not we are good at football.

Old Trafford had been revamped and expanded so many times.
Also, its not a Highbury or a Villa Park or an Ibrox that are gorgeous architecture marvels, they don’t make them like this anymore, OT has never been that.

We all love the dirty ugly old bastard, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world to move on to brighter horizons.
 
Last edited:
Malone_Post said:
Yay let’s replace one of the worlds most iconic & unique stadiums with just another soulless 100k seater bowl. How wonderful. Truly baffles me how so many people are in favour of this.

Old Trafford is one of the most magical things about this club. It’s iconic. Just like Anfield, Bernabau, Nou Camp, San Siro etc etc These stadiums are full of rich history & culture. They represent the club. They’re part of what makes these clubs special.

All these modern day stadiums, Emirates, Wembley, Spurs Stadium, Etihad etc may look nice and have great facilities but they’ll never compare with the historical stadiums. They’ll never have that romance.

The day United leave Old Trafford will be a sad day indeed. Part of the club will die.
Click to expand...
I get the reasoning for keeping old Trafford but we can see with Ineos they don’t care about the history of the club or its values. They will do the most cost effective option every time as as been seen with the amount of redundancies.

I’m not against the new stadium as it makes sense, it can be built while we continue to play at Old Trafford. It also leaves the option for Old Trafford being used for youth and women’s teams to play at it, if it’s downgraded in size to say a 30k seater.

Who knows the new design might incorporate all of the features of the old stadium in a modern way.
 
pcaming said:
The same way every other stadium has been funded.

6 years is seemingly in line with other renovations I think?
Click to expand...

Borrowing. The club cannot afford the payments on a loan of the required size, though, so it will be interesting to see how the financing is structured and where the debt lies.
 
macheda14 said:
Ignoring the fact that a big part of the project is trying to avoid it looking like a soulless bowl and incorporating the history of old Trafford - red brick, iron girders etc.
Click to expand...
Seriously, why are people always assuming it's gonna be a soulless bowl? One of the key points about building a new stadium is for it to not be a soulless bowl like the Etihad or Emirates. The people in charge are not idiots, of course they're going to prioritise maintaining the history of Old Trafford and Manchester itself.
 
There should be a level of government funding . It’ll be the only stadium in the north anywhere near 100k capacity (more for a concert etc) and they’ll definitely want to use it
 
AbusementPark said:
I get the reasoning for keeping old Trafford but we can see with Ineos they don’t care about the history of the club or its values. They will do the most cost effective option every time as as been seen with the amount of redundancies.

I’m not against the new stadium as it makes sense, it can be built while we continue to play at Old Trafford. It also leaves the option for Old Trafford being used for youth and women’s teams to play at it, if it’s downgraded in size to say a 30k seater.

Who knows the new design might incorporate all of the features of the old stadium in a modern way.
Click to expand...
I said a while ago that my prediction will be we stay at Old Trafford, at least for the next 10- 15 years.

The cost of a replacement (even with outside investment) is going to be insane and there just isn't the money available (in addition to what we'll need on the playing side to compete for the big trophies.)

Ratcliffe will spend money on revamping the ground (figuring out a way to expand the South Stand) and maybe building some new bars/restaurants outside OT that can bring in extra revenue. What's going to be interesting is the succession planning.

He's clearly not getting any younger and at some point over the next 10 years, you'd imagine he's going to take more of a back seat and let someone else take a lead day to day on a lot of his business investments. I'd imagine, it's at that point, where we'll see a more concrete vision/plan for a new ground. Especially if the Glazers ownership % is reduced again.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
There should be a level of government funding . It’ll be the only stadium in the north anywhere near 100k capacity (more for a concert etc) and they’ll definitely want to use it
Click to expand...

Spurs received around £30m of public money from Haringey Council for local infrastructure improvements around their new stadium, such as public transport and road upgrades, but the vast majority of the project was funded with private investment. I would also expect the vast majority of United's stadium project to be funded with private money. Perhaps also worth noting that Labour are about to announce massive infrastructure project cuts, so it's not a great time to be trying to secure public money for this kind of development.
 
LankyHoggie said:
Incorporate the Munich Tunnel and the dugouts into the new design, otherwise build a new one from the ground up.
I’m sure it would look rad and far from your “modern bowl”.
Whether or not it will be soulless will only depend on whether or not we are good at football.

Old Trafford had been revamped and expanded so many times.
Also, its not a Highbury or a Villa Park or an Ibrox that are gorgeous architecture marvels, they don’t make them like this anymore, OT has never been that.

We all love the dirty ugly old bastard, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world to move on to brighter horizons.
Click to expand...
I want something like US Bank Stadium - something mental looking. If you have to go modern, go for it.
 
If its going to be done, might as well do it properly.

Knock down OT, build this new beast that can be used to football and events? Improve the parking situation, better public transport around it.

We'll need to be winning on the pitch and making that extra money to pay for this.
 
MancunianAngels said:
I said a while ago that my prediction will be we stay at Old Trafford, at least for the next 10- 15 years.

The cost of a replacement (even with outside investment) is going to be insane and there just isn't the money available (in addition to what we'll need on the playing side to compete for the big trophies.)

Ratcliffe will spend money on revamping the ground (figuring out a way to expand the South Stand) and maybe building some new bars/restaurants outside OT that can bring in extra revenue. What's going to be interesting is the succession planning.

He's clearly not getting any younger and at some point over the next 10 years, you'd imagine he's going to take more of a back seat and let someone else take a lead day to day on a lot of his business investments. I'd imagine, it's at that point, where we'll see a more concrete vision/plan for a new ground. Especially if the Glazers ownership % is reduced again.
Click to expand...


So, you're predicting just a new South Stand? I'd love a stand by stand redevelopment but there's not enough space around the ground, the canal and railway line stop the ground from having a bigger footprint - bigger seats, wider concourses and higher capacity. Anything less than a fully redeveloped OT will make Ratcliffe look a bit silly. As for a new stadium, sure the Sofi stadium is great but it's not a football stadium. From what I've gathered HKS are fantastic architects, though..and they will design an amazing new stadium no doubt. Anyway I'd love see renders of a new ground and redeveloped OT.
 
macheda14 said:
Ignoring the fact that a big part of the project is trying to avoid it looking like a soulless bowl and incorporating the history of old Trafford - red brick, iron girders etc.
Click to expand...
The Lucas Oil Stadium in the US is something that I'd be happy with if we were to go down that road. Something state of the art modern inside, but industrial looking on the outside. I think if we are going to get a new stadium, they're going to have to make it something that the fans will accept.
 
MancunianAngels said:
I said a while ago that my prediction will be we stay at Old Trafford, at least for the next 10- 15 years.

The cost of a replacement (even with outside investment) is going to be insane and there just isn't the money available (in addition to what we'll need on the playing side to compete for the big trophies.)

Ratcliffe will spend money on revamping the ground (figuring out a way to expand the South Stand) and maybe building some new bars/restaurants outside OT that can bring in extra revenue. What's going to be interesting is the succession planning.

He's clearly not getting any younger and at some point over the next 10 years, you'd imagine he's going to take more of a back seat and let someone else take a lead day to day on a lot of his business investments. I'd imagine, it's at that point, where we'll see a more concrete vision/plan for a new ground. Especially if the Glazers ownership % is reduced again.
Click to expand...
From the news reports it seems they want to push ahead and have it all done by 2030. Makes sense Ratcliffe wanting it done before he retires from the club or the earth.

I’m hoping that whatever investment is made in the ground development will offset the Glazers share of the club as they certainly will not contribute anything towards the financing of it.

If the amount if believed to be around £2.4bn then that should buy another 40% or so of what’s remaining of the value.
 
Big Andy said:
The Lucas Oil Stadium in the US is something that I'd be happy with if we were to go down that road. Something state of the art modern inside, but industrial looking on the outside. I think if we are going to get a new stadium, they're going to have to make it something that the fans will accept.
Click to expand...
Love the interior - modern industrial due to the roof, iron girders/supports and all that Exterior looks naff though.
 
Last edited:
Herman Toothrot said:
The outlay will be huge, as is any development project, but the opportunity to bring in revenue is even bigger in the medium term. Ultimately, this will make the club much richer in the long run.
Click to expand...
Hopefully... I remember when Arsenal did this though and it was like poison for them for years, it was used as a scapegoat (fairly or unfairly) for lack of investment and progress.
 
SuperiorXI said:
Hopefully... I remember when Arsenal did this though and it was like poison for them for years, it was used as a scapegoat (fairly or unfairly) for lack of investment and progress.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but unfortunately for Arsenal, their stadium was built a bit too early. Newer stadiums are much better designed to allow them to host events, and act as fan experience zones as opposed to purely sporting venues. So, the revenue opportunity of newer stadiums is much higher.
 
Infra-red said:
Borrowing. The club cannot afford the payments on a loan of the required size, though, so it will be interesting to see how the financing is structured and where the debt lies.
Click to expand...

Why can't we? We just spent 50 million on an 18 year old.

A loan of this sort can be upwards of 25-30 years long. The stadium/infrastructure built around and in tandem with it will generate additional revenue, especially through naming rights.
 
Six years? So if they start next year it'll be ready for the 31/32 season? I'll be 50 ffs, assuming I make it.

Will we be able to keep playing at OT like Spurs did?
 
Someone said:
Six years? So if they start next year it'll be ready for the 31/32 season? I'll be 50 ffs, assuming I make it.

Will we be able to keep playing at OT like Spurs did?
Click to expand...
Think that is what they want to do ideally, if they go for building on the land around OT.
 
INEOS making the right decision yet again. Hoping this allows them to squeeze the Glazers for an additional stake.
 
Do we know the refurbishment cost for Old Trafford? And potential increase in capacity?

If they are considering new stadium, it could be that repair work will not same return on capital.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.