You don’t need to have an OT made of bricks. It’s the industrial feel that bricks inspire. You can modernise that and only take inspiration from the bricks. That’s the point.
New Stadium or Revamp Old Trafford | Aim is to build 100k seater stadium
- Thread starter Ian Reus
- Start date
I wonder if United will win the league again at Old Trafford.
Or will SAF be the last manager to win it, which would be sad and also very fitting.
Or will SAF be the last manager to win it, which would be sad and also very fitting.
After seeing the before picture, the tunnel is definitely better but it looks a bit tacky imo.
There will probably be a different style of league entirely, i.e. some sort of Euro league created before we'd actually win it again
It's so depressing how many of the new builds look the same when you get inside.
I'll keep saying it but there's nothing wrong with OT's design. It's still one of the best grounds in the country, it just needs a revamp. If we're going down the route of a new ground, it would be senseless deviating from the current layout. Build on what's good about the current ground and add just a working roof, a bit more legroom and some better facilities for fans once inside. If you can do that and have a capacity over 85,000 with room for improvement in 10/20 years, that would be ideal.
It would be heartbreaking if we end up with some soulless American style multi purpose venue designed to appease a small number of people who visit once a season rather than the 70,000 people who actually attend week in week out.
I don't really understand your point here.
I've been to a fair few grounds around the country, big and small, and without fail, they are all seats on stepped concrete surrounding a rectangle of grass. Whatever we build, they aren't going to substantially deviate from that formula.
Some grounds are in a worse state than others, and some of the older ones like Goodison Park have character, but also poor facilities and blocked views. This is true of OT though.
Some seats in the quadrants have restricted views. I've sat up there and not been able to see a corner flag and a good chunk of the pitch around it.
I've sat in every stand in the ground with the exception of the away end, and all of the areas have insufficient leg room - you're crammed into a space much smaller than at many other grounds and that's not something that can be solved without a total rebuild. You can't just add that and a working roof.
And you can't expand the footprint of the ground much more than it has been, due to the well documented fact it is wedged between the railway and the canal. What you want to happen just can't happen.
Last edited:
Don’t worry, we are going to win it this season
I was going to say similar, but you have covered it. When you look at OT and look at the top new stadiums, OT looks like it’s stuck in the past and the only way forward is to move to a new stadium
My wider point was that, with a new ground, let's build on what's good about OT rather than just design and create a soulless bowl that has zero character and zero connection to the past.
Why can't we build something that has a huge nod to the past whilst including some modern facilities?
The general gist of this thread is "every other ground is doing x, y and z" so lets do that.
The current issues at OT date back to the mid 90s when Edwards and the PLC rebuilt the ground on the cheap following the Taylor Report.
A new ground could have a simililar layout to the current ground but due to a lack of a railway, have a two tier South Stand and quadrants that have been built from day 1 rather than a bolt on to an older ground. 12,000 ish extra seats in the South Stand would then give an opportunity to create stands with more legroom so everyone isn't crammed in as much.
You could also build a proper safe standing section in East Stand/Stretford End that has, again been built from the ground up rather than being amends to an existing structure.
Time for a new stadium, those who want us to remain in Old Trafford either haven't been, haven't been to other stadiums or are simply stuck in the past.
It's just a building with a pitch of grass in the middle, I care more about the facilities, the space in-between the seats, how quickly I can get a drink or snack, just standard things you'd expect at any other event.
Let's grow up and build the best football stadium in the world. I'm sick and tired of nostalgia holding our club back.
It's just a building with a pitch of grass in the middle, I care more about the facilities, the space in-between the seats, how quickly I can get a drink or snack, just standard things you'd expect at any other event.
Let's grow up and build the best football stadium in the world. I'm sick and tired of nostalgia holding our club back.
It's an interesting style. Black and red with an eagle. It probably means we're going to play purely on the right wing this season.
So what design features would you like the new stadium to have that would make it a bit different and also link it to Manchester?
Find stuff like gritty industrial very patronising. Just look at Manchester it's far from industrial, the city skyline is looking like a North American city,there's a shed load more planned(50 odd more tower), so it will look very different to other UK cities...but yeah it's not looked industrial for decades. What should it look like? I'd like anything state of the art. They're always looking to future in Manchester, sonwhy a stadium be any different. Suppose if we're honest Manchester is a mixture, it's nice, and it can look scruffy, it's a juxtaposition of Victorian and contemporary...so I guess if we want to link it to Manchester, perhaps old and contemporary? But it'd look contrived. Hopefully we won't have it looking like a couple bricked warehouses in Trafford Park, Ste.
Perhaps people care more about other things other than the ability to get a Twirl and a Diet Coke a bit quicker at half time?
Please can you also point me to a time when nostalgia has held this club back rather than it just being the result of bad management?
I also don't think people want things to remain exactly the same. They just want our ground in 10 years (whether that be a revamped OT or new stadium) to actually be something unique with a nod to our history rather than simply be an identikit bowl.
Fair enough mate. If we're going to have a new stadium more than anything I want it to look unique. Say what you want about OT but it's instantly recognisable, a lot of modern stadiums are samey. Though I don't know about it being too futuristic, buildings like that tend to look dated before long.
Like comfortable seats, a roof that doesn't leak, clean facilities and more revenue for the club. Not sure why it's difficult to process, go to other stadiums in the country besides FC Uniteds, you'll understand the problem better.
Nostalgia has influenced Manchester Uniteds management for prolonged periods of time in the last 10 years.
Just out of curiosity, White Hart Lane, Allianz Arena, Bernabau, Athletico's stadium...... you would seriously turn your nose up at having a stadium like that?
To be fair, at FC, I can get a pint much quicker and much cheaper than at OT both before the match and at half time, and the tuckshop at the side of the pitch near the turnstiles will do you a bottle of coke for a quid and a Twirl for 50p. The chipshop is being converted into a taco bar this season, and it's still only £13 in.
A band usually plays under the SMRE before every match. The roof keeps the rain out and the last home match of the season in May was a seven goal thriller.
It's already got more to recommend it match-day-experience-wise than OT does!
I've watched football in all corners of the world thank you very much.
I wouldn't turn my nose up any of those stadiums proving it just isn't identical to any of them.
Why can't we have a new ground that builds on what's good about the current stadium? Why would that be a bad thing? Why do we need to copy everyone else's rather than leading the way on something that utilises our history whilst adding in some new innovative ideas.
The bands pre match at FC are great.
Imagine something similar on concourses at OT rather just focusing solely on corporate facilities. You could get people in 90 minutes before kick off if there was something to get in early for.
What you're saying though, is all very vague.
Like how can one stadium be substantially different than any other, when they all have the same exact function. The major differences from one to the next is the number of seats and the external shell. Because inside, they're all extremely similar in all other respects.
And when you say 'build on what's good about the current stadium', what do you mean exactly? What is good about it, in you view, and are those things somehow unique to Old Trafford and won't simply carry over to a new build a hundred meters away?
Yeah, I think that's the hope for them. But I can't see it having the same spirit as at FC, given the overt commercial nature of the place and the money they'll need it to recoup.
One of the great things about FC is the DIY ethos.
Give it up, this is just pure nostalgia. Use some common sense, we need a new stadium going forward as OT has reached the end of the line.
Years of history deleted so that "dubplate warrior" off the internet can feed his face quicker at games
Such a thick, reductionist take. I'm assuming you've been to a football match, so you should realise that OT is now a pretty shit stadium.Years of history deleted so that "dubplate warrior" off the internet can feed his face quicker at games
I'll happily take a state of the art stadium 100 yards away on the same complex.
Last edited:
I agree with you. I don’t want a soulless bowl like all the others, looking like a giant bedpan that descended from the sky.
Why not take OT, keep the front facade looking like OT and build from there
The amount of work Old Trafford requires means that the cost to expand and redevelop would cost stupid money. It would be way more profitable and cost effective in the medium to long term to actually build a new stadium which can last for another 100 years.
Read my idea. I’m talking only about having a front facade and a new build hidden behind it
Ah, apologies. That's not the worst idea at all.
We need a new stadium, and I came to the conclusion that this new stadium should be so out there, so different that the whole world will take note.
Think of the impact Amsterdam Arena made when it was built, it incorporated a new concept, a new design.
I think we should follow that path, given the whole Dutch and Ajax period we’re going through.
We can build a giant shark tank surrounding the concourse, or an Anaconda tank with rain forest climate running through the stadium.
We can build it in the form of a chapel so people could come and pray and watch footy in the same place, we could get donations from the Jehovah witnesses community.
We can built it in the shape of a 7th century Parisian theatre, the theatre of dreams, you dig?
We can build it in the shape of a massive airplane, which would contribute to the aerodynamic acoustics and thus improving the atmosphere in the ground.
We can build it the form of a German bunker from WW2.
There’s so many possibilities just need the funds, should’ve went with the damned sheikhs with their oil and deep pockets after all.
Think of the impact Amsterdam Arena made when it was built, it incorporated a new concept, a new design.
I think we should follow that path, given the whole Dutch and Ajax period we’re going through.
We can build a giant shark tank surrounding the concourse, or an Anaconda tank with rain forest climate running through the stadium.
We can build it in the form of a chapel so people could come and pray and watch footy in the same place, we could get donations from the Jehovah witnesses community.
We can built it in the shape of a 7th century Parisian theatre, the theatre of dreams, you dig?
We can build it in the shape of a massive airplane, which would contribute to the aerodynamic acoustics and thus improving the atmosphere in the ground.
We can build it the form of a German bunker from WW2.
There’s so many possibilities just need the funds, should’ve went with the damned sheikhs with their oil and deep pockets after all.
WHL is probably the best model to use as they have nailed it facilities, would go with three tiers around ground and the make the stands behind the goal steeper.
Retractable roof and scoreboards / screens like the SoFi are all non essentials for me, looks great but don't want a copy of another ground, you want yours to be unique.
Someone's cranky.Yep, why don't we just get a superb new stadium together then? Can't be difficult
We shouldn't bother because "Sandikan" thinks it's too hard.
Yep, why don't we just get a superb new stadium together then? Can't be difficult
It looks dated though and if you are copying the design from that era it will look a monstrosity. It’s like saying a modern tv is soulless as it looks nothing like the box sets from the last 30 years prior, yet can do much more. We need a modern looking stadium that is multi functional in close season and for WC/Euros. This is where the extra revenue to buy players better than we have will come from
Steve Bruce Lee Sharpe stand.
I'm only a very infrequent visitor to Old Trafford nowadays, I don't have a particularly strong opinion on whether we should renovate or build new and would probably defer to those who go on a regular basis. Whatever we have, though, should be befitting of a club our stature, which it currently isn't.
On the talk of not building something "soulless" I would say this: grounds are as soulless as the fans that use them. I've visited a lot of Scottish grounds over the years, and a lot in lower divisions. Some of these grounds would probably have looked archaic in the 1970s. But a lot of them create fantastic atmospheres because the fans are fantastic. Keane knew it when he called out the prawn sandwich brigade. The soul of a club is more than the bricks and mortar - or any building material.
On the talk of not building something "soulless" I would say this: grounds are as soulless as the fans that use them. I've visited a lot of Scottish grounds over the years, and a lot in lower divisions. Some of these grounds would probably have looked archaic in the 1970s. But a lot of them create fantastic atmospheres because the fans are fantastic. Keane knew it when he called out the prawn sandwich brigade. The soul of a club is more than the bricks and mortar - or any building material.
How many of the current PL stadiums have you visited to come to this conclusion? I ask because I've been to 19 of them (Ipswich is the one I'm missing), and there is only one which I'd consider to be a better stadium and all round match-going experience - which is obviously Spurs stadium for the avoidance of doubt.
You say you care about the facilities, such as how quickly you can get a snack; but you mentioned Spurs, Bayern, Atletico & Real Madrid? Have you ever tried to get a snack or a drink at half time at any of their grounds? Admittedly I haven't been to Real's new stadium since the renovation but the other three aren't any quicker at half time. Pre game, you can easily get a drink in a minute or less at Old Trafford, how much quicker does it need to be? Heck at Atletico a couple of years ago the queue was about 20 minutes for a drink an hour before kick off (and that was with god knows how many people in front jumping out of the queue when they realised it was 0.1% beer). I don't dispute the stadiums themselves are fantastic, but let's not pretend they're any faster at serving customers than we currently see.
You mentioned the roof leaking, obviously this is something that should be fixed, I agree. But I don't see Dortmund supporters crying about the state of their stadium, if anything it's generally held up as a hallmark of what a football stadium should be by supporters. I was there last month and the reality is that the roof there is even worse than Old Trafford, I was probably stood 20 yards away from a waterfall way beyond anything I've ever seen at Old Trafford and by all accounts that wasn't even the worst leak they had during the tournament. And that's without even getting into their lovely sticky grey concrete concourse areas which wouldn't look out of place at Selhurst Park.
I've been to 263 grounds in total worldwide, yes I'm a sad act who uses a website to record new stadiums, and only a handful are better than Old Trafford. Spurs, Bayern & Atletico's grounds are part of that handful, the version of Real's previously was not although I've no doubt the new build will be superior. I'm not against progress, I understand that Old Trafford is at a point where work is required and a new stadium may well be the best option, but the point of my post is that Old Trafford is just clearly not a "pretty shit stadium", unless we are saying that every stadium in the country is shit apart from Spurs? It's still a very good stadium, it's just no longer state of the art.
Good article about Manchester. Thought I'd share because it's quite relevant to the topic ie some folk want an industrial infuence on the new ground. (industrial's not actually Manchester).
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-prices-vs-london-gives-northern-city-an-edge
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-prices-vs-london-gives-northern-city-an-edge
Last edited:
Spot on
Read without the paywall here