Yeah that would look terrible
Old Trafford revamp/could be torn down and rebuilt according to Glazer plans
- Thread starter GE
- Start date
Yeah that would look terrible
Yeah but I'm sure a good architect could do something creative. Besides I'm a sucker for juxtaposition. I'd love the new interior look similar to King's Cross, Colt's stadium and those retro ball parks. It doesn't have to be shiny.
Bunch of short-arses don't think leg room is an issue... They probably complain about people standing up though
I've done tonnes of grounds in England, and I think only Luton's ground is worse for leg room.
They chucked some seating over an existing terrace and you not only get this slightly dangerous 2 levels in between rows, but if you're over 5ft 8 it's just so uncomfortable to sit.
What do people think happens to the existing stadium in that scenario then?
Knock it down completely in the end? Or keep some parts of it for the history?
Build a smaller stadium for the women's team and youth teams, like City have done.
I imagine, eventually, it'll all be knocked down and something new will be built on the current site. A new car park and probably a smaller ground for the youngsters.
Part of the issue is, in the 1990s when they were rebuilding the stadium stand by stand, they should have moved the pitch northwards. That would have allowed us to extend the South stand without needing to go backwards over the railway line. I guess part of the reason why that wasn't done was because it would have potentially meant having to do more of the rebuild simultaneously than the club wanted. However, there is still a decent amount of dead space around the pitch with the ramp and everything. The Old Trafford pitch is nowhere near as tight as Highbury's was etc.
I suspect that didn't happen at the time because United Rd was a public access road and the club didn't own all the surrounding land, I worked on Warwick Rd in those days and drove a van to an industrial estate that only had access via United Rd, I remember the traffic jams and an irate boss when I got stuck there when they built what is now the SAF stand over the road
In the US it's a common scenario to build a new stadium next to the old one and knock the old one down, in a lot of cases the new one is essentially an updated version of the old one, think Yankee Stadium in New York and Busch Stadium in St Louis
This was a necessity however (I’m not sure whether it still is) due to the nature of the soil in the area, lots of clay just beneath the surface made drainage incredibly poor, so it required building a very high tech (at the time) drainage system hence the raised pitch. Then you needed the space around so that people at the front could see.
I've complained about the leg room as a direct response to going to the matches and trying to squeeze into the tiny seats. And I'm a guy who can't find pants in my size I'm most shops due to them predominantly catering to people much larger than myself.
Why would anyone complain about leg room if they'd not tried to sit down at a match?
We get it mate, you’re a Top Red, hate the plastics yad-yada-yada. Your shtick would be far more believable if you weren’t so contrarian at every opportunity.Falling to bits!
I never said those things wouldn’t come with time. We have a fit for purpose stadium, we play football there every 2nd week, sometimes twice a week, in fact I’d say it fulfils its purpose expertly. This drive to have ‘modern’ ground stems from having something new and shiny because someone else has one. It’s pointless right now when the squad and training grounds should be the priority.
Why even bother with the overheads of putting on a game at Old Trafford when Nansen Park or Stretford Sports Village can provide a surface to play on. . .
I don't know why you need to be so extreme all the time? I've not said any of that nonsense but carry on being outraged about everything, it must be exhausing for you however.
I don't care if we do knock everything down and start again if money is no issue and more than adequate funds will be available for the squad and other area's that will actually improve our performances in said new stadium (that will almost certainly be called something along the lines of the Binance arena and not OT anymore). The reality is, whomever the new investor may be, there won't be enough funds available to splash at least a billion on some extra leg room, which means we're going to have to make a choice between a cheese room and Europa league football. But at least the whole family can go shopping while we're playing FC Midtjylland at home eh?
If I'm being contrarian it's because the reasons people want the club to just set fire to over a billion quid are not worth it in my opinion (leg room, no shopping centre within 15 minutes, needs painting, needs some work, 'lack of facilities', have to wait for a pint and a pie, can't check my emails at half time, etc). Not when there are more pressing concerns.
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I don't think they'd hand a billion quid over the counter for renovations.
Yeah, I was saying how there should be more facilities available for non-match day goers.
The reality for me now is, a football stadium should be more than just going to watch the game. I'm no longer going to the game just with the "boys." I want to take my family. But unfortunately, I can't get 5 tickets all sitting together. So the next bedt thing is, we can experience the day as family. The Manchester United village as Gary Neville appeals to me. Clearly, I'm not alone in this.
And so what if we do want more from the satdium? How does it harm people who don't want to experience that? You can still experience the game as you do today.
The game and match day experience changes. I'd love to have seen some of your lots reaction when Sir Matt wanted to go and play in Europe. Or when he introduced executive boxes to the stadium. Or when the first time the tour of the stadium, etc, was introduced. You'd have all been up in arms about it!
Hahaha, exactly this.
People don't realise that all the improvements that had been made to OT before the Glazers came, is a big factor of us still today to be able to compete...just about. Constant improvements need to be made. We're so bad, even UEFA have stop considering us for CL finals. We've clearly fallen well behind, that a lick of paint just isn't cutting it no more.
People need to think beyond what they have and understand that a lot more can, and should be done, with the available grounds in and around Old Trafford.
The one thing the Glazers got right was buying the land around the current stadium
get that temp stadium from the World Cup, erect it on the land we own and then rebuild OT.
I have no idea if t will fit, the costs or if it is even possible, but its worth looking at.
I have no idea if t will fit, the costs or if it is even possible, but its worth looking at.
If a new stadium is build costing £1 Billion plus then surely we will looking at a significant increase in ticket prices. If the money is borrowed to fund the stadium then we could be looking at 50 or 60 million a year in interest.
It does make me wonder if we could end up with something like Brentford's ground on a bigger scale. Oddly shaped as far as stadiums go but distinctive and a marvel of packaging into an awkward site.
Would give us something to remember that isn't just a boring bowl (and I do laugh at people who deride the boring bowl when OT as redeveloped in 1994 was the archetypal boring bowl).
Wembley at it's widest and longest points. It's known for it's legroom and size of the footprint.
I think we've space for something similarly sized in the land we've got, I dunno if someone could place it accurately to see?
On the site sure, but barely and not it's current orientation and location, you'd need to rotate and move it back away from the train line.
If the Qataris take over they could bring us stadium 974 to use in the car park while they rebuild OT. Just a thought.
Stadium needs to be rebuilt I'm afraid. Or renovated to an extent where its unrecognisable (ala Bernabeu). There's too many things that are outdated and it very much feels decades out of date.
Ideally you'd think the owners would want to build up a fanzone of sorts as well but I'm not sure how feasible that would be. I feel like there are massive commercial opportunities in the areas surrounding the stadium (Sir Matt Busby Way etc) that can be leveraged as well.
Ideally you'd think the owners would want to build up a fanzone of sorts as well but I'm not sure how feasible that would be. I feel like there are massive commercial opportunities in the areas surrounding the stadium (Sir Matt Busby Way etc) that can be leveraged as well.
I agree, and I wouldn't be surprised if the feedback on the stadium revamp/rebuild (quite how bad it is / how much work needs doing / cost) is the reason the Glazers have now decided to listen to offers for the club.
They aren't going to spend their own money and it doesn't do them any good to plunge the club into even more significant debt.
I remember walking around Old Trafford as far back as 2008 with my Dad and noticing loads of rust and rot. Obviously hasn't been touched since then (except perhaps a paint cover up which the professionals will have seen through).
So it's going to take a lot of work. I think the new owners will opt for a complete rebuild.
I've only had my season ticket for a couple of seasons now, and prior to that I had never in my life visited Old Trafford so maybe I don't have the nostalgia around the place that others have. I still enjoy going but its almost laughable how bad the experience is, from the leaky roof to the 1970s warehouse feel around the place. Purely commercially you'd think a brand, spanking new stadium and fanzone would literally pay for itself within a few years. I don't want to see us becoming Disneyland but we have to accept commercial realities and the fact that we are in danger of being left behind in a big way by our rivals who have invested in new/upgraded stadiums.
I think that is quite likely. The Glazers can't afford to fund transfers and the necessary infrastructure spending from the club's own cash flow, but their acquisition debt also prevents them taking on any financing. Without outside investment (either a partial or full sale), they are sunk.
Proof of concept for a Sony and Man City virtual fan interaction platform.
Now to my eyes that looks like crap Playstation replays, though it being such relatively low quality does mean it would be easily accessible to anyone anywhere with a phone. But I don't really get the appeal.
The broader point though is that a lot of big sports teams and tech companies are already investing a lot of money in this direction, with increased incorporation of 5G-enabled VR and AR integration predicted to be a massive source of future revenue in sport over the coming decades, with an eye to more and more high end uses over time. Things like the above are the start of a major intended shift in the way fans engage with teams, clubs and sports. Or perhaps more accurately, a shift in the way fans are sold teams, clubs and sports.
All of which is relevant to this thread in that if United similarly wanted to pursue this intended source of revenue over the next several decades, Old Trafford will need to be enough of a smart-stadium to allow them to do so. When people ask what benefits newer stadiums really bring that a fixed up Old Trafford wouldn't, being future-proofed in the direction sport is heading is part of the equation. At the bottom line it's always about making money from fans.
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Really surprised by how close the poll is.
A club of Manchester United's status and stature deserves a world class, state of the art Stadia.
Hopefully, with a cash rich investors/ owners coming in.
A club of Manchester United's status and stature deserves a world class, state of the art Stadia.
Hopefully, with a cash rich investors/ owners coming in.
Yeah it’s weird that people are so sentimental about a building which some of the most joyous and iconic moments in their life have happened.
Yeah but cheese room and pints that fill up from the bottom
You need to rebuild. I don't think it should be underestimated how old and worn down stadiums can hold back a club. Goodison for example is a great stadium of its time but it isn't fit for standard as a modern day PL stadium anymore. It feels like a time capsule and while it is great to remind you of the old days it doesn't represent the future and it can't because of how it is which is why we are building a new one. A club the size of United should be looking at what Spurs have and are doing with their stadium and be trying to unlock the same potential. Commercially you are far bigger and can capitalise on that. The value to Manchester as much as to United would be immense.
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Full rebuild like Spurs did would be ideal. Only thing is where do we play for a couple seasons whilst it's in construction. City ground is the obvious choice or Evertons new stadium maybe?
I think we will have to build on the same land a few 100 yards away. Emotionally would be great to play exactly where the Busy babes, class of 92 and all the other greats entertained us. However for the long term good a new modern facility is required. Supporters comfort and safety is paramount, better changing rooms, tunnel entrance, VAR screens(!). Will help attract the best talent and give us what we deserve. One for the new owners I guess.
Literally makes no difference, they say the same thing as our scoreboard screens - it's only people at home that get to know what's going on.
It's not the same building as it was 30 years ago though is it?
It’s not even the same stands.
Exactly this. When I go now, it doesn't even feel like i'm in the same stadium that I grew up in from '85. Because, like you say, 80% of it isn't! Time for complete rebuild on same site if possible.
Exactly it's was different in the 80s, then it was changed in the 90s, and then the early 2000s. It's not the same stadium.
People just don't like change, which I can understand.
I'm sure though once/if it did get built, they'd soon appreciate all the modern features it could bring.
We could still make it look/feel the same way, just with a more modern and efficient approach.
I'm sure though once/if it did get built, they'd soon appreciate all the modern features it could bring.
We could still make it look/feel the same way, just with a more modern and efficient approach.