The most interesting figure there was the London stadium conversion nearly costing as much as the original build. How?!
Sir Jim Ratcliffe: I want to buy Manchester United | Will make a bid for the club [Telegraph]
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The most interesting figure there was the London stadium conversion nearly costing as much as the original build. How?!
More chance of us playing on the moon for a year.
Yeah that raised an eyebrow for me too. Bizarre figure.
edit- seems significant work was carried out on the roof to meet UEFA regulations which required it to be extended and reinforced.
'I've tried to claim knowledge'Every football club treats their fans like customers. That's what they are!!
You've tried to claim knowledge by Google searching someone that no relevance to anything in this thread ( Marwood)
Every club doesn't treat their fans like the Glazers have treated the United fans.
I don't know if you're a bit dim, but my post followed on from what was being discussed regarding City's football structure where the two former Barcelona chaps were mentioned as being the 'Barcelona structure'. And my response was very simple and I pointed to who was infact involved in developing and creating the football structure at the club (City). And this has been discussed on podcasts like the transfer ground guru, who regularly have people on their pods who work within the field in question. And if you want to challenge anything I said regarding Marwood, then be my guest.
I don't feel good at all.
Was it a vote about whether or not murder should be legalised or something? It was a vote about whether or not this country stayed or left the EU. By itself that’s not a moral issue. The reasons whatever % of leave voted that way may have been morally wrong but until I hear the reason I can’t judge a person for the way they voted just because it went against my wish.
I can judge people for making incredibly stupid decisions that feck things up for the rest of us. Just watch me.
We must be understanding of our peers with slower bandwidth even when it hinders our network & data transfer capabilitiesI can judge people for making incredibly stupid decisions that feck things up for the rest of us. Just watch me.
Have the Glazers hacked this account? We could spend billions on transfers and infrastructure without breaking FFP rules with the revenue we generate.
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Well said. Feck being another Oiley plaything. We can succeed on our own merit if released from the debt shackles.
While true when you consider that £1b plus has been lost due to interest repayments over the past 17 years. Now our revenue is on the decline and costs are higher so going forward I don’t know.
Can this happen? How would everyone react if this actually happened?
Worked out well for Malaga
A stadium and training revamp is needed. Can it be done in parallel with the changes needed on the footballing side? Of course.
And someone correct me if I'm wrong, however, I believe FFP only counts for investment in the footballing side, not the actual investment in facilities, etc? I'm pretty sure that is the case.
It'll be interesting to see how fans are engaged. In what way would the fans liked to be engaged? Match day experience, etc, I understand, but footballing decisions? From places like this and social media, you can see fans hardly agree on the same thing, so why would I as an owner want fans to make footballing decisions for me?
And who ever comes in will make mistakes earlier on. Goes without saying. In fact, I'd be more surprised if the opposite happens than the other way around. However, we can then only hope that things will get better for us.
And someone correct me if I'm wrong, however, I believe FFP only counts for investment in the footballing side, not the actual investment in facilities, etc? I'm pretty sure that is the case.
It'll be interesting to see how fans are engaged. In what way would the fans liked to be engaged? Match day experience, etc, I understand, but footballing decisions? From places like this and social media, you can see fans hardly agree on the same thing, so why would I as an owner want fans to make footballing decisions for me?
And who ever comes in will make mistakes earlier on. Goes without saying. In fact, I'd be more surprised if the opposite happens than the other way around. However, we can then only hope that things will get better for us.
The facilities talk always baffles me. There’s not many stadiums at all that I’ve been to and think are better than Old Trafford for watching football, not the San Siro, the Nue Camp, Tottenham, Wembley the list goes on and on. Old Trafford needs a bit of work no doubt but it’s far from how it’s described, the biggest issue as a spectator is how cramped it is.
Didn't Tottenham's stadium cost £1b?
Wasn’t there an issue recently where they couldn’t sell food and drink at a game because the refrigeration system failed?
I think it’s the little things like those and the fact that the stadium itself has stood still in terms of design ever since the glazers took over. There’s also the argument that the women’s team still has to play to a smaller capacity crowd at a time when the women’s game as a whole is having a good moment.
If memory serves it was actually the IT system that failed so they couldn’t process payments, but either way that kind of thing can also happen at a new stadium too. Things inside can be improved and modernised, but you don’t need to rip it down to do that. The design is fine (two quadrants have actually been added under the Glazers too, in the interest of fairness)
I'd be surprised if a potential new owner went the redevelopment route and it may well be more prudent to just build a new stadium like James Ducker is hinting at below, and I for one would be happy with that.
The atmosphere would leave a lot to be desired
That’s a problem that cannot be solved by a refurb. Probably number one reason for a rebuild.
Wasn’t the work already planned and paid for under Edwards and the Glazers didn’t have much to do with it? It was just timing I think. Tough to give them credit for that.
It would also be far more palatable to sell naming rights to a brand new stadium than Old Trafford, similar to what Arsenal did when moving from Highbury to Emirates.
The “state” of Old Trafford is always vastly overstated, you’d think it looked like the San Siro, or worse still, the Camp Nou or old Wembley the way some people bang on
It’s still better than 95% of stadiums out there. I personally think it needs renovations more to maximise revenues than this urgent need some make out.
More seats, more shopping, genuine restaurants, better hospitality, better entertainment pre and post match etc.
It’s still better than 95% of stadiums out there. I personally think it needs renovations more to maximise revenues than this urgent need some make out.
More seats, more shopping, genuine restaurants, better hospitality, better entertainment pre and post match etc.
They literally just solved that problem when adding in all the new wheelchair access.
The “state” of Old Trafford is always vastly overstated, you’d think it looked like the San Siro, or worse still, the Camp Nou or old Wembley the way some people bang on
It’s still better than 95% of stadiums out there. I personally think it needs renovations more to maximise revenues than this urgent need some make out.
More seats, more shopping, genuine restaurants, better hospitality, better entertainment pre and post match etc.
San Siro is going to get knocked down and Camp Nou is having a £1.3b redevelopment. I took some folk on the OT tour and it looked tired and dated
behind the scenes and all. Sure the stadium looks ad hoc but that's just aesthetics, the main issue is tread and seat sizes. If you want to be the best you have to make a statement otherwise leave alone and fade away.
Which is the point, people talk about Old Trafford as though it’s in the same state, it aint.
Does it need some love? Absolutely.
Will it even be beneficial and ultimately profitable, absolutely.
Yeah I don't get it either, most people just buy a pint and a pie at half time and that's it. I'm not sure what facilities are needed more than that, are people keen to get a foot massage at half time or something? I also hope people realise that the only reason places like Spurs have more 'facilities' is because they have events there like American football and concerts, Old Trafford doesn't need that. I hope people also realise prices will go up.
Just expand and modernise OT, none of this rebuild and cheese room bollocks.
We could just focus on winning things instead? Hard to ignore the best team in the league.
They spent a shit tonne on the Friends Arena here in Stockholm too, and Old Trafford still shits on it. I don’t see anything different for the match watching experience except the seating is a tad more comfy, same with the Allianz in Munich.
Best thing about Friends though is the massive mall attached so you can actually spend some time before and after the match, eating or shopping, rather than legging it to the tram with 2 minutes remaining.
I’d refurb OT, even if it takes 7 years, and spend a shit load making the area more profitable pre and post match, with more opportunities for people to want to hang around and shop, eat, play etc.
I’m not too arsed about the state of OT myself, sure it’s a bit dated but don’t see why we need to spend 1bn on it or a new stadium.. can’t see how ‘for profit’ owners would see the need for it either
although, the mens bogs are a bit rank on match day - maybe spend a few mil on that!
although, the mens bogs are a bit rank on match day - maybe spend a few mil on that!
I didn't know you were based in Stockholm too, I've been here since 2012 so I'm familiar with the Friends Area and the Mall of Scandinavia. It's just another soulless stadium that puts more focus on it's 'facilities' but it's like the football is secondary to everything else.
Agreed, just refurbish it, make improvements where possible and expand the capacity.
We should absolutely focus on the team and the reserve teams first. In my opinion, there's nothing more small time than having a brand spanking new shiny stadium and playing Europa or Conference league football.
It shouldn’t be either or though? that’s what got us here to begin with
we need to be run properly, which means investing in all areas of the business to stay competitive
Aye, since 2008 pal.
And absolutely, you can barely tell the difference between Friends, the Allianz and a load of other new stadia. And I still fail to see how watching football as the Emirates or the Allianz is a better experience than OT?
As I say, Friends I get, but that due to being next door to a mall, so it’s the pre and post-match experience which is much improved, but neither Arsenal nor the Allianz have that.
They do have much better hospitality mind, which 95% of people don’t experience anyway.
So with that in mind, I don’t see how people can see the plans for Madrid’s refurb and not come to the conclusion that a refurb of our actual historical arena is a much better option.
My guess, people like shiny new things. For me we’re just end up with yet another souless piece of modern shite that looks the same as 99% of other new stadiums.
It seems like I want the total opposite to you.
I want OT to be accessible for all. Match day/non match day going fans. The amount of times I give up going to games because I feel bad to have to leave the rest of the family home. When I go games, it's a whole day thing due to travel time.
I want to be able to go and watch the match, whilst the rest of the family can be entertained, whether that's shopping, eating, etc.
Have you seen the facilities on offer at places like Sofi stadium? Heck, even the training facilities over at Dallas Cowboys.
Old Trafford should no longer be about just the match day goers, it's about their families, too. This is one way to keep the new generation coming through the door.
I spend 2-3 hours a week at the ground. I’m not there to recline and have grapes hand fed into my mouth I’m there to watch football, it’s not a major problem.
We have to remember, we'll be gone soon. The facilities and technology available now will be outdated in a few years time. We're so far behind as it is now. So it may prove to be too difficult to uodate OT enough to future proof it enough. So starting from scratch may be the viable option.
However, if economically it can all be done via a refurb, fantastic, do it.
There's loads to do in the City Centre and the Trafford Centre, they will both have major objections to any kind of facilities being built at OT I would imagine. They're only down the road.
maybe just leave your family go shopping & meet them after the match in a restaurant or something