Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has shared ambitious plans to replace Old Trafford with a new 100,000-seat stadium. This modern facility would cost around £2 billion and is expected to take five years to complete. The project aims to boost economic growth in the area, potentially creating about 92,000 jobs.
However, there has been criticisms of United’s plans. Fans have been left disappointed by the “ugly” look of the proposed new ground. Football analyst Paul Merson, among others, believes the club should prioritize investing in the team instead of focusing on building a new stadium.
Despite the backlash, Ratcliffe’s proposal has received support from Patrick Campbell, a senior architect working on the project. Campbell has provided additional insights into the vision for the new stadium, emphasizing its potential benefits for the club and the community.
Campbell told the club’s media: “This all started, the big, big challenge that we got from Jim Ratcliffe was the idea of generating the finest football stadium in the world. Football first, all about atmosphere. All about that fan experience, all about making this the best stadium in the world to come to.
“So it’s talking about proximity to pitch, can you see everything that’s going on and how closely can you get to that? How can all the fans get together with that fantastic roar to drive on the team? To make it a winning stadium, a winning team. So all about acoustics, all about sight-lines, all about proximity to pitch, all about feeling connected.
“The idea of… you know, maybe this is the biggest, football stadium in Europe. Maybe this will be the biggest football stadium in the world. There are some others that are out there at 150,000 but how can we drive this to be the finest club football ground in the world.”
Campbell also claimed fans will be involved in the process. He added: “This is very much the start of the process. These are some ideas about how we can bring forward the finest football stadium in the world. But we’ve got to do that with the fans, the local community and all the different stakeholders. Majorly to ensure they see it as their club, their stadium. We’re just custodians. We’re helping to find form in a stadium and we look forward to continuing some amazing consultations.”
In the meantime, Manchester United will continue to play at Old Trafford. However, the club’s chief executive, Omar Berrada, has cautioned that financing the new stadium might limit their ability to invest in the current team. This news is particularly concerning for fans and manager Ruben Amorim, as the team currently sits in 13th place in the league standings.
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