On Thursday morning, Manchester United unveiled the proposed location of their new, 100,000-capacity stadium. Unsurprisingly, minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s prize project will be based on land the club acquired last month to the north-west of the existing Old Trafford stadium, around 350 metres away from what has been their home since 1910.
Collette Roche, United’s chief executive of new stadium development, spoke to journalists following the event at Old Trafford to give an update on where the plans stand, and how they have changed since United first announced their ambitions for a new home in March last year. Back in March 2025, Ratcliffe expressed confidence that the project could be completed in as little as five years, provided it gained the support of local and national government.
Omar Berrada, United’s chief executive, was unequivocal on
timescales at that stage. When asked if the 2030-31 season was the target for
the grand opening, he simply said: “Yes.”Yet after more than a year of lengthy
negotiations to secure the land the project requires, United have been careful
to play down expectations of moving into their new home so soon.
When Ratcliffe launched his attempts to buy a stake in
United in early 2023, with a new stadium at the core of his offer to the Glazer
family, industry sources estimated the project would cost around £2billion
($2.7bn at the current rate). Berrada also confirmed that as a working estimate
last year. But again, Roche was more
reluctant on Thursday to commit to a specific cost before the design of the
place is finalised.
Whether costs run to that £2billion figure or climb even
higher, the question of how United are going to fund this project will remain
key. Roche said that will only become clearer once the design and the bill for
the stadium’s construction are finalised.
United have a range of funding options available, including
equity investment — which could potentially come through either the existing
ownership or external investors, she added.
Roche argued that debt is often essential to projects of
this nature. Tottenham Hotspur borrowed £637million while building their new
£1.2bn stadium, which opened in April 2019, albeit at a time when interest
rates were far lower. “While we can get
over-obsessed with debt and borrowing, there is no stadium, I don’t think,
where you would not have some form of borrowing. It’s natural,” she told
reporters. “I am sure all of you haven’t paid for your houses out of your own
pocket.
Roche once again ruled out the prospect of the club using
public funding for the stadium itself: “I think we, as a football club, need to
stand on our own two feet, and we need to pay for our stadium, for a whole host
of reasons.”
United insist no decision on the future of the current Old
Trafford has been made. Roche said the priority is building the new stadium and
surrounding infrastructure and facilities:
United’s announcement last year was met with scepticism as
well as excitement, and the shift in timescales and uncertainty over financing
since then have raised further questions as to whether the project can
realistically be completed.
‘King of the North’ and shortly to be prime minister Andy
Burnham has backed the project as Manchester mayor. He is unlikely to stop backing it given his
plans to open a Prime Minister North office in Manchester. However, should Labour lose the upcoming
by-election for Greater Manchester mayor, complications could arise. Other parties have said they would want to revisit the project.
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