It has been a momentous week for Manchester United and for plans to build a new Old Trafford. The acquisition of a patch of land near the current stadium has moved the prospect of building a new 100,000-seater home a step closer to reality.
The project, initially budgeted at £2billion, has cleared one hurdle and although others remain, there is a growing belief that this is now going to happen. That within the next six or seven years, United will move to a new stadium that Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to be a “Wembley of the north”.
But despite what the club’s social media feed and triumphant announcements might suggest, the idea of moving to a gleaming new stadium that would undoubtedly be one of the finest venues in the world hasn’t been met with universal approval. In fact, there is a view that a large number, and possibly a majority of matchgoers, are fine just where they are.
The benefits of building a new stadium have been clearly sold. Collette Roche, now CEO of the new stadium development plan, said on Monday that it would be a “world-class new home” for the club, while Ratcliffe has talked about building a “fabulous, iconic new stadium.”
That hasn’t won over all supporters. Striking artist impressions and talk of a stadium that sets a new benchmark, but it would mean the end of Old Trafford, and decades of history and tradition being razed to the ground. It stirs plenty of emotion.
“I think a lot of fans, it hasn’t dawned on them that this new stadium, part of that deal, is that Old Trafford gets flattened,” said Steve Crompton of fan group The 1958.
“You might put the Munich clock somewhere else, but when it comes to memorial day, it’s not got the same value anymore, has it? I’m sure everything that’s at Old Trafford will get put somewhere else, but it just doesn’t feel like it. Let’s be honest, Old Trafford needs some TLC, but it’s still the greatest stadium in the UK.”
Crompton is a time-served regular, but even the younger generation of United matchgoers are generally against the idea of moving. Luca Black, 20, is a youth season ticket holder and chair of the Manchester United Youth Supporters Club (MUYSC). He has been surprised at the level of feeling within his membership.
“I think really right from the get-go, when they announced the new stadium project plans, I thought that the youth would be more for it because it’s more progressive. My original thought was that they’re probably going to want this,” he said.
“It became clear straight away that all the group chats were blowing up and all the people I knew were saying they think it’s a really bad idea, they don’t want to leave Old Trafford because it feels like home, it’s got a soul to it, they’ve made so many memories there.
“People are just so attached to the memories that we have made there and they’re so colourful and vibrant and amazing and hearing our parents’ stories and people before us.
“And then you think back to the Busby Babes times, and obviously, none of us youth were around for that, but hearing those stories lights up our eyes every time. To think that they played on that pitch and we get to watch 11 players play on this pitch now, still, I think just means so much to us. And I couldn’t tell you why.”
History and tradition are major reasons regulars don’t want to leave Old Trafford, though the view isn’t necessarily overwhelming. A club survey of more than 50,000 supporters suggested that 52% wanted a new stadium, with redeveloping Old Trafford as the preferred option for 31%. The remaining 17% were unsure.
The club has never fully released those survey results, and the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust (MUST) has done their own survey of more than 3,500 fans, the results of which will be released soon.
But Chris Rumfitt, the Trust’s communications director, said the results had shown a split between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted to move.
“The truth is, fans are split down the middle. It’s almost what’s almost exactly a 50-50 split,” he said.
“And even when you look at, say, season ticket holders, who you would think might be more sceptical. Season ticket holders are slightly more concerned about the idea than others, but the difference isn’t huge.
“Fans are split down the middle, so you can look at that as you will. From our point of view, the club doesn’t yet have a mandate from fans to leave Old Trafford and we think they need to earn that mandate by giving fans more reassurance and more information.”
Once again, the idea of bulldozing a stadium known as the Theatre of Dreams and losing all that heritage was a major issue for some supporters.
“Of people who don’t want to leave, heritage and identity is the top reason for not wanting to leave,” said Rumfitt. “For some fans, they simply want the team to play on the same bit of grass that Bobby Charlton did.
“For some, it’s that emotional, and that emotion should be respected. It’s not the majority view, but it is a significant view
“But not far behind that is the fear that it will result in a stadium that prices out ordinary fans and the fear it will leave the club with even more debt.”
That is another major issue for supporters who don’t want a new stadium built. While the new Old Trafford has been budgeted at £2bn, the global economic outlook has worsened since then and these projects rarely come in on budget anyway.
The project will need to be funded somehow, and while debt is one option, so is hiking ticket prices, which would price out many Old Trafford regulars.
“I certainly don’t think this is being done for the betterment of fans,” said Crompton. “That’s the truth because this is a cash cow and two things will happen: one, it’s going to massively inflate the Glazer shares and what they’re worth, but if they were to ever exit, then they’ve made even more money, or it will give them a reason to hold on even longer.
“How’s the stadium getting paid for? There are a million and one questions that we just keep hearing this great news, we’re stepping forward, but there’s been no communication on how things are going to work, on how is this getting funded”
One of the selling points of a new stadium is that the increased capacity will open up the opportunity to watch Manchester United to a new generation of supporters. That is an idea that is worthy in principle, but will only work if tickets are kept affordable, and there is understandable scepticism given recent price hikes.
“That’s probably the biggest thing, because we’ve already seen it now,” said Black. “I have a youth season ticket, which means I pay, I can’t remember what it is for this year, but when it started it was £16 a game, which is brilliant. I could afford that.
“But you’ve got youth season tickets, who are still paying a low price, which is great, but then the disparity is my little brother, who’s four years younger than me, is paying £150 more. The members are paying ridiculous amounts.
“So then you think, right, we’ve got a new stadium which will cost however much, say £2billion. They’re going to need to recover some of that and I am in no doubt that they are intelligent and they will throw some crumbs to us and go, we’re going to keep this bit affordable in quotation marks and this bit affordable and then we’re going to have corporate here and here. And they’ll try and make a compromise.
“They’ll have maybe a few cheaper tickets but even with the personal seat licences et cetera, the ideas that have been thrown about. I just don’t think it’s viable.”
The issue of tickets is an area MUST will be campaigning on once consultation with supporters over a new stadium begins, and they want guarantees from those in charge.
“In terms of MUST, that’s going to be one of the main focuses of our campaign,” said Rumfitt. “If you want to build a new stadium, we need to be guaranteed that the ticket prices will still be affordable.
“If the reason to support it is to create a new generation of young, match-going Reds – that would be my reason to support it – but that’s only true if you make the tickets affordable enough. And that’s going to be the focus of our pressure on the club.”
A masterplan for the regeneration of the area and details of a formal consultation period will be published on July 9, and the club will then move on to the design phase, again in consultation with supporters. The idea of what happens next, and how things play out from here, is split.
“I think it’s up to the club to build fans’ confidence by giving a lot more detail on what is proposed in terms of the physical stadium and consulting on that, but also starting to get into questions like ticket pricing, ticket licensing, and how this will be funded and financed,” said Rumfitt.
“It’s their job to give reassurance and confidence and perhaps stop treating this like it’s a fait accompli, which they did in some of the communications on Monday, and I would suggest a bit more of a humble tone that shows they’re going to consult might go down a bit better.”
Some haven’t given up hope that the club will remain at Old Trafford. “I still don’t believe that it’s going to happen,” said Black. “I think regarding the sort of political climate, and things are always changing, but that’s probably just the hope inside of me.
“I think really there are so many powerful people that want to get it through and they’ll probably get it through, but there’s always a fight to be had and there are things that we can bring up.”
Crompton wants to see “some transparency” and more detailed discussions about what the stadium will look like and how it will be paid for.
“I’m sick to death of hearing from the club, we want to know what fans want, it’s important, this, that and the other. Well, you don’t really, do you? Because you’ve not listened to what fans have said.
“I think ourselves and maybe other supporter groups will call out the fact that they never released the initial survey they did, the full survey. And do you know what? If that survey comes back, and even if it’s split 50-50, then you kind of hold your hands up.
“Okay, I’m on one half of the fence and, you know, that might not change, but I don’t believe for one minute that there’s an overwhelming or a majority of match-going fans that want a new ground and see Old Trafford flattened and the Munich memorial and clock disappear and put on the side of a Starbucks.”
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2026-06-25 05:00:00
