Manchester United Plans With Local Authorities Regarding Old Trafford

Manchester United have agreed a partnership with local authorities to investigate how plans to rebuild or replace Old Trafford would impact the area around the club’s iconic stadium.

The Old Regeneration Task Force was established in March, led by Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics.

It is believed that the focus is on talks about constructing a new 100,000-capacity stadium rather than redeveloping Old Trafford, the 74,310-capacity home for United since 1910.

However, no firm decision on the best way forward is set to be taken until the end of the year.

On Monday, United announced that the club would join an advisory team tasked with exploring how a new or revamped stadium could drive broader social and economic regeneration.

Trafford Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) are also involved in the new partnership, United said.

“The objective of this once-in-a-generation project is not only the development of a world-class stadium for the north of England but also to ensure that this brings broad social and economic benefits to the local area and surrounding region,” Coe said.

In February, United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe stated that the regeneration project, centered around a new stadium would come for £2 billion.

The British billionaire believes a new ground for United could be a northern rival to Wembley.

He previously said the project should attract some taxpayer funding.

“People in the north pay their taxes and there is an argument that you could think about a more ambitious project in the north which would be fitting for England, for the Champions League final or the FA Cup final and act as a catalyst to regenerate southern Manchester, which has got quite significant history in the UK,” Ratcliffe said.