- Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to turn Old Trafford into a national stadium for the North
- The wider regeneration of Old Trafford could reportedly take up to 20 years
- Manchester United’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe can rebuild the stadium, build a museum… but they have to pay for it – It’s all Kicking Off podcast
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been warned that redevelopment of the area around Old Trafford could take up to 20 years, amid his plans to revolutionize the stadium.
Ratcliffe wants to transform Manchester United’s home ground into the ‘Wembley of the North’ and increase its capacity from around 74,000 to 90,000.
He wanted public funding, but Trafford Council has confirmed they will not give a penny to the plans proposed by United’s new minority owner.
Council bosses have welcomed his plans but warned a wider project could take up to 20 years The times.
That’s because Ratcliffe’s glamorous vision comes with more pedestrian plans to build a primary school, housing and business developments.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been warned that development around Old Trafford could take up to 20 years, with the billionaire keen to turn Man United’s stadium into the ‘Wembley of the North’.
His vision is to increase the stadium’s capacity to 90,000, but other plans from the municipality also exist
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“It would be great to have a Wembley of the North,” said Trafford Labor councilor Liz Patel. ‘That is a great ambition of Jim Ratcliffe and these (council) plans are in line with that in terms of the setting and future of the area.
“We are looking at a 15 to 20 year plan for the wider area. But United’s own plans (for the stadium) are more likely to become reality. It’s a long-term plan and you can see that what happened around City doesn’t happen overnight and these things take time.
‘There will be more hotel space, more places to eat and places where public events can take place, so people can arrive earlier and stay longer after the match. It could be a much more family-friendly space where people want to stay longer and have processional routes through the grounds.”
Trafford Council has been working on the Trafford Wharfside Development Framework to regenerate the surrounding area. This was officially given the green light on Monday evening.
Ratcliffe and the council have reportedly already had several discussions about their vision for the future.
Renovating the existing 74,000-seat stadium, which opened in 1910, would likely prove to be a short-term measure and would cost around £800 million. Meanwhile, a new build could cost anywhere between £1 billion and £2 billion.
He previously described the stadium as ‘tired and in need of renovation’.
In stronger words, he branded United’s museum a ‘c**p’ before claiming the club shop was ‘too small’ for their size.
Ratcliffe last week confirmed plans to create a ‘national stadium in the north of England’, adding that his ‘preference’ is to use taxpayers’ money to fund the project.
Ratcliffe, who officially became co-owner this month, wanted the stadium’s transformation to be funded by public money, but Trafford Council confirmed they would not provide any funding.
The area around Old Trafford will see a new school, housing and business developments
“If it can be achieved (with taxpayers’ money), that would clearly be my preference,” Ratcliffe told the newspaper BBC.
‘I would be very excited about the North of England. Trafford Park is where the Industrial Revolution began. If you look at the Manchester area today – just a mile from the center – it is tired and neglected and parts are quite run down.
“There’s a pretty big case, in my opinion, for revitalizing that whole south side of Manchester. At its heart would be the construction of a new, state-of-the-art, world-class stadium, which could host England matches, the FA Cup final and the Champions League finals. It could serve the north of England.”
But given that Trafford Council’s budget last year was £192 million, they will spare no change for his utopian idea.
“We will invest in the Wharfside Development Framework,” Patel said. ‘How United will raise the finances for the renovation of their own stadium would be a separate matter.’