English Premier League football club Manchester United have announced plans to build a new 100,000-seat stadium as the centrepiece of a major regeneration project for the Old Trafford area of the city.
Costing a “ballpark [figure] of £2bn”, the BBC reported, the new stadium, and wider regeneration project, have the potential to deliver an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy which brings large-scale social and economic benefits to the community and wider region, including the possible creation of 92,000 new jobs, more than 17,000 new homes as well as driving an additional 1.8 million visitors annually.
Conceptual images and scaled models of what the new stadium and surrounding area could look like were unveiled by Foster + Partners, the architecture group appointed to design the stadium district. These will provide a masterplan for more detailed feasibility, consultation, design and planning work as the project enters a new phase.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, said: “Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium, at the centre of a regenerated Old Trafford. Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport. By building next to the existing site, we will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience only footsteps from our historic home.
“Just as important is the opportunity for a new stadium to be the catalyst for social and economic renewal of the Old Trafford area, creating jobs and investment not just during the construction phase but on a lasting basis when the stadium district is complete. The [UK] government has identified infrastructure investment as a strategic priority, particularly in the north of England, and we are proud to be supporting that mission with this project of national, as well as local, significance.”
With Manchester United now confirming plans to leave their current Old Trafford ground, which is affectionately known as the “Theatre of Dreams”, Sky Sports reported that the new stadium will take five years to build and will be the biggest in the UK.
Lord Norman Foster, founder and executive chairman of Foster + Partners, called the project “one of the most exciting” in the world today. “It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar,” Foster said. “The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square. The outward-looking stadium will be the beating heart of a new sustainable district, which is completely walkable, served by public transport, and endowed by nature. It is a mixed-use miniature city of the future – driving a new wave of growth and creating a global destination that Mancunians can be proud of.”