Manchester United ‘open’ to Old Trafford expansion in the future
According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United have confirmed that there are no current plans to expand Old Trafford but would be open to such a move in the future.
Manchester United have not made any expansions at Old Trafford since installing the north-west and the north-east quadrants in 2006, which took the stadium capacity to 76,000 – plans for which had been announced in 2004, prior to The Glazers’ takeover.
In the 16-year period since the US owners’ came into picture, no major renovations have been made to the stadium apart from a few handful of upgrades here and there.
However, the stadium is need of some work, given that the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand continues to leak while there had been a waterfall at the Stretford End in April 2019.
During this time, Tottenham opened a brand new state of the art stadium with 80,000 capacity, Liverpool and Manchester City have both made renovations to Anfield and the Etihad Stadium respectively.
However, when asked during a fan forum whether there any plans to increase capacity at Old Trafford, Manchester United confirmed there isn’t anything in the works as thing stand.
Collette Roche, United’s chief operating officer, said:
“Part of the allure of Old Trafford is the fact that it’s a stadium that was built in 1910. Our vision is to rejuvenate the stadium but keep it feeling like it is Old Trafford. That’s the perfect solution for us.
“There are no plans currently to increase capacity significantly, but we would not rule it out completely in long-term. There are ongoing work streams to review opportunities to slightly increase the capacity in a number of locations; however this work is on hold until we can access the stadium properly again.”
More Manchester United News:
- Marc Jurado signs first professional contract with Manchester United
- Manchester United favourites to land Erling Haaland after Barcelona pull out
- Jesse Lingard asks to leave Manchester United amidst interest from West Ham United
Former Manchester United captain and club legend Gary Neville had lambasted the condition of the stadium, claiming that it was ‘rotting’ – a view echoed by many matchgoers. The club, though, has no plans of changing that at the moment. (h/t MEN)
