OLD TRAFFORD will take about 12 months to dismantle once Manchester United move into their new £2billion stadium.
Plans were revealed earlier this week for a new 100,000-seater home in the shadow of the Theatre of Dreams.
Manchester United have confirmed their decision to build a brand new 100,000-seater stadium
ReutersOld Trafford will take about 12 months to dismantle once Manchester United move into their new stadium[/caption]
The hope is to move in for the start of the 2030/31 season — in just over five years — if there are no further obstacles.
United believe they can continue to use Old Trafford — their home for the past 115 years — until the new place is ready.
Nothing has been decided regarding their existing stadium but ideas about scaling it down and using it for youth and women’s games are now considered unlikely.
Architects involved in the project believe it could be bulldozed within a year of the final game.
United chief executive Omar Berrada confirmed that a final decision regarding Old Trafford has yet to be taken but added it’s “unlikely” they will keep it in operation.
Berrada said when asked if Old Trafford could be kept: “I’d say it’s unlikely.
“We haven’t made a decision on it yet. It’s true that at some point there was some thinking either keeping it as it is or reducing the capacity to 25 or 30,000, as somewhere where the women’s team could play, the youth teams could play.
“I think given our ambition to build what you saw today [Tuesday], maybe that needs to be re-visited.
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“Again, our ambition is for the women’s team to have a big enough fan base that they’re playing in the main stadium, not in a smaller capacity stadium.
“It’s not off the table [to have a mini Old Trafford]. It’s feasible but we have to find the best ways to finance a new stadium and we’re thinking about this in the context of how can it benefit the wider regeneration project.
Old Trafford will be demolished and new ground will be built on adjacent landThe new ground promises to be the second largest football stadium in Europe, behind the Nou Camp
United will attempt to complete it in an ambitious five-year timeframe
The stadium will be contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater
“If we feel the space where Old Trafford currently is can be used in a different way whilst preserving the history of Old Trafford then we’ll explore it.”
Meanwhile, United hope the £50million revamp of their Carrington training base will be complete by the time they return from their pre-season tour.
United’s decision came after an extensive consultation process around whether to develop the existing stadium from a capacity of 74,000 to 87,000 or build a new one.
Architects at Foster and Partners, who will design the project, said the stadium would feature an umbrella design and a new public plaza that is “twice the size of Trafalgar Square”.
Three giant towers, inspired by the Red Devils’ trident, will dominate the skyline and hold up the “umbrella” – a sweeping glass and steel canopy above that will keep fans dry inside and outside what would be Britain’s biggest stadium.
However critics claimed the new design looks more like a circus tent.
One fan tweeted: “Fair play to Manchester United for having the self-awareness to put a giant circus tent around their new stadium.”
Another commented: “Man Utd’s new stadium design looks like a circus. Coincidence? I think not.”
The government will help fund a redevelopment area around the stadium Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
