Man Utd to build ‘world's greatest football stadium’

Carlo Garganese

11 Mar 2025 06:00 CDT
5 min read

Sir Jim Ratcliffe outside Old Trafford. — © IMAGO

Manchester United have announced plans to leave Old Trafford and build a spectacular new 100,000-seater stadium.

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Man Utd will leave Old Trafford after 115 years at the famous 74,000 capacity ground.

The new stadium, which will be built on club-owned land next to Old Trafford, will be the largest in the UK.

Ratcliffe believes the new stadium will be the ‘world’s greatest football stadium’.

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What did Ratcliffe say?

"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," said Ratcliffe.

"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."

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Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada added: "Our long-term objective as a club is to have the world's best football team playing in the world's best stadium. We are grateful for the feasibility work done by the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force exploring options for the future of Old Trafford.

"We have carefully considered its findings, together with the views of thousands of fans and local residents and concluded that a new stadium is the right way forward for Manchester United and our surrounding community. We will now embark on further consultation to ensure that fans and residents continue to be heard as we move towards final decisions."

It has been reported that the new stadium project could add €7.3 billion each year to the UK economy and also create 92,000 new jobs and 17,000 new homes.

Former Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson also added: "Manchester United should always strive for the best in everything it does, on and off the pitch, and that includes the stadium we play in. Old Trafford holds so many special memories for me personally, but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made."

How United will fund the new stadium remains to be seen after Ratcliffe claimed the club would have gone bankrupt by the end of the year had he not made over 450 staff redundant over the last year.