Manchester United are ready to abandon plans to keep Old Trafford if they build a new £2billion super-stadium next door.
It means United’s 114-year-old home will be bulldozed to the ground if they decide against redeveloping it and instead go with their preferred option of creating a 100,000-seater Wembley of the North.
United revealed their plans in the summer to scale down Old Trafford to a capacity of around 30,000 to preserve the history of the club and provide a venue for the women’s and academy teams.
But sources have told Mail Sport that they now realise it’s unlikely to work, and what is effectively a separate stadium project would be too complex and cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
Old Trafford holds huge sentimental value for United fans around the world with its Munich clock and tunnel commemorating the 1958 air disaster, as well as the statues of Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson, Jimmy Murphy and the United Trinity of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law.
Man United are ready to abandon plans to keep Old Trafford if a £2billion stadium is built
The club planned to reduce Old Trafford to 30,000 to for their women's and academy teams
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been in favour of building a new 100,000 capacity 'Wembley of the North'
United will set up a heritage focus group to make sure the historical elements of Old Trafford are preserved if they do knock it down.
Architects Foster and Partners are set to be appointed as masterplanners for the redevelopment of club-owned land around the ground and will need to find a way of integrating those elements into their design to ensure a brand new stadium isn’t soulless.
The latest twist in the future of Old Trafford comes asUnited prepare to email a survey to season-ticket holders and members on Friday to seek their opinions.
Some fans who might have been in favour of a new stadium if it involved keeping Old Trafford might now vote against.
However, former United captain Gary Neville, who sits on the task-force led by Lord Coe that is driving the stadium project, believes the sentimental argument is being overplayed.
‘None of the stands that were there when I first went in 1979 are there in the same form,’ said Neville in an interview with the Athletic.
‘Most of the stands have been built between 1993 and 2005. We’d not be keeping anything that is 100 years old. What is it that we’d be saving?
‘Yes, we must keep the statues, the Munich clock or tunnel. They must be a part of whatever Old Trafford becomes.
Ex-Man United captain Gary Neville believes the sentimental argument has been overplayed
The club will aim to preserve club heritage, including the statute dedicated to the Holy Trinity of Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best and Denis Law
‘I get that the location of the pitch is important to some fans but I was at Tottenham vs Arsenal on Sunday. I don’t think any Tottenham fans went there thinking about the location of the pitch and that it’s different to the one Glenn Hoddle played on.’
United have also come to the conclusion that a 30,000-capacity is too high for the women’s and academy teams. The women kick off the WSL season against West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday and only one stand will be open due to low ticket sales.
The club feel it would be better to build a 15,000-seater venue on site sometime in the future which could be increased in size as interest grows in the women’s team.
This assumes that United decide to follow Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s vision for a new stadium. The club’s co-owner said in the summer that he wants a final decision by the end of the year so work could be completed by around 2030.
United’s main focus is still on a rebuild, but a £1bn redevelopment of Old Trafford at roughly half the cost is still on the table. Finance and the views of fans will be the two key factors.
Man United are eyeing a 15,000 seater venue for the women's team which can be increased
Ratcliffe accepts that public funding is only likely to be made available to regenerate the area around Old Trafford and not to build the new stadium itself. A delegation from United, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Trafford Council will make a presentation at the forthcoming Labour and Conservative Party conferences.
Ratcliffe has been determined to put football first since investing £1.3bn in United, and is wary to go down the same route as clubs like Everton who have been hit with two points deductions for breaching profit and sustainability rules trying to finance their new stadium.
United reported a net loss of £113.2m in their latest accounts released last week, taking the total figure over the last five years to £370m. The club also has a long-standing debt of £496.5m dating back to the Glazer family’s leveraged takeover in 2005.
United are reluctant to increase that debt or pass the cost of a new stadium onto fans, so the key to Ratcliffe’s vision is likely to be securing private funding.