Online Reporter
EXACTLY ONE year ago, Manchester United revealed the design for their new stadium.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe was present at architecture firm Foster + Partners’ London office, where images, video and models were on display to showcase the breadth of what would be a 100,000 all-seater stadium.
United targeted an opening date of 2030. There was even talk of spades in the ground before the end of 2025.
A year on, that move-in date is about as likely as the Premier League title returning to Old Trafford this season.
On the United website’s stadium section, it speaks volumes that the last item of news is from March 2025.
There is still no funding for a project that Ratcliffe has estimated will cost £2billion.
Lord Coe, head of the Old Trafford regeneration taskforce, visited New York in July to sound out potential investors.
Well-placed sources have stressed that there is a difference between what is public and what is private in regards to United seeking backers for what would be Europe’s biggest football stadium.
A source familiar with the behind-scenes-discussions insisted that the funding search has been “going well”.
The March unveiling 12 months ago was kept so closely under wraps invites were not sent until less than 48 hours before the gathering.
With Ratcliffe, 73, eager to get the project up-and-running, United had to show concept designs to appeal to potential investors.
So the divisive “canopy” roof that Ratcliffe compared to the Eiffel Tower may never come to pass.
A source familiar with stadium construction estimates that the roof alone could cost £200million, which makes the £2billion stadium cost an optimistic estimate.
It would also increase the stadium’s footprint.
That would strengthen the hand of Freightliner, who operate the Trafford Park rail terminal, to negotiate a price to sell their land adjacent to the stadium.
In January, United hailed the “landmark moment” of the launch of the Old Trafford Regeneration Mayoral Development Corporation (OTR MDC), chaired by Coe.
Sources say Coe is heading up a team tasked with unlocking opportunities, and overcoming challenges.
Former United chief operating officer Collette Roche is now chief executive of the new stadium development.
That has sharpened Roche’s task to essentially get the stadium plans off the ground and deliver it.
A source who has dealt with Roche cynically said: “They’ve chucked her in charge of a stadium that isn’t going to happen.”
United already have a debt of £1.3bn, so borrowing capital from lenders is off the table.
Another route to significant financing would be equity, whereby the club issues more shares or sale of existing shares. Yet that would risk diluting the Glazers’ and Ratcliffe’s share of the ownership.
A third alternative is a “Stadco” situation where the stadium is owned partly by the club and partly by external investors, who then provide the capital needed. – The Sun
