Tribal Football

Man Utd decision over new 100,000 seater stadium set to be made

Man Utd decision over new 100,000 seater stadium set to be made
Man Utd decision over new 100,000 seater stadium set to be made
Man Utd decision over new 100,000 seater stadium set to be madeAction Plus
Manchester United’s owners hope to make a final decision on whether to spend over £2bn on a brand new 100,000-seat stadium by the end of this year.

 

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United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been passionate about building a “Wembley of the north” in recent months and together with Trafford Council, the billionaire has put together a taskforce to assess the idea of a new stadium and redevelopment of Old Trafford. 

Chaired by Lord Sebastian Coe, the taskforce also includes key members including former United player Gary Neville and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. 

There have been major complications in renovating the 74,310-capacity Old Trafford, which has been Manchester United’s iconic home since 1910 including building works and a railway line at the back of the stadium. 

Financing the stadium may be a big issue as the club's present debt is £647.5M which excludes current transfer outstanding transfer fee payments.  

United held a number of meetings before their US tour with those responsible for developing the SoFi Stadium owned by Stan Kroenke that has a 70,240 capacity that can rise to 100,240, took four years to construct and cost $5BN-plus. 

Inglewood Mayor James T Butts spoke BBC Sport about the deal: 

“Ordinarily, when a team goes into a new stadium, the city pays $300-$500m (£232.86m-£388.1m) for construction costs or an equivalent amount of land.  

"We did neither of those things. What we had was the location. We made a deal that suited both of us but it didn’t involve funding or buying land. Stan Kroenke paid $5bn (£3.88bn).”