Old Trafford revamp/could be torn down and rebuilt according to Glazer plans

[Spoony]

Sent a survey today so I completed and sent it off

Let’s hope we do a good job the stadium is a mess

I suspect the surveys will be probably be binned. They know what they want and a survey won't change anything.

 

[Castia]

@Dejohn how are people supposed to get on board with the idea of United playing in a stadium called the Amazon Arena, or something equally dystopian and depressing? Undoubtedly this will make the club a few extra hundred million, but is that what matters to fans?

I also don't understand what people mean when they say going to watch United should be an entire day's experience. I don't give a sod that that's how it is in America. This is the country in which sport's teams can be translated to completely different parts of the country at their owner's whim. Football is 90 minutes with a 15 minute interlude. Are people proposing on the field entertainment, or something? Just sounds like more Americanisation of footy, to be honest.

The naming rights will probably be sold, it’s not ideal but it’s a multi million pound sponsorship that will cover a lot of the revamp, it will be called OT anyway no matter what sponsor puts their name to it.

 

[Neil_Buchanan]

I probably spent far too much time complaining about both being served carling and it coming in a plastic bottle on that survey than anything else but at least I got my point across.

 

[redcucumber]

Rubbish. If it was done right you could spend a lot of time in and around the ground on match day.

Also, I didn't realise it will be called the Amazon Arena. What's the source of this info? Because in my opinion... No chance! They're already treading on egg shells over the topic of building a new stadium.

Doing what? None of the match goers I know would have any interest in spending an entire day at Old Trafford.

As to the second point. Eh? It'll obviously be sold to the highest bidder.

 

[redcucumber]

The naming rights will probably be sold, it’s not ideal but it’s a multi million pound sponsorship that will cover a lot of the revamp, it will be called OT anyway no matter what sponsor puts their name to it.

Spurs new ground is nameless. They are just waiting for the first corporation to come along and stuff as much money down their throats as possible. Likewise Arsenal now play at the Emirates. If we knocked down Old Trafford and sold the naming rights to the new stadium, like heck it'd still be known as Old Trafford.

 

[Hal9000]

@Dejohn how are people supposed to get on board with the idea of United playing in a stadium called the Amazon Arena, or something equally dystopian and depressing? Undoubtedly this will make the club a few extra hundred million, but is that what matters to fans?

I also don't understand what people mean when they say going to watch United should be an entire day's experience. I don't give a sod that that's how it is in America. This is the country in which sport's teams can be translated to completely different parts of the country at their owner's whim. Football is 90 minutes with a 15 minute interlude. Are people proposing on the field entertainment, or something? Just sounds like more Americanisation of footy, to be honest.

Lots you can do you... Fan areas/parks that serve drinks/food/show build up on big screens. Hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes

You can have a smaller ground for the women's/youth teams.

Community sports pitches for the public, small events/hospitality venues/cinema.

You look at hotel football, with its bars and restaurants, football pitches and there is no reason why we can't have a few more of them dotted around to serve the fans. I don't understand why the club didn't do that.

All this stuff, benefits the fans on match days plus it turns the area into a venue for people to come to 365 days a year not just a once or twice a week for 9 months, which benefits the club. It'll probably lead to further regeneration of the area.

If there is there is still the people who want to turn up and go, then so be it. But there is option for people to eat and drink before and after the game.

As for naming rights, I think most fans will still call it Old Trafford, or no reason you can't have a title sponsor like the cricket ground has.

For the people who say they don't think they would have any interest in a day out, is that because you literally have nothing to do there at the moment?

 

[Furious George]

A renovation would require the iconic roof to go leaving it looking completely different and therefore not iconic anymore.

Did you mean ironic?

 

[redcucumber]

Lots you can do you... Fan areas/parks that serve drinks/food/show build up on big screens. Hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes

You can have a smaller ground for the women's/youth teams.

Community sports pitches for the public, small events/hospitality venues/cinema.

You look at hotel football, with its bars and restaurants, football pitches and there is no reason why we can't have a few more of them dotted around to serve the fans. I don't understand why the club didn't do that.

All this stuff, benefits the fans on match days plus it turns the area into a venue for people to come to 365 days a year not just a once or twice a week for 9 months, which benefits the club. It'll probably lead to further regeneration of the area.

If there is there is still the people who want to turn up and go, then so be it. But there is option for people to eat and drink before and after the game.

Is demolishing Old Trafford really worth it for a couple of cafes and restaurants? I'm not trying to be facetious, but it sounds wank. I'm in my 20's so I appreciate what you're talking about is gearing it more towards the family experience. It just sounds crap to me and not at all worth it.

Can't lots of these things happen without tearing down OT, anyway? It's clear from the survey that they are already planning on a fan zone area with massive screens and food and drink etc. So again, I'm not sure if the other stuff makes up for it.

 

[Revaulx]

Old Trafford is a prestigious stadium but it was built in 1910 and despite investing millions in it's upkeep the decay is gradually getting worse
Ask yourself this. Do you really think the Glazers would invest circa of £1billion in a new stadium if they didn't have to?

They've already invested £100m (or so they say) in the stadium and its made little difference. Cosmetically the stadium looks fantastic
OK, it's an overreaction to say its 'litteraly falling apart' However, if major capital isnt invested then it won't be long until it is.

No it wasn't.

I was born nearly 50 years after 1910 and virtually the whole ground has been rebuilt twice in my lifetime.

 

[RopersReturn]

It’s not really worth considering until we stabilise and invest in the squad. Work should commence on redevelopment once we’ve secured UCL football again.

 

[Revaulx]

Doing what? None of the match goers I know would have any interest in spending an entire day at Old Trafford.

As to the second point. Eh? It'll obviously be sold to the highest bidder.

Indeed.

I’m not sentimental about the prospect of it being rebuilt in the slightest, as it currently bears hardly any resemblance to the ground I first knew. The Old Trafford/West Stand was still open to the skies for a start, with a massive manual scoreboard.

If the concourses were more spacious and comfortable, and there was decent draught beer on offer, we might well arrive a bit earlier and enjoy a cheeky swift one, particularly at evening games. But we aren’t going to stop meeting in a proper pub beforehand and having a good chat over a leisurely couple of pints.

Also lots of people travel huge distances to get to games; they aren’t all driving in from some local American suburban hell. I can’t see them wanting to rebuild their lives around spending hours at the ground, however good the facilities.

 

[Gazza]

Spurs new ground is nameless. They are just waiting for the first corporation to come along and stuff as much money down their throats as possible. Likewise Arsenal now play at the Emirates. If we knocked down Old Trafford and sold the naming rights to the new stadium, like heck it'd still be known as Old Trafford.

agreed. Is there a single new build out there which is referred to by its predecessor’s name?

 

[Hal9000]

Is demolishing Old Trafford really worth it for a couple of cafes and restaurants? I'm not trying to be facetious, but it sounds wank. I'm in my 20's so I appreciate what you're talking about is gearing it more towards the family experience. It just sounds crap to me and not at all worth it.

Can't lots of these things happen without tearing down OT, anyway? It's clear from the survey that they are already planning on a fan zone area with massive screens and food and drink etc. So again, I'm not sure if the other stuff makes up for it.

Yes they can, but the expense of revamping Old Trafford into a modern affair will probably cost just as much and be technically challenging, not to mention i can't wait to see the shitfit people have when their season tickets are not renewed because they can't give you a seat every game because of reduced attendance.

The Bobby Charlton Stand has a functioning rail line behind it, so there is that, the current design of the roof means it will probably need replacing, not to mention the seating and concorses are cramped and you can't avoid that with a revamp, the facilities in the south stand will have to be relocated aswell. It will take years to do, at reduced capacity, as we don't have the luxury of having another venue nearby that can host our games, so it will be done piece by piece over seasons. Real Madrid renovations are still on going and they run reduce capacity, but they also got lucky with Covid as they did the big pieces when they could not have fans in. Barca have the Olympic Stadium that has 60k capcity, so they have the freedom of a whole year for renovations.

We even have enough land that we won't have to do a Spurs situation, where new/old ground overlaps.

It's not even about all the extra stuff around the stadium as well, it's the extra scope we can do with the stadium. extra legroom, better toilets, spacious concourses, access, better acoustics, more safe standing, hell we can even replace the Stretford End with massive single tier like the yellow wall at Dortmund.

As other have said, various bits have been knocked down and rebuilt over time already.

 

[pocco]

Doing what? None of the match goers I know would have any interest in spending an entire day at Old Trafford.

As to the second point. Eh? It'll obviously be sold to the highest bidder.

People have predicted that for years about Old Trafford. It never happened. I think they'll take on board what the supporters want when it comes to naming the stadium and I'm pretty sure the supporters groups will insist on it.

I wouldn't go and spend a day there either, we've had a bit of a tradition for match day for many years. But if they get a decent "fanzone" with good atmosphere, it'll attract a lot of people. Don't forget some travel from miles away to watch the games. Give them somewhere to be around fellow reds, good atmosphere, beers, PL footy on TV & food and it'll be full every match day.

 

[bazza3727]

@Dejohn how are people supposed to get on board with the idea of United playing in a stadium called the Amazon Arena, or something equally dystopian and depressing? Undoubtedly this will make the club a few extra hundred million, but is that what matters to fans?

I also don't understand what people mean when they say going to watch United should be an entire day's experience. I don't give a sod that that's how it is in America. This is the country in which sport's teams can be transplanted to completely different parts of the country at their owner's whim. Football is 90 minutes with a 15 minute interlude. Are people proposing on the field entertainment, or something? Just sounds like more Americanisation of footy, to be honest.

Totally agree with you, mate. Perhaps it's trying to eradicate the working class from the game and sanitise it that's the problem? Perhaps that's why the atmosphere can be so lacking at times. Some people (from previous comments) appear to go expecting to be entertained without contributing to the atmosphere and SUPPORTING the team. Hence the calls for improved WiFi? Give me strength!

 

[stevoc]

It's happening one day mate. Would you not like to say you got to go to the new and old stadium?

Not particularly mate no.

I'm not a fan of the practice of demolishing buildings in general if renovation is possible.

So the idea of United building a new stadium beside OT doesn't hold any particular attraction to me personally.

 

[JB7]

Doing what? None of the match goers I know would have any interest in spending an entire day at Old Trafford.

Yeah I don't get it at all and I don't know anyone in my circle that does either. Even if they completely rebuilt the place I don't know what they'd put in that would entice me to get there before half 2 at the very earliest. I've had first hand experience of the fan-parks running as they should at American sports venues and they're fine for what they are but it's a different consumer base. Even the clubs that have tried them in the Premier League don't seem to be all that successful, some of them just end up looking like babysitting clubs.

 

[matherto]

I also fundamentally disagree with the notion that it's just "bricks and mortar". Humans always attach symbolic and emotional meaning to things important to them. That emotional sort of thinking will obviously feel like an impediment to progress for those wanting a new stadium for United, but if said progress amounts to slightly more leg room, shorter queue times for a bottle of beer, and massive screens then it doesn't feel worth it.

My 'just bricks and mortar' answer was in response to the notion that we shouldn't knock it down as if we couldn't attach the same memories to a new ground.

Which flies in the face of the fact thtat we'd made the memories in the current ground and the idea as you say that humans attach symbolic and emotional meaning to things important to them.

Old Trafford is 112 years old. If you built a new ground right now, in 2134 we'd be having this same debate mentioning all the great stuff that had happened.

Obviously it's more than bricks and mortar to us United fans (and even to rival fans) because we're sappy fools but when you boil it down it actually isn't. You can't quantify the memories in the place but what you can quanitfy is how many bricks, plates of glass, tonnes of steel etc a building is.

 

[KetilOwren88]

For God’s sake, it’s a football ground. If you want to eat a nice meal before the game, go to a restaurant. If you want to take some pints and take part of the pre match atmosphere, go to one of the nearby pubs. Going to a pub before or/and after the game is something I reckognize as a nice English tradition and it’s part of the unique English football culture in general. You don’t need a modern full day multi entertainment center. What you need is a great place to watch football and Old Trafford is excactly that. Of course it would need renovation, but I feel that you kind of lose some of your unique football culture with some of the suggestions beeing mentioned here. This is not America, it’s Manchester. Greetings from Norwegian United fan.

 

[Tyrion]

Most of these stadium rebuild are failures anyway. West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs have all had these projects that led to their fans being frustrated and the teams being choked of funds for years. Better to improve/renovate parts than totally knock it down.

Our owners are stupid enough to do it though.

 

[Zlaatan]

@Dejohn how are people supposed to get on board with the idea of United playing in a stadium called the Amazon Arena, or something equally dystopian and depressing? Undoubtedly this will make the club a few extra hundred million, but is that what matters to fans?

I also don't understand what people mean when they say going to watch United should be an entire day's experience. I don't give a sod that that's how it is in America. This is the country in which sport's teams can be transplanted to completely different parts of the country at their owner's whim. Football is 90 minutes with a 15 minute interlude. Are people proposing on the field entertainment, or something? Just sounds like more Americanisation of footy, to be honest.

Seeing how a few extra hundred million should mean we get a much better team then yes I'd say it matters to the fans.
What I don't really get is how you can be on the side that doesn't care about fancy experiences at the arena and at the same time think that the name of the arena could be depressing. I mean if you only care about the game itself then why does the name of the arena matter? Not having a sponsored name makes no difference outside of you being able to say to your Arsenal supporting mates and the like that your club, that has an official tractor partner, isn't a complete sell out like their club. Big whoop. If it was about renaming Old Trafford then that would be one thing, but that's obviously not the case here.

I have only been to Old Trafford once so I don't feel like my opinion really matters when it comes to renovating vs new arena, but I have been in your shoes since we used to have a really iconic 50+ year old hockey arena with a non-sponsored name in my hockey crazed hometown until 15 years ago when they built a new one. The new arena got a sponsored name which has now changed twice and outside of the first 2 weeks after it was introduced I haven't heard a single person give a feck about what it's called, everyone just leaves out the sponsored name, calls it "the arena" and that's that. For what it's worth though we really do care about it being 10x better than the old place.

 

[Real Name]

Most of these stadium rebuild are failures anyway. West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs have all had these projects that led to their fans being frustrated and the teams being choked of funds for years. Better to improve/renovate parts than totally knock it down.

Our owners are stupid enough to do it though.

Spurs seem to be doing all right. Arsenal, I give you that, it all depends how its financed. Isnt West Ham stadium financed by public funds?

 

[phelans shorts]

Spurs seem to be doing all right. Arsenal, I give you that, it all depends how its financed. Isnt West Ham stadium financed by public funds?

West Ham pay absolutely laughably tiny amount of rent if memory serves. Like they definitely pay more per year to several players than they do the stadium.

 

[Real Name]

West Ham pay absolutely laughably tiny amount of rent if memory serves. Like they definitely pay more per year to several players than they do the stadium.

So London citizens are paying for West Ham stadium?

 

[phelans shorts]

So London citizens are paying for West Ham stadium?

Yep.

Well I think that’s the case, I don’t know if all of the UK pay into the LLDC (I sure hope they don’t but I wouldn’t put it past them)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/14/west-ham-deal-century-olympic-stadium

 

[sun_tzu]

Most of these stadium rebuild are failures anyway. West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs have all had these projects that led to their fans being frustrated and the teams being choked of funds for years. Better to improve/renovate parts than totally knock it down.

Our owners are stupid enough to do it though.

is anybody stupid enough to commit to a new stadium build with steel prices where they are?

i guess your right if anybody is its our owners

 

[redcucumber]

Seeing how a few extra hundred million should mean we get a much better team then yes I'd say it matters to the fans.
What I don't really get is how you can be on the side that doesn't care about fancy experiences at the arena and at the same time think that the name of the arena could be depressing. I mean if you only care about the game itself then why does the name of the arena matter? Not having a sponsored name makes no difference outside of you being able to say to your Arsenal supporting mates and the like that your club, that has an official tractor partner, isn't a complete sell out like their club. Big whoop. If it was about renaming Old Trafford then that would be one thing, but that's obviously not the case here.

I have only been to Old Trafford once so I don't feel like my opinion really matters when it comes to renovating vs new arena, but I have been in your shoes since we used to have a really iconic 50+ year old hockey arena with a non-sponsored name in my hockey crazed hometown until 15 years ago when they built a new one. The new arena got a sponsored name which has now changed twice and outside of the first 2 weeks after it was introduced I haven't heard a single person give a feck about what it's called, everyone just leaves out the sponsored name, calls it "the arena" and that's that. For what it's worth though we really do care about it being 10x better than the old place.

Different things matter to different people. United signing a few extra players but playing in the Amazon Arena wouldn't be a good trade off for me personally. We already have the capabilities to sign lots of players without needing to further degrade the club by selling whatever part of it we can to corporate vampires. Tradition means something to lots of people and it's an aspect of football that needs protecting by fans as the powers that be seemingly don't get a feck about it. All I'm seeing here is ways of further chipping away at some of these traditions to squeeze more money out of fans. It's all rather depressing. Agree with you @bazza3727 on this.

The bolded point; you've obviously misunderstood. I care about the club itself, not just the game/90 minutes.

 

[redcucumber]

Yeah I don't get it at all and I don't know anyone in my circle that does either. Even if they completely rebuilt the place I don't know what they'd put in that would entice me to get there before half 2 at the very earliest. I've had first hand experience of the fan-parks running as they should at American sports venues and they're fine for what they are but it's a different consumer base. Even the clubs that have tried them in the Premier League don't seem to be all that successful, some of them just end up looking like babysitting clubs.

For God’s sake, it’s a football ground. If you want to eat a nice meal before the game, go to a restaurant. If you want to take some pints and take part of the pre match atmosphere, go to one of the nearby pubs. Going to a pub before or/and after the game is something I reckognize as a nice English tradition and it’s part of the unique English football culture in general. You don’t need a modern full day multi entertainment center. What you need is a great place to watch football and Old Trafford is excactly that. Of course it would need renovation, but I feel that you kind of lose some of your unique football culture with some of the suggestions beeing mentioned here. This is not America, it’s Manchester. Greetings from Norwegian United fan.

Agreed to both. The idea that we need to demolish OT and build a new mega structure which amounts to the footballing version of a theme park sounds grotesque.

 

[WirralRed]

I really hope we don’t knock it down, I love having a historic stadium, it means more. Surly a good refurb in the current climate would be a lot cheaper as well, construction fees and raw material prices are rising by the day.

 

[ForeverRed1]

I really don’t want them to totally knock old Trafford down, just renovate it.

It’s a beautiful, beautiful stadium.

 

[Hal9000]

Yep.

Well I think that’s the case, I don’t know if all of the UK pay into the LLDC (I sure hope they don’t but I wouldn’t put it past them)

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/apr/14/west-ham-deal-century-olympic-stadium

I actually live in the Olympic Park right next to it, it's just our borough that pay for it. We used to be able to get cheaper/free tickets but that's gone.

 

[Neil67]

Anyone filled in the survey United have sent via email regarding the redevelopment of OT?

Yes I’ve done it, found it to be very corporate leed but I’m in TRA so I want safe standing a quick pint at halftime!

 

[pocco]

Not particularly mate no.

I'm not a fan of the practice of demolishing buildings in general if renovation is possible.

So the idea of United building a new stadium beside OT doesn't hold any particular attraction to me personally.

I'd be up for renovating Old Trafford but the issues that most people are highlighting probably aren't feasible within Old Trafford. Between the stands and the external walls at mid to higher tiers, there is no space. So you would have to extend outwards all the way around the ground, ie OT will look completely different...new facade, new roof, practically 90% rebuilt, cost similar to a new stadium, finished product not as good as a new stadium. Then there is issue with space between seats, which seems an issue for many. If you want to solve that then you reduce capacity ( will already be reduce due to safe standing I believe, along with accessible seating) or rebuild the stands (or something along those lines).

So renovation probably isn't possible if we want it to be as good as other stadiums and all the issues sorted. We'll get a half-cooked version that will cost the club a tonne of money and I'm not sure what the finished product will turn out like.

 

[redcucumber]

As other have said, various bits have been knocked down and rebuilt over time already.

It's still recognisably Old Trafford, though. What you're proposing is some sort of multipurpose entertainment zone which also happens to have space for United to play in (which will be sponsored and called something like the PayPal Ground). I've got lots of mates who love football and I have never, ever heard any of them say what football really needs is more associated entertainment experiences tacked on the side of the matchday experience (I've got family in their 50s, 60s, and 80s as well so it's not just the younger ish lot). 'upgrading the fan experience' is textbook US Deloitte spiel and I'm not into it.

I actually live in the Olympic Park right next to it, it's just our borough that pay for it. We used to be able to get cheaper/free tickets but that's gone.

As someone who lives in London, is this why you want visiting to watch United to be an entire day's experience?

 

[Hal9000]

It's still recognisably Old Trafford, though. What you're proposing is some sort of multipurpose entertainment zone which also happens to have space for United to play in (which will be sponsored and called something like the PayPal Ground). I've got lots of mates who love football and I have never, ever heard any of them say what football really needs is more associated entertainment experiences tacked on the side of the matchday experience (I've got family in their 50s, 60s, and 80s as well so it's not just the younger ish lot). 'upgrading the fan experience' is textbook US Deloitte spiel and I'm not into it.

As someone who lives in London, is this why you want visiting to watch United to be an entire day's experience?

There is nothing stopping us making a new stadium look like modern Old Trafford. Wembley did it, did anyone have an issue with that? Does the old Trafford now look like it did when it was first built? It doesn't look like it did in the 50s, 80s, early 90s.

I'm thinking of bigger benefits to the club and the area and it'll help the match day experience if Old Trafford gets knocked down. If you actual read, my main reservations about Old Trafford revamps would be how much can it be revamped with how it's built currently. Its a stadium that fits in 76,000 despite its size not a stadium that was designed for 76,000. I've already explained the technical challenges of a revamp, the south stand, the roof the fact that we don't have anywhere to relocate so we'd have to run at reduced capacity for seasons or limit the revamp, hell people complain about the acoustics of the ground, that won't change. Again, Madrid's revamp is going to be 4 years, Barca's is going to take a whole season but they have an viable relocation option.

Your issue is you can't see passed turning up, watching and fecking off. There is plenty of people, especially large travelling fans base we have who would enjoy having things to do around the ground, how's that different to the boys who sit in the Blaize, Morgan's of The Trafford, Hotel Football before a match? Why not give fans things in and around the ground, for a lot more people, run by the club themselves?

You can even have areas to watch the youth teams and women's teams rather than have them play out in Leigh aswell.

My argument is not to knock down Old Trafford to build all this stuff around it, my argument is that I think Old Trafford can not be modernised with is current limitations without it taking a long time and expensive and if we do end up knocking down Old Trafford, there is so much the club can give fans and the area to make up for it.

Besides are you and your boys going to accept not having a ticket for a season or two?

Also we said it's has to have named sponsor? Emirates Old Trafford is the cricket ground, Wembley connected by EE etc.. but everyone still calls them old Trafford or Wembley

And yeah I'm in London, so? I moved here for work and yeah it is pretty dull experience traveling up every other weekend, it be great to be in and any the ground earlier with things to actually do.

 

[sparx99]

Most of these stadium rebuild are failures anyway. West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs have all had these projects that led to their fans being frustrated and the teams being choked of funds for years. Better to improve/renovate parts than totally knock it down.

Our owners are stupid enough to do it though.

That's not true. Spurs stadium hurt them because of Covid more than anything and they've bounced back with top 4. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid won a league title after moving. Juventus were very successful in a new stadium. Even West Ham are enjoying a far better time of it in their new ground than they did at the old one. They were a bottom 3rd of the league team and now consistently top half.

Arsenal were somewhat unlucky in that football changed just as they started building. Chelsea and City came in with massive backing, huge tv deals made capacity less important etc and they mismanaged their squad through their own incompetence.

There is also a further point in that a new stadium isn't just about wanting a shiny new toy. It's about practical needs. Bigger changing rooms for bigger squads and backroom staff, new medical facilities to ensure fans and players get life-saving treatment, even things like power supply and wifi due to the extra demands from TV equipment and broadcasting teams.

 

[Jezpeza]

The Amazon New Trafford Stadium

 

[sparx99]

Agreed to both. The idea that we need to demolish OT and build a new mega structure which amounts to the footballing version of a theme park sounds grotesque.

I think people misunderstand what people want sometimes. Fan experience is a horrible buzzword but to me it simply means getting a pint at half time or going for a piss without a really long wait. I often queue for a drink and give up halfway to the front to get back to my seat. That's rubbish and is lost revenue for the club.

 

[Gavinb33]

Not particularly mate no.

I'm not a fan of the practice of demolishing buildings in general if renovation is possible.

So the idea of United building a new stadium beside OT doesn't hold any particular attraction to me personally.

I'll never understand this, all but 1 stand at OT have been pretty much knocked down to create new ones that are very far removed from what was there before, the Sir Bobby Charlton stand is the only one that's pretty much original.

There is very little left of the original Old Trafford in reality and if they knocked down each stand again and rebuilt them that would be pretty much what they have already done instead of doing it stand by stand they could potentially do it all at once.

 

[stevoc]

I'd be up for renovating Old Trafford but the issues that most people are highlighting probably aren't feasible within Old Trafford. Between the stands and the external walls at mid to higher tiers, there is no space. So you would have to extend outwards all the way around the ground, ie OT will look completely different...new facade, new roof, practically 90% rebuilt, cost similar to a new stadium, finished product not as good as a new stadium. Then there is issue with space between seats, which seems an issue for many. If you want to solve that then you reduce capacity ( will already be reduce due to safe standing I believe, along with accessible seating) or rebuild the stands (or something along those lines).

So renovation probably isn't possible if we want it to be as good as other stadiums and all the issues sorted. We'll get a half-cooked version that will cost the club a tonne of money and I'm not sure what the finished product will turn out like.

I think we all know mate that whatever renovation plan the Glazers opt for won't be costing anywhere near £1-2 Billion a new stadium would cost.