Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been warned that redeveloping the area around Old Trafford could take up to 20 years amid his plans to revolutionise the stadium.
Ratcliffe wants to transform Manchester United’s home into the ‘Wembley of the North’, boosting its capacity from around 74,000 to 90,000.
He desired public funding but Trafford Council have confirmed they will not give a penny towards the plans proposed by United’s new minority owner.
That’s because Ratcliffe’s glamorous vision sits alongside more pedestrian plans to build a primary school, homes, and business developments.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been warned that the development around Old Trafford could take up to 20 years, with the billionaire keen to turn Man United’s stadium into the ‘Wembley of the North’
His vision is to enhance the stadium’s capacity to 90,000 – but other council plans co-exist
‘To have a Wembley of the North would be wonderful,’ Liz Patel, Trafford’s Labour councillor,’ said. ‘That is great ambition from Jim Ratcliffe and these [council] plans match that in terms of the setting and the future of the area.
‘We are looking at a 15 to 20 year plan for the wider area. But United’s own plans [for the stadium] will come to fruition sooner than that. It is a long-term plan and you can see that with what happened around City, it doesn’t happen overnight and these things do take time.
‘There will be more hotel space, more places to eat and places where public events can happen so people can arrive earlier and stay longer after the match. It could be a much more family friendly space where people want to stay longer and have processional routes through the site.’
Trafford Council have been working on the Trafford Wharfside Development Framework to regenerate the surrounding zone. That was officially greenlit on Monday night.
Ratcliffe and the council have reportedly already had several conversations about their visions for the future.
Refurbishing the existing 74,000-seater stadium, which opened in 1910, would likely prove to be a short-term measure and would cost in the region of £800million. Meanwhile, a new-build may be anywhere between £1bn and £2bn.
He has previously described the stadium as ‘tired and in need of refurbishment’.
In more forceful words, he labelled United’s museum as ‘c**p’ before claiming that the club shop was ‘too small’ for their stature.
Ratcliffe confirmed plans to deliver a ‘national stadium in the north of England’ last week, adding that his ‘preference’ is to use taxpayers money to fund the project.
Ratcliffe, who officially became a part owner this month, wanted the stadium’s transformation to be funded by public money but Trafford Council confirmed they would not give any funding
The area around Old Trafford will get a new school, homes, and business developments
‘If it can be achieved (with taxpayers’ money), it would clearly be my preference,’ Ratcliffe told the BBC.
‘I would be very excited for the north of England. Trafford Park is where the industrial revolution began. If you look at that region of Manchester today – only a mile from the centre – it is tired and neglected and parts are quite run down.
‘There is quite a big argument, in my view, for regenerating that whole south side of Manchester. The nucleus of it would be building a new world-class state-of-the-art stadium which could take England games, the FA Cup final, Champions League finals. It could serve the north of England.’
However, considering that Trafford Council’s budget last year was £192million, they will not be sparing any change for his utopian idea.
‘We will seek investment into the Wharfside Development Framework,’ Patel said. ‘How United get together the finances for their own stadium refurbishment would be separate.’
