Inside Man United's 100,000-seat £2bn 'New Trafford' plans which could start THIS YEAR, including the data that's driving the decisions, a 'stadium district' and moving Munich tributes
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To rebuild or not to rebuild, that was the question. And Manchester United’s task force have now delivered an emphatic answer – that the next act in the club’s famous history would be better served by demolishing Old Trafford and building a new 100,000 home on adjacent land.
![[The historic stadium has been the site of innumerable past glories but the club are preparing for a new future]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/15/94215939-14297033-image-a-60_1737128119274.jpg)
To some of a certain age, whose memories are dominated by memories of long-sleeved George Best slaloming in from the touchline, a packed Stretford End roaring its heroes to victory against Barcelona on a raucous 80s night and even of the pitch invasion triggered by Denis Law’s backheel, it may well be a tragedy of Shakesperean proportions.
![[The group making the decision has included a number of high-profile figures including Andy Burnham (left) and Lord Sebastian Coe]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/15/94215943-14297033-image-m-65_1737128171704.jpg)
But the reasoning appears to be sound. The group, which included Andy Burnham, Lord Coe and Gary Neville, were asked to examine the options and, while a final decision will not be made until the end of this season, their message was clear. Stay at Old Trafford, standing since 1910, and you can only go from 74,000 to 87,000. Build a new stadium and not only do you get to 100,000, you unlock one of the biggest regeneration projects in Britain’s history. The benefit of a newbuild, in their words, would be ‘amplified’.
![[Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been a driving force in taking the mammoth next step]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/15/94215955-14297033-image-a-67_1737128224049.jpg)
The recommendation is made in a simple, 13-page document that may well deliver a landmark in British sporting history. The imaginatively titled ‘Options Report’ which ‘sets out a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the historic industrial engine room of Greater Manchester into a vibrant new driver of growth and innovation in sports, entertainment, business, and education’. United have already voice their view that a world-class stadium which will ‘act as a catalyst for wider regeneration’ of the surrounding area, and the report again states that such a move could deliver £7.3bn to the UK economy and 90,000 jobs.
