We went out to Old Trafford to talk to some fans about Manchester United’s plan for a new stadium and what it meant for the club and the community.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World, my name's Theo Hewson-Betts and today I'm outside Old
00:03Trafford for a very, very good reason. And that is, to put it simply, I might not have the
00:06opportunity to do so for much longer. This week, Man United released plans for a 100,000-seater
00:11stadium that would set a new record for the largest stadium in England and would immediately
00:14become one of the most impressive sports developments in the world. For a while now,
00:18United have been assessing their options through the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force,
00:22with Lord Sebastian Coe, Gary Neville and Andy Burnham being prominent members of that group.
00:27Opinions were initially divided between repairing Old Trafford and building upon the current bones,
00:31or building a completely new stadium, but the preference of minority owner Jim Ratcliffe
00:35has always been to start anew with a completely new stadium in the same area.
00:38Scaled models and images of what the stadium and surrounding area could look like were released
00:42this Tuesday by Foster and Partners, architects who were appointed in September to design the
00:46stadium. Economic estimations from the club have stated the project could bring an extra £7.3
00:50billion to the UK economy, with 17,000 homes and 92,000 jobs set to be created. The project,
00:56however, will cost around £2 billion to build. Ratcliffe has previously suggested the club will
01:00be unwilling to fund the project alone, instead insisting that it fits within the government's
01:03growth agenda and would require government funding to be completed, despite being worth an estimated
01:08£29.7 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List in 2023. While the project would undoubtedly
01:13make a massive impact on the British economy, not even to mention the local economy, there are
01:17questions over whether the government will allow funding to contribute towards the project. It's
01:21also worth noting that the Manchester-born billionaire currently resides in Monaco for
01:25tax reasons, which, according to The Guardian back in 2020, could have saved him around £4 billion
01:29in tax payments. With this in mind, let's go ask some of the fans here at the stadium for their
01:33verdicts on the exciting news of the stadium development and their perception of Sir Jim,
01:36who arrived hailed as a saviour but was a central figure at the protests last weekend ahead of
01:41United's game against Arsenal. Yeah, we definitely need a new ground. Well, I think it's a pretty
01:45good idea because it's a facelift of the city and the team as well because it shows a lot of growth
01:54and potential that, you know, this is where we want to go and we're going to accomplish that.
01:59They've laid people off because I used to work for this football club
02:02and they've laid people off. I don't agree with that. You know, we've got to get it right there,
02:07but I do think the new ground would be, yeah, the future because this place, it's
02:13falling down. Keep the mindset up straight. Everything will be good. It's all about teamwork.
02:19I think he's taking the rap for the Glaziers. I think he's their puppet.
02:24I don't think it's his fault but, you know, they've been here years and they haven't put
02:28nothing into this football club. They've took, took, took, took and they haven't invested in
02:34anything and that's how we've gone as bad as we are. So, there you have it. The situation at
02:40Manchester United has been chaotic and unpredictable since Sir Alex Ferguson left, yes, but even more
02:44so over the last few years. While there are still questions to be asked about Radcliffe and the job
02:48he's done so far, this new stadium could be the new start that the club have been desperate for
02:52and could also represent a real positive move for the local economy and community.
02:57What do you think? Let us know and follow Manchester World for more.