I was talking to a mate in Manc last night who was saying rumours are recirculating about plans for the work we know the club will have to do on Old Trafford this summer.
For those who aren't aware, United has been told it has to improve facilities for disabled fans, which will see in isolation the capacity of the ground shrink by around 3,000 seats. The necessary work has been scheduled for the end of this season.
Knowing this work would be undertaken, the club had looked at opportunities to revamp the South Stand at the same time. Options included adding a second tier, which would add circa 7,500 seats bringing the total attendance to over 80,000, and, further, mirroring the north side quadrants, which would add a further 8,000 or so seats.
The latest I'd read on this was United We Stand's most excellent Andy Mitten writing on it in March 2016 (see below). Andy covered the options above, as well as the well-documented issues with the train station, railway lines and property behind the South Stand, which the club has been actively trying to address in recent years.
http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/manchester-united/360/blog/post/2838728/manchester-united-consider-expanding-old-trafford-capacity
Has anyone heard anything new recently? What are people's thoughts on the expansion?
Old Trafford development
posted on 22/1/17
comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 22 minutes ago
I don't think there are any plans to do take it further than the initial study which was carried out for the time being.
I think safe standing will be introduced long before a 2nd tier is added to the south stand and new quadrants.
That would be the much easier and more cost effective way to keep the capacity up and it's something Old Trafford really needs as the atmosphere isn't great most of the time and the singing section has had little impact.
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Safe standing I think we are quite a way away from yet, in theory and practice, although I agree it might help the atmosphere.
Really what we need on that front though is cheaper tickets, which we've no chance of seeing without an expansion. Simply, the stadium is nowadays largely filled with people who don't know any of the songs and sit in near silence for 90 minutes.
posted on 22/1/17
It'll all come down to cost-benefit analysis ultimately.
The railway and housing issues can be dealt with. Dealing with them just comes at a cost. At the point at which the cost of dealing with them and rebuilding the South Stand drops low enough that the break-even point for redevelopment falls within an acceptable timescale to the club's ownership/executive management, the work will be done.
The club will obviously have worked up various models running financial and impact analysis, but how appetising they look versus other options (including 'do nothing' is anyone's guess.
posted on 22/1/17
Safe standing I think we are quite a way away from yet, in theory and practice, although I agree it might help the atmosphere.
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I don't think it's anywhere near as far away as an expansion though and it seems like some headway has been made in recent months.
The Premier League held initial discussions about it in November and we've had representatives at Celtic Park to see it in action this season.
We seem to be one of the clubs who are pushing for it the most in the Premier League.
posted on 22/1/17
Atmosphere at ot is atrocious, but that seems to be the norm amongst big clubs. I recently watched an el clasico from 2001, loads of abuse directed at figo etc, and made me think you don't see that anymore. The crowd is a lot more passive nowadays.
posted on 22/1/17
Our away support is fantastic so I dont know why,without jumping to some questionable conclusions, Old Trafford is so poor incomparison,in that regard.
posted on 22/1/17
comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
Safe standing I think we are quite a way away from yet, in theory and practice, although I agree it might help the atmosphere.
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I don't think it's anywhere near as far away as an expansion though and it seems like some headway has been made in recent months.
The Premier League held initial discussions about it in November and we've had representatives at Celtic Park to see it in action this season.
We seem to be one of the clubs who are pushing for it the most in the Premier League.
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Have you heard anything from any Celtic fans on how it's worked up there?
posted on 22/1/17
comment by Genius_AppleCart_Space_Dude_Featuring_Zorak (Doom merchant) (U19099)
posted 45 minutes ago
Our away support is fantastic so I dont know why,without jumping to some questionable conclusions, Old Trafford is so poor incomparison,in that regard.
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In the twenty five years since I started going there have been very significant changes in the demographics of those attending OT. Without doubt.
posted on 22/1/17
Have you heard anything from any Celtic fans on how it's worked up there?
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It seems to have been well received and had a positive effect.
posted on 23/1/17
If it's true that the club have to decrease the capacity to allow for an improvement to the disabled facilities, I imagine that will expedite any expansion plans. The club will not want to see any fall in revenue that even a slight drop in capacity would bring
posted on 23/1/17
comment by Mumbai Mkhitaryan (U3867)
posted 3 minutes ago
If it's true that the club have to decrease the capacity to allow for an improvement to the disabled facilities, I imagine that will expedite any expansion plans. The club will not want to see any fall in revenue that even a slight drop in capacity would bring
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There's also the financial benefits that would come from wrapping two significant pieces of construction work up in one project.