Soccer
Man Utd suggest date new stadium could open as more regeneration plans unveiled
Manchester United hope to be playing in their new 100,000-capacity stadium by 2035 and have revealed its striking ‘circus-tent’ design could change.
United are refusing to estimate the final cost of the project, previously put at around £2billion, while no public funding will be sought.
Further plans were revealed on Thursday at a presentation principally about the regeneration of the wider Old Trafford area in conjunction with the local council.
The club have now confirmed the exact site for their new arena around 350 metres north west of the existing stadium.
This will allow Old Trafford to remain in use during construction.
When proposals were unveiled in March 2025, it was reported the club hoped to move in by 2030.
With sufficient land having only recently been acquired, that is no longer realistic and the club are not setting a target date, though they hope it will be ready for the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
Collette Roche, chief executive of the new stadium development at United, said: “The design is going to inform how we’re going to construct the stadium. We’ve got to go to planning, and then that’ll give us the date.
“We just don’t want to make a decision that’s not within our gift right now. That’s why there’s a bit of reticence around the dates.
“The 2035 one is quite interesting because it’s a good milestone. I do think it’s realistic.”
One of the most talked-about aspects of the early designs was the venue’s large canopy roof.
The finished stadium could look different, with only generic images shown at Thursday’s event.
Roche said: “Is it set in stone? No. We’re going through the design process.
“We’re not ripping things up but, now we know where it’s going to be, we need to make sure it fits in the right place.”
United declined to put a price on the project, although they remain confident it can be funded from multiple sources while keeping costs under control.
Roche said: “There is not a price I can go and get a quote on right now, but we’ve been really clear from the onset.
“This needs to be a sanity project, not a vanity project. Focusing on putting our money where it matters is really important to us.
“We’ve had a lot of approaches. We’re not worried about the level of interest and support and funding options.”
Roche said no decisions had been taken over what the new stadium will be called but naming rights could be “looked at”.
“I really don’t know what the stadium will be called,” she said. “What I will say is that we’ve been really vocal, we are going to potentially look at naming rights to the stadium. It’s an important revenue stream. It’s something we’ve discussed with our fan advisory board.”
The stadium will be the centre-piece of a wider ‘masterplan’ which it is hoped will deliver 15,000 new homes, 48,000 jobs, improved transport links and an annual injection of £7.3bn into the economy.
Public money will be used for elements of the wider regeneration, but United insist none will be required for the stadium itself.
Roche said: “We need to stand on our own two feet and we need to pay for our stadium.
“However, this is massive. It’s a lot more and a lot bigger than the stadium.
“What we can’t do is pay for a new train station or new infrastructure.”
