Thunderstorms wreaked havoc during the recent Club World Cup in the US, forcing a number of games to be delayed or even postponed, and they threatened to blow Manchester United off course on pre-season tour here as well.
Ruben Amorim and his players avoided a torrential storm after training in Chicago on Thursday, but more wild weather across the eastern US forced United’s flight from the city’s O’Hare International Airport to New York to be delayed by two hours on Friday evening.
United touched down in White Plains just before 10pm and transferred to their hotel in New Jersey ahead of Saturday’s opening tour game against West Ham at the MetLife Stadium.
At least Amorim and the squad were able to rest up in the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Chicago while they waited for the flight to be rescheduled, and took off very shortly after arriving at the airport.
Reporters covering the tour were not so lucky and some didn’t arrive in New York until the early hours of Saturday due to the storms, while others were re-routed around the weather system as far south as Nashville which added more than an hour to their journey.
At least the forecast for Saturday is sunny and dry which means there should be no problems when United meet the Hammers in the Premier League Summer Series straight after Bournemouth take on Everton at the same venue.
Torrential storms have threatened to wreak havoc with Manchester United’s pre-season plans
The club were delayed for two hours at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Friday
Coe’s pitch to US investors
The United team might only be spending 24 hours in the New York/New Jersey area, but that hasn’t stopped the club from seizing an opportunity to wow potential investors in the £2billion Old Trafford rebuild.
While the squad were preparing to fly to the Big Apple from Chicago, Lord Coe and club executives were attending a conference hosted by the British Consulate-General at Rockefeller Plaza on Friday afternoon called The Placemaking: Investing in Sports Real Estate in the UK.
Although United are confident of securing public funding for the wider regeneration of the area around Old Trafford, private investment will be needed to fund the new 100,000-seater stadium itself.
Lord Coe, who has led the stadium taskforce and is now chair-designate of the Mayoral Development Corporation set up to drive the project, and United chief operating officer Collette Roche addressed an audience of Wall Street investment banks and US financiers.
United have taken inspiration from a number of American sports projects in their planning for what Sir Jim Ratcliffe envisions as the ‘Wembley of the North’ – not least the magnificent SoFi Stadium in LA and Chicago Bears’ Burnham Park development.
United chiefs are set to meet with the Bears next week once the team return to Chicago ahead of their second game against Bournemouth at Soldier Field.
Lord Coe addressed Wall Street investment banks regarding plans for a £2billion Old Trafford rebuild
United have taken inspiration from a number of American sports projects as they look to rebuild their historic home
Date set for Carrington re-opening
Old Trafford isn’t the only rebuilding project under Ratcliffe’s minority ownership. The club’s Carrington training complex has undergone a £50m redevelopment and will officially re-open its doors at an opening ceremony on August 8.
The upgrade has taken a year to complete and is aimed at providing a more elite environment for training and recovery. It has been finished ahead of schedule and will open 11 days before United kick off the new season at home to Arsenal.
The first-team have continued to train at the women’s and academy facility – as they did throughout much of last season – and use a gym set up on the indoor pitches, but they will shortly return to their redeveloped headquarters.
Insiders tell Confidential that the women and youth teams will also benefit from the improvements made to their base while the men have been in situ.
United’s Carrington training complex will reopen next month following a £50m redevelopment
Focus on camera duo
Job security has been in short supply since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos took over the day-to-day running of United, with no fewer than 450 redundancies to date.
So it was refreshing to see camera operators Noel Grice and Keith Rheade celebrate 25 years of working for the club on Friday as captain Bruno Fernandes spent some time after training at Soldier Field to congratulate them on their achievement.
The pair started in the same week a quarter of a century ago in 2000 and are still going strong on the club’s pre-season tour.
United camera operators Noel Grice and Keith Rheade recently celebrated 25 years at the club
