A Manchester United fan group have released a scathing statement in response to the club’s plans to build a brand new stadium.
Man United announced that they aim to build a brand new 100,000-seater stadium within the next five years, which is set to cost around £2billion.
Bringing a new stadium to the club – or renovating the ailing Old Trafford – has long been on the agenda for Sir Jim Ratcliffe since his partial takeover was completed at the Red Devils.
The announcement, though, has been met with mixed reviews; many fans took to social media to claim the new ground resembled a ‘circus’, while others were more optimistic for the future.
Yet fan group The 1958 have released their own scathing statement on the new stadium, slamming the club for veering away from the club’s ‘gritty, historic essence’.
‘Instead of embodying the gritty, historic essence of Old Trafford… the design resembles a generic, soulless corporate structure, more akin to a modern entertainment venue than a football cathedral,’ the statement read.
A new or renovated stadium was long on the agenda as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s part takeover
Man United plan to build a stunning, 100,000-capacity new Old Trafford under a vast umbrella
Manchester United fan group The 1958 have slammed the club’s plans to build a new stadium
‘Its circus-like aesthetic disregards the club’s working-class origins and the identity of a fanbase that spans generations. Rather than honoring the past and strengthening the bond with the local community, it prioritizes spectacle over substance.
‘Football, dignity and traditions need to be upheld and from what we can see they aren’t. It should be a cathedral for fans to go and worship our team and not a circus-like tourist attraction.’
The stadium’s design may divide opinion, but it is certainly audacious and futuristic in its intentions.
Three giant towers, inspired by the Red Devils’ trident, dominate the skyline and effectively hold up the ‘umbrella’ – a sweeping glass and steel canopy above that will keep fans dry inside and outside what would be comfortably Britain’s biggest stadium.
A huge wraparound scoreboard also features, along with a three-storey museum and canal-side restaurants as part of a vast fan village in a project Ratcliffe says will ‘preserve the essence of Old Trafford… while transforming the fan experience only footsteps from our existing home’.
Man United have also ambitiously proposed that the stadium, which would become the largest covered space in the world, will be completed within a timeframe of just five years.
The 1958 staged a protest against the club’s ownership ahead of their Premier League clash with Arsenal, rallying against rising ticket prices.
Fans were encouraged to wear black to symbolise how their club was ‘slowly dying’.
A banner attached to a fence declared in red and black writing: ‘Fight for United, fight Glazer’
One fan held up a sign that read: ‘£66 for kids’ tickets! Exploiting dreams! We’re more than just a seat number. #GlazersOut’.
A spokesperson from The 1958 said: ‘The club is slowly dying before our eyes, on and off the pitch, and the blame lies squarely at the current ownership model.
‘In many ways, this is the biggest crisis the club faced since the Munich air disaster [which killed 23 in 1958] which inspires our name.’
Among many of the chants sang by protesters was ‘It’s your debt, not ours’. Other chants cited recent price rises to £66 per ticket, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe blasted as well as the Glazer family, who have owned United since 2004.
There were also plenty of chants of ‘we want Glazers out’.
In addition to the chanting, many fans made their feelings known by displaying homemade banners.
One read: ‘£66 for kids’ tickets! Exploiting dreams! We’re more than just a seat number. #GlazersOut’.
A different banner declared: ‘We want out club back’. Another message was: ‘Fight for United, fight Glazer’.
