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Manchester United have confirmed plans to leave Old Trafford and move to a new 100,000-seater stadium.
United have spent the last 115 years at Old Trafford, which currently holds nearly 74,000 spectators.
Their new stadium is expected to be built on club-owned land adjacent to Old Trafford, with architect Lord Norman Foster saying it will take five years to construct.
“This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today,” he said.
“It starts with making something which is so intense, it brings you close to the pitch, acoustically it cultivates the roar.
“Moving away from the stadium, it’s not a fortress surrounded by a sea of cars, it’s open. It’s contained by an umbrella which harvests solar energy, rain water but is protected. It encloses arguably the largest public space in the world.
“There’s the three masts, the trident. Visible from 40km away, 200m high. This becomes a global destination.
“Normally a stadium will take 10 years to build, we take five.”
Man Utd’s co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said the intention is to create “an iconic football stadium.”
“Wembley, the O2 Arena, the Olympic Village – nothing of the scale of what we’ve seen in London in the north,” he said when announcing the new plans. “This will be the first of this scale in the north of England.
“The north of England has won 10 Champions League medals, London has two. But London has Wembley, Twickenham, Wimbledon and the Olympic Village.
“The north of England deserves a stadium where England can play football, where we can hold the Champions League final, and one befitting of Man Utd’s stature.
“If the government really gets behind this scheme, we will build an iconic football stadium.”
The Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force – which is chaired by Ratcliffe, but also includes Sky Sports pundit and former United defender Gary Neville and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham – …
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