Readers of a certain vintage will no doubt be traditionalists; those who believe that sporting history is just as important as the present. So the news that Manchester United intend to leave Old Trafford, their home since 1910, to move to a shiny new stadium built practically next door will dampen the spirits of Red Devils supporters and football purists alike.
But if you stand still for too long you get left behind, and while the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham have moved to bigger and better stadia, United have – until Sir Jim Ratcliffe came along and took up an ownership stake in the club – remained steadfastly loyal to the dilapidated Old Trafford. The new stadium will ensure that Manchester United can compete with their Premier League rivals in the home ground stakes… even if, out on the pitch, they continue to be left behind.
The Biggest Football Stadium in the UK
This is your future.
Your home.
Your United.#MUFC pic.twitter.com/cK7yVnOm1X— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 11, 2025
If all goes to plan with the construction, Manchester United’s new home will have a capacity of 100,000 seats, making it the largest football stadium on UK soil. It’s a bold ambition, but one that Ratcliffe plans to see through – despite the estimated cost of close to £2 billion. Even more ambitiously, Radcliffe wants the new venue to be open in time for the start of the 2030/31 season.
Quite how the construction will be paid for, with United a reported £1 billion in debt, remains to be seen – Ratcliffe has previously been shot down when approaching the UK government for a handout to build what he is coining the ‘Wembley of the north’. But, in modern football, spending money you don’t have is par for the course.
The club has revealed some artist’s impressions of what the new venue could like, with a unique ‘umbrella’ style design and a fan-zone plaza that would be twice the size of Trafalgar Square. According to Ratcliffe, United’s new ground will be the ‘world’s greatest’ – although it won’t be the largest, as we’ll find out later in this article.
What Sir Alex Ferguson Had to Say
Pessimistic supporters may be won over by the words of club icon Sir Alex Ferguson, who has spoken positively about the project – a PR coup if ever there was one. He said,
Manchester United should always strive for the best in everything it does, on and off the pitch, and that includes the stadium we play in. Old Trafford holds so many memories for me personally but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where history can be made.
What Will Happen to Old Trafford?
One of the main reasons that Manchester United are so keen to move on from Old Trafford is that the famous ground, more than a century old, is starting to show the signs of ageing. Expensive repairs would be needed just to keep the stadium safe, let alone future-proofed, while the perennial leaky roof of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand has rendered the club a laughing stock on rainy days.
According to the blueprints, the new stadium will be built on a site neighbouring Old Trafford, although official plans for what will happen to United’s current home are not known – given its decaying status, it’s unlikely that Old Trafford will be retained as a sporting venue for any other Manchester-based outfit.
It’s noteworthy too that the Old Trafford area of Manchester has been selected for a mammoth regeneration project. The government has already agreed to part-fund the plans, which will see 17,000 new homes, retail hubs and green spaces created. It’s sad, but not impossible, that the Old Trafford stadium will be demolished as part of that revamp – even if Ratcliffe claims that the new ground will retain the ‘essence’ of United’s spiritual home.
Will Manchester United Have to Play at a Temporary Stadium?
If you look at the blueprints for the new stadium, you’ll notice just how close together the construction site and Old Trafford are. So it’s not impossible that as the build gets underway, the gigantic scale of constructing a 100,000 seat venue from scratch will require swathes of the Old Trafford area to be closed down.
If transport links and infrastructure are hampered accordingly, then it could render Old Trafford as an unsafe or inappropriate location for Manchester United to play their home games while construction work is ongoing. It seems unthinkable that Manchester City would allow United to ground share at the Etihad even if they wanted to, so quite how – or where – the Red Devils would end up temporarily remains a mystery.
The Biggest Sports Stadiums in the World
For British sports fans, a stadium fit to hold 100,000 people is a rare thing indeed. But globally, such a capacity is small fry.
Narendra Modi Stadium in India
The Narendra Modi Stadium is an awesome sight to behold when it’s full of bursting with passionate Indian cricket fans. The venue, in Ahmedabad, holds a staggering 132,000, with 114,600 of those seated. It is, therefore, the largest dedicated sports stadium on the planet.
Michigan Stadium in the US
College football is huge in the United States, with venues of an appropriate size to match. The Michigan Stadium holds a whopping 107,601, while the Beaver Stadium in Pennsylvania isn’t far behind at 107,282.
May Stadium in North Korea
And lest we forget the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. Apparently, this venue has a capacity of 113,281, although – due to the secretive nature of the country – that’s not actually been verified by an independent source.
Nou Camp in Spain
As far as the largest dedicated football stadium is concerned, upgrades to Barcelona’s Nou Camp will bring the total capacity up to 105,000… if the work is ever completed, that is.
Other Stadiums with Huge Capacities
There’s a stack of stadia with 90,000+ capacities – the Misr Stadium in Cairo (96,940), Lusail Stadium in Qatar (92,349) and Wembley Stadium (90,652) – among them, but the Nou Camp will take the prize as the biggest venue dedicated to football. And Manchester United will have to settle for second place in that particular league table…
