Fans brand Man United’s new £2bn stadium ‘a CIRCUS’ as plans for new 100,000-seater ground next to Old Trafford are finally unveiled
Fans have reacted to Manchester United’s plans for a new 100,000-seater, £2billion stadium, plans for which have been exclusively revealed by Mail Sport.
The new Old Trafford will sit beneath a vast ‘umbrella’ – complete with a public plaza twice the size of Trafalgar Square and their own version of Wembley Way in a breathtaking ‘city of the future’.
The promise of a new stadium had been a key part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s bid to become co-owner of the Red Devils, and after debate over how this might manifest, the club has now announced they will go ahead with the new 100,000-seater plans.
However, the news has split opinion among fans on social media, many of whom have pointed to the massive outlay and how this might impact their current squad, who are widely regarded as well in need of reinforcement.
‘Spend money on good players not things that can’t help you win,’ wrote one fan on X.
‘No money to buy players but money for a brand new stadium, we are so cooked,’ added another.
Man United plan to build a stunning, 100,000-capacity new Old Trafford under a vast umbrella
A number of fans have taken to social media to claim the new ground looks like a ‘circus’
Yet more fans were not entirely convinced by the design renderings that were released on Tuesday.
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.
While futuristic and modern in its intent, though, a number of fans have perhaps not had the desired reaction, labelling it a ‘circus’.
‘Ffs looks like a circus,’ wrote one, with the prerequisite emoji of a big top.
‘Is it a big tent?’ asked another, while a third claimed it resembled a ‘palace’.
But the comparisons to a circus continued to crop up as fans slowly reacted to the news on Tuesday morning.
‘Welcome to circus,’ wrote one football fan, before another seemed to send a barb towards the unpopular Glazer family co-owners: ‘Glazers really building themselves a circus tent for the clowns that they are.’
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’.
The Red Devils’ own tree-lined version of Wembley Way would stretch from beyond the current Holy Trinity statue to well inside the existing Old Trafford
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.
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