Ineos chairman Jim Ratcliffe is pictured at Old Trafford in Manchester, Britain, March 17, 2023 REUTERS/Phil Noble (Credits: REUTERS)
Manchester Untied fans hoping for a new stadium or significant changes to Old Trafford are set for disappointment.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25% stake in the club is set to be confirmed by the end of the year, while it will take another six weeks to be ratified by the Premier League.
While recruitment and appointing a new sporting director are top priorities for INEOS, Ratcliffe wants to renovate Old Trafford.
The stadium has been left to decay in recent years, falling behind rivals like Tottenham.
The Glazers have completed just one significant renovation of the stadium and that was in 2006, when a move to do so was arranged before their 2005 takeover.
Ratcliffe has vowed to pump £250m of his own money into the stadium, but that’s not nearly enough to see significant change.
According to the Daily Mail, United had architects analyse the stadium in 2022 and they drew up a series of scenarios for its future.
Old Trafford is rundown. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
The most expensive was knocking down Old Trafford and building a new stadium to the tune of £2bn.
Renovating Old Trafford in its entirety would cost north of £1bn, with the Sir Bobby Charlton stand likely to be knocked down so that a ‘bowl’ effect could be introduced.
But the Daily Mail say Ratcliffe’s investment will only see ‘cosmetic’ differences to the stadium, in disappointing news for fans.’
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