Since Old Trafford’s creation in 1910, it’s been the home of the historic Manchester United football club.
It all began in 1902 when John Henry Davies took a financially bankrupt Newton Heath on the bottom of the second division, and invested significantly in them. He changed the name to Manchester United and the clubs colours to Red and White.
In 1910, Davies wanted to take United further, moving from their 50,000 capacity stadium in Bank Street, to a proposed 100,000 seater. He appointed Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect to complete this product. Ultimately, the capacity was revised to 80,000 for financial reasons, but Davies’ vision was created and Old Trafford was born.
Since then, only in WWII, when Old Trafford was bombed, did United play anywhere else.
In 1936, an 80-yard-long roof was added to the United Road stand.
In 1938, the roofs were also added to the Southern Corners of the stadium.
However, on the 11th March 1941, in the Manchester blitz, Old Trafford was bombed. This was incredibly damaging as it knocked out the main stand and forced United to play at Maine Road, local rivals Manchester City’s stadium, until Old Trafford was re-opened in 1949.
- In 1951, a roof was restored to the main stand.
- In 1959, the Stretford Road end received roofing.
- In 1965, the United road stand was redeveloped with the old roofing changed to a more modern style of roofing.
- By 1973, the roofing was completed around the whole stadium.
- In addition, 5500 seats were added to the Scoreboard end of the ground.
- In 1975, a £3m expansion of the stadium occurred. This removed the South East section which was replaced by a seated section in 1985.
- In the 1990’s, Old Trafford was converted to an all-seater stadium.
- In 1995, the North Stand was taken down and replaced by a new three tier stand.
- In 2000, a second tier was added to the East stand and then the West Stand.
- In 2006, an extra 8000 seats were added in Old Trafford’s final development.
Why Old Trafford has stopped developing
After years and years of development, Old Trafford had finally become a state of the art stadium. With its capacity reaching over 75,000, it fit the ‘kings of English football.’ However, after the sale of the club to the Glazer family, investment dried up. Once the extra 8000 seats were added, the Glazers haven’t improved the famous stadium since.
As a result, in the 15 years since, the stadium has gradually been left behind by modernisations from teams like Tottenham Hotspur, who have built grounds which the ‘theatre of dreams’ just can’t compete with. This sparks the debate as to whether Old Trafford should be knocked down or whether it just needs redevelopment.
Ultimately, what is clear is that the stadium is in dire need for an upgrade. It’s gradually declining, even having issues of water leaks.
Some people question whether under United’s current ownership, the right upgrades will be implemented, and not just a fan appeasing scheme after the outrage at the Super League.
What Manchester United have said
In a Fan Forum Joel Glazer mentioned that the beginning of plans for the development of the stadium had begun.
The issues with just redevelopment
Despite the encouraging signs from the ownership, some fans feel that this isn’t a big enough change and the extent of the degradation of Old Trafford means a brand new stadium is needed.
However, with the Glazer’s avoiding investment in the historic stadium since 2006, is it really that likely the American owners will now fork out several billion to implement this change?
If redevelopment occurs, it would likely be on the Sir Bobby Charlton stand.
However, there are issues all over the ground.
The stadium no longer has that quality feel around it. Such issues even leading to rodents roaming on the pitch.
Thus, with the Glazer’s unlikely to inject enough cash to completely revolutionise the stadium as needed, fans are concerned that this isn’t enough and a full re-build is needed.
The issues with building a new stadium
However, there is a strong representation in the fanbase that feel Old Trafford can’t, and shouldn’t be knocked down.
Despite the desperate need for improvements, it’s seen that with the right investment, the stadium can be state of the art again without needing to knock down Old Trafford and rebuild. If the Sir Bobby Charlton stand is given major investment, this could be a considerable improvement to the issues.
Furthermore, the main reason against building a new stadium is the history behind Old Trafford. As it’s been United’s home since 1910, knocking down the ground would be a major step potentially in the wrong direction.
Players all around the world want to play at Old Trafford, so knocking it down would lose that appeal. In addition, the soul of the club could diminish. Since 1910 this ground has seen United win everything. It saw the rise of the Busby Babes and the greatest footballing legacy being built under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Thus, by destroying the ground, it almost leaves that behind. It risks the new ground becoming soulless. Whilst at Old Trafford, United players feel they’ve got that edge with the history of club legends behind them, pushing them on.
However, if it’s destroyed, this legacy is left behind. Therefore, ultimately, a lot of fans are completely against the rebuilding of the ground because there is too much history to lose.
Verdict
Ultimately, what’s guaranteed is that investment is pivotal. After 15 years without redevelopment, Old Trafford has been left behind in the modern era.
In terms of the redevelopment, United should look to avoid knocking the stadium down. Despite the huge amount of work needed, by rebuilding the stadium, a big part of the clubs legacy and identity is destroyed. Manchester United playing at any other ground just wouldn’t feel right.
If the board are willing to inject the right cash in, the stadium can be revolutionised without rebuilding, which means Old Trafford can become a statement of English football again, whilst keeping the iconic legacy and boost that the history of the club provides the players. Therefore, United should redevelop but not through re-building the stadium.