Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Old Trafford masterplan and Manchester United's compelling 'levelling up' case
manchestereveningnews.co.ukSir Jim Ratcliffe’s vision for the future at Manchester United has been laid out, and Old Trafford is central to it. Ratcliffe’s purchase of 27.7 per cent of the club for a £1.3billion sum was granted regulatory approval last month, with the deal handing him and his INEOS team oversight over football matters and matters of future strategy of the club.
A major part of that future strategy is deciding what happens with the club’s 74,310-seater Old Trafford home which, while the biggest club stadium in English football and affording United the opportunity to pull in matchday revenues well in excess of £100m each season, is no longer a home fit for a club that wants to wrestle back its status as top dog in European football.
Ratcliffe’s preference is to stick at Old Trafford and redevelop as opposed to start from scratch, something that would tie in nicely with the proposals put forward earlier this month by Trafford Council for a major regeneration of the Trafford Wharfside area, with United’s home central to the plans.
In his first broadcast interview since his stake in United was confirmed, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: "Trafford Park is where the industrial revolution began.
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