Manchester United unveils Masterplanning team for Old Trafford redevelopment

Manchester United has appointed a team of consultants to begin work on creating a Masterplan for the redevelopment of Old Trafford, which could even include demolishing and rebuilding the Old Trafford stadium.

The club said its fans will be at the heart of the redevelopment, with consultations already planned.

The consultants’ team will be led by Legends International and Populous.

Both have a wealth of stadium development experience from across the globe.

Legends is an international company, with offices in Liverpool and London. It is currently working on expansion plans for Premier League club Leicester City’s King Power stadium, expanding capacity by 8,000 to 40,000 seats.

Populous is based in Kansas, US, and has been involved with Tottenham Hotspurt’s new Premier League ground, as well as Bayern Munich’s Allianz stadium, and the English FA’s new Wembley.

Manchester United said work will begin immediately on developing options for Old Trafford and studying their feasibility, with the aim of significantly enhancing the fan experience.

It pledged that fans will be at the heart of the process, starting with a meeting between the consultants and the Manchester United Fans’ Advisory Board later this month.

A similar process is already under way in relation to the club’s training facilities, with KSS appointed to develop a Masterplan for an expanded, state-of-the-art facility for the Men’s, Women’s and Academy teams.

Old Trafford is the largest club football stadium in the UK with a capacity of 73,000 and one of the most iconic in world football with 111 years of glorious history as United’s home ground.

The option to demolish and redevelop the ground, mooted in February by United’s chief operating officer, Collette Roche, have been welcomed by former club captain Gary Neville who said it was “the right move”.

In an Instagram video post, the former Manchester United right-back turned entrepreneur, said: “I think by the time that they have spent money on Old Trafford, the existing one, then I think you would be better off building a brand new, better, super stadium.

“I do think that Manchester United should always be at the forefront of stadiums, have the best facilities and they have fallen behind.”