Ratcliffe could seek public cash to build ‘Wembley of the North’
Billionaire Ineos owner may request Levelling Up funds New ‘wow’ stadium would remain close to Old Trafford site
Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Manchester United to create the “Wembley of the North” under ambitious plans for a spectacular new Old Trafford.
The Ineos billionaire believes the North of England should have a world-class venue to rival London’s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium and could yet seek to lobby the Government for funds amid Westminster’s “Levelling Up” pledges.
A source close to Ratcliffe told Telegraph Sport: “He feels the club needs an absolute state-of-the-art, knock-it-out-of-the-park, ‘wow’ stadium. And we feel there’s a strong argument for the country having a top-class major venue in the North – a Wembley of the North.”
Ratcliffe’s £1.03billion deal for a 28.9 per cent stake in United is due to gain regulatory approval over the next fortnight and comes with a guarantee of an additional £237million of initial investment for Old Trafford. It is understood that Ratcliffe is broadly opposed to the idea of United having to relocate but believes supporters would be amenable to the idea of a world-leading new stadium on land immediately surrounding Old Trafford, the club’s home for 114 years.
“The spiritual home is important,” a source said. “We think the fans would be quite happy to accept a brand new stadium if we stay where we are.”
Redevelopment and expansion of the current stadium – which has been cited internally as an eightyear project – remains one of the options and it is said that around 25 per cent of the space inside Old Trafford lies empty or wasted.
But insiders have raised concerns about the prospect of getting into a situation where the club are throwing “good money after bad” if they attempt to expand the South Stand and redevelop the other sides. “Ultimately, you’ve still got a 1910 building,” the source said. That echoes the sentiments of Chris Lee, the managing director of Populous, the architectural design firm tasked with overseeing the project.
Lee told Telegraph Sport in December that a new build “may well turn out to be the most costeffective solution”.
“The building is reaching the end of its natural life – the cabling, the electricity supplies, everything is nearing its sell-by date,” Lee added.
It is estimated that expanding the 74,000-capacity stadium could cost at least £800million, while a new ground could cost in the region of £1.5-2billion. Ratcliffe and Ineos chiefs have already begun dialogue with Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Trafford
Council leaders and other civic officials over the future of Old Trafford, at the same time as starting to explore financial options.
A pioneering new stadium and the potential for a surrounding sport, entertainment and community village would create jobs and provide a huge boost to the local economy and beyond.
Sources suggested that such a major regeneration programme could attract government funds under the Levelling Up initiative. Even with financial assistance from the state, though, United would have to drum up huge sums to fund such a project.
Ineos is in the process of building a £5billion chemical plant in Antwerp dubbed “Project One” and is accustomed to raising capital through large financing deals.
United would have to service the debt on a new or redeveloped stadium, but sources said a project that ultimately contributed to the future growth of the club should be viewed through a different lens to the Glazers’ leveraged buy-out.
“It shouldn’t be a burden on the club because a new stadium should be paying for itself effectively,” a source said. “If you’ve got a new 90,000 stadium, you’ve got 20,000 new people paying for that stadium.”
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