Andy Burnham says no public money for Old Trafford redevelopment – yet
Wider plans have been outlined for developments surrounding a potential new stadium
No public money will be spent on Manchester United’s plans for revamping their Old Trafford home for the time being, Andy Burnham has confirmed.
The Greater Manchester Mayor outlined ambitions to redevelop the stadium alongside a ‘mixed use’ neighbourhood featuring apartment blocks, shopping centres, and new public transport stations on Monday (September 23).
Currently, Manchester United are considering their options over whether to regenerate their existing home, or demolish it and build a new arena.
While it will be up to the club to fund any new stadium or refurbishment, the Mayor said it was possible some taxpayer cash could go into infrastructure for the new neughbourhood in the future, to help build transport links, he suggested.
However, to make the ambitions a reality, a freight rail terminal situated behind Old Trafford needs to be moved to free land up. The Mayor has now called on the government to fund plans to connect the under-construction ‘Parkside’ terminal on the St Helens-Wigan border to the West Coast Main Line — thought to cost in the hundreds of millions of pounds.
“What you have here is the huge potential to fix the rail system of the north west of England,” he said at Labour conference in Liverpool. “The freight coming up to Parkside and Port Salford, taking it out of our city centre, fixes things for passengers. They won’t have to have the freight disruption.”
He went on: “What that then does is free up the space around Old Trafford so that the club is able to have all of its options looked at and has the biggest possible footprint to use so it can bring forward the most ambitious regeneration.
“If we achieve the extent of our ambition, I believe this will be the world’s premiere football destination. We hope it’s the best football stadium in the world, which brings benefits to residents around it.”
The Mayor was joined by ex-Manchester United and England legend Gary Neville, who sits on a ‘task force’ created by the club to evaluate the best options for the future of Old Trafford.
Mr Neville said he was ‘not bothered if it’s either’ a new stadium or the existing one refurbished.
“The most important thing is Manchester United end up with a world class stadium,” he added. “If you think about the Bernabeu which has been refurbished, it’s amazing. If you think about Tottenham and what they’ve done, a brand new build, it’s amazing.
“I’m more interested in the overall masterplan in the surrounding area… we have seen what happens when you put football at the heart of that regeneration.”
It was also announced on Monday Norman Foster’s architectural firm has been appointed to draw up a development blueprint for land owned by the club around the stadium.