It’s literally out with the Old and in with the new for English Premier League soccer team Manchester United.
The club unveiled plans Tuesday to build a new stadium to replace Old Trafford, its home for more than 100 years. The proposal calls for a new facility with up to 100,000 seats – which would make it the largest in the United Kingdom – to be built on the same site as Old Trafford.
Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, said it would be ‘a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience’ and would take just five years to complete.
Old Trafford opened in 1910 and has been the home of Manchester United since then. Its most recent expansion in 2006 raised the capacity to roughly 75,000. However, in terms of modern conveniences, it has fallen behind other stadiums – including that of local rival Manchester City.
The new stadium would surpass Wembley (capacity: 90,000) as the country’s largest.
Despite a recent lack of success on the pitch, Man U is still one of the world’s most recognizable franchises. Since the departure of legendary manager Alex Ferguson, the 20-time champions have struggled mightily and currently sit 14th in the Premier League Table with just nine wins in 28 games.
‘Old Trafford holds so many special memories for me personally,’ Ferguson said in a press release, ‘but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made.’
(This story was updated to add a video.)
