The OG Wembley in west London is a fabulous sort of place. A vast temple of football beneath a soaring, iconic arch, every match at the end of Wembley Way (officially ‘Olympic Way’) feels like a proper occasion.
But Wembley’s also in the south – and while there are loads of mighty clubs down south, there are more elsewhere, especially up north. To rectify all that, now plans have been revealed for a ‘Wembley of the north’.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Manchester United’s new de facto owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to transform the club’s current ground Old Trafford into a state-of-the-art footy hub. British billionaire Ratcliffe has laid out a ‘redevelopment plan’ for the stadium that would turn it into somewhere classy enough to rival Wembley.
As it stands, Old Trafford isn’t exactly not classy. It’s the biggest English club stadium (Wembley isn’t currently home to a club, just the England national team) and one of the world’s most famous grounds. In recent years, however, it’s gotten a bit run-down.
Ratcliffe’s ambitions for Old Trafford could see a whopping £2 billion pumped into it in an eight-year makeover. He’s also considering lobbying the UK government for some ‘Levelling Up’ funding.
So, Old Trafford could become the ‘Wembley of the north’ – exciting, eh? We don’t know yet exactly what the plans will be or when they might officially be put into action, so watch this space for updates.
In other news at stadiums around the UK on Time Out, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium (AKA Principality Stadium) is getting a zipwire and United rivals Manchester City are revamping the Etihad with a roof walk and ‘sky bar’.
Did you see that this Manchester cocktail bar is officially the best in Britain?
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