Manchester United is said to be considering the demolishing of Old Trafford as part of new redevelopment plans.
Although it is likely to be unpopular with the Premier League team’s worldwide fan base, Manchester United bosses are reportedly open to all ideas when it comes to the redevelopment of the iconic home stadium – and that includes what sounds like some rather dramatic plans to knock down the current ground, and rebuild a new one on the site.
According to the latest reports, the bulldozing of the existing stadium is understood to be the least likely choice at the current juncture, and this is mainly due to the significant obstacle of where the team would play their home games while the new venue was under construction.
United are yet to appoint a preferred partner for the stadium redevelopment, but planners competing for the contract are understood to have offered a variety of options and schemes, and club officials are said to be keeping an open mind at this stage of the process and not ruling anything out.
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Other redevelopment options may include razing and rebuilding Old Trafford’s South Stand, or undertaking a complete revamp of the existing structure.
Until a master planner is appointed, however, no concrete decision will be made.
Bosses are reportedly open to all ideas when it comes to the redevelopment of the iconic home stadium / Credit: @manuelgdsolar (via Unsplash)
With parts of the 74,000-capacity arena showing signs of age, Manchester United recognise the need to upgrade Old Trafford, bring it back up to standard amongst the leading clubs in the Premier League, and ultimately, improve the matchday experience for fans.
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They have been listening to ideas about how to achieve this, and have promised to consult with fans throughout the process.
Speaking last month on redevelopment plans and the club’s current position, chief operating officer Collette Roche said: “Turning to stadium development, since our last meeting we have been assessing the capabilities of globally-leading consultants who want to help us develop a ‘masterplan’ for the modernisation of Old Trafford, with the ultimate aim of improving the matchday experience for fans.
“We have met with companies across a range of disciplines, including architecture, engineering, construction, crowd modelling, transport, security and many more.
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“We are hoping to appoint our preferred partners in the coming weeks; following this, we will be able to formally kick-off phase one of the project, which will be focused on establishing the vision and objectives for the masterplan.”
No notable modernisation of the stadium has occurred since the Glazers bought the club in 2005 / Credit: TfGM (via Twitter)
Manchester United invested almost £20 million in Old Trafford in 2019.
£11 million was known to have been spent on improvements to accessible facilities, £4 million on security, and £4 million on refurbishing hospitality locales – but no notable modernisation of the stadium has occurred since the Glazers bought the club in 2005.
Part of Greater Manchester named as one of the happiest places to live
Georgina Pellant
A new study has named a part of Greater Manchester as one of the happiest places to live in the North West of England.
This year’s Happy at Home study by Rightmove, now in its 11th year, asked over 21,000 people how they feel about their hometowns.
The results showed having a sense of belonging to your local area to be the most important contributor towards happiness, alongside a strong sense of community, and polite and friendly neighbours.
Overall, the coastal town of St Ives in Cornwall was named this year’s happiest place to live in Great Britain by its residents, with Galashiels in the Scottish Borders in second place and the market town of Woodbridge in Suffolk in third.
However, in the regional ranking for the North West Greater Manchester came out on top – with the Trafford market town of Altrincham ranking at number 17 in the whole of the UK and in second place out of 25 regional locations.
Coming in just behind Northwich in Cheshire, it wasn’t the only town in Greater Manchester to make the regional list.
Wth Stockport ranking at number 9, Bury at number 11, followed by Oldham (12), Salford (13) Manchester (14), Rochdale (17), Wigan (23) and Bolton (25), it definitely seems that residents have confirmed what we already know – that Greater Manchester is a great place to live.
You can see the full local ranking of all the regions in the North West below. To see how the rest of the country fared, click here to visit the Rightmove Happy At Home website page.
The most-ordered item on Deliveroo in Manchester is absolutely not what you’re expecting
Daisy Jackson
Deliveroo has revealed the top 100 trending dishes across the entire planet, as well as the top 30 trending dishes in the UK this week.
It’s a bit of a ritual for a lot of us to turn to a takeaway after a long week at work (or a long night in the pub).
And there’s always a bit of a debate as to what to actually order from Deliveroo – pizza, curry, Chinese, Thai, burger, or just a box full of waffles?
Well now we know exactly what way people tend to sway in Manchester, and it’s probably not what you’re expecting.
Globally, the Deliveroo 100 report found that a Pita Chawarma dish in Paris took the top spot, with a Chipotle burrito in London coming second.
Edinburgh’s Ting Thai Caravan made the big list too, along with Five Guys, Clucking Oinks and Popeyes.
Super Happy. Credit: The Manc GroupYum Cha. Credit: The Manc Group
Deliveroo said that this has been the ‘most eclectic’ top 100 in recent years with people really branching out in their eating habits.
Burritos have dominated in three markets and make up 5% of the global trending dishes, with pizza making up another 4%.
Burgers are still the top overall choice, making up nearly a quarter of the list.
Nowhere in Manchester served a dish that made the top 10 – but we did sneak in to the top 30.
We all know we’ve got some great takeaway options here in the city – just look at our Takeaway Champions series for inspiration – many of them brilliant local independent restaurants.
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2022 
