After much talk of whether Old Trafford would be redeveloped or an entirely new stadium would take its place, Manchester United have confirmed their plans to build a brand-new home ground and revealed the first new images.
Put simply, it looks incredible.
Not only will a 100,000 capacity see it overtake Wembley (90k) as the biggest arena in the UK but co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS Sports group now spearheading the rebuild of the club aim for it to become “the world’s greatest football stadium”.
Unveiling the first official images along with a CGI concept video as somewhat of a teaser trailer for the new stadium, the ‘centrepiece of the Old Trafford Regeneration’ project, Stretford and beyond are set to look very different.
The first thing to note is the striking shape of the new stadium complex; while many fans were worried designs would resemble another shiny metallic bowl shape like many other new stadiums across Europe and the globe, chief architects Foster + Partners have gone for a much different visage.
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Lord Norman Foster, the company’s executive chairman, said as part of the full announcement: “This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today. It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar.
“The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square.”
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Revolving around three tall spires – a trinity, if you will – the new Man United home campus will be covered by the large netting-esque feature which wraps around the main stadium structure itself.
Credit: Foster + Partners“Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport”, says Ratcliffe.
Set to cost in the region of £2 billion, it is believed the huge undertaking could be completed within the space of five years.
With support from the government as part of the official Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force, which Mayor Andy Burnham, the likes of Gary Neville, Lord Sebastian Coe and other notable figures serve on, the wider goal is for the redevelopment to transform the area and expand further into South Manchester.
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The club claims ‘New Trafford’ (not an official name) will create 92,000 new jobs, involve the construction of 17,000 homes and bring an additional 1.8 million visitors to the area annually.
As per further particulars shared online, it is said that the ground would be visible from the Peak District and even the outskirts of Liverpool “in optimum conditions”; the tallest mast will be larger than Beetham Tower and 15.5% of the seats will be reserved for hospitality.
You can see more images of what they hope the stadium and atmosphere to look like during a night match down below:
“We are proud to be supporting that mission with this project of national, as well as local, significance”. (Credit: Foster + Partners)
Although millions of fans will be torn over the decision to leave the existing ‘Theatre of Dreams’, it has been widely reported that the cost of renovating Old Trafford as fans know it today could prove almost as costly as building the new sporting arena entirely.
Commenting on the plans, the club’s legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has backed the move. He said as part of the official statement: “Manchester United should always strive for the best in everything it does, on and off the pitch, and that includes the stadium we play in.
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“Old Trafford holds so many special memories for me personally, but we must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made.”
It’s also still unclear as to what will happen to Old Trafford, although the belief is that it will remain intact next to the new stadium nearby and be used for Man United Women’s fixtures as well as youth games.
You can hear Lord Foster talking through the plans and see the design in more detail down below:
Also remarking on the plans, Mayor Burnham, added. “Our common goal on the Task Force has been to try to unlock the full power of the club for the benefit of its supporters and for Greater Manchester as a whole – creating thousands of new homes and jobs.
“If we get this right, the regeneration impact could be bigger and better than London 2012 [something he’d already said this time last year]. Manchester United could, and indeed should, have the best football stadium in the world.”
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“To me, that means a stadium that is true to the traditions of the club, affordable to all, with nobody priced out, and a stadium that sets new standards in the game globally. I believe this vision can be realised, and if so, the benefits for Greater Manchester, the North West and the country will be huge.”
How do you feel about the plans, Reds?
Featured Images — Manchester United (via club website)
Sport
The Manchester 24 Hour Run raises over £70,000 for the region’s homeless community
Danny Jones
The numbers are in for the 2025 Manchester 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness, which saw hordes of runners take over the city centre to generate money for the ever-crucial cause.
Having set an ambitious target of £50,000, not only did they manage to achieve their goal, they absolutely SMASHED it, totalling more than £70k.
In fact, with last-minute donations and matching contributions still trickling in over a fortnight on from this year’s event, the final figure is actually set to surpass that by several thousands.
Simply incredible stuff. Speaking on the night, here’s what the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, had to say about another inspiring edition of the annual endurance relay.
Running in the wind and rain, dashing through puddles in the cold, the pitch black and all through the night into the fresh cold Manc morning this month, more than a thousand volunteers, locals, businesses, and more laced up their trainers for the seventh edition in six years.
For those unaware, this event is a recurring 5k relay loop around Manchester, with the route designed to run around parts of the city centre where you can witness homelessness first-hand.
Taking place in November every year – when the region is even more dark, grey and wet than usual – this also gives participants an opportunity to further empathise with the discomfort felt by rough sleepers.
Well over 4,000 individuals and 165 organisations have taken part in this initiative since 2019, funding more than 70,000 nights of accommodation through the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity and its ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme. That tally is set to jump massively, once again, after this year’s run.
Here’s how the 2025 stats on the tarmac break down:
100 running clubs and organisations
Over 1,500 individual runners and walkers
44 x five-kilometre consecutive relay laps run
Over £188,700* raised across all events and years.
Multiple sponsors, including Autotrader, Accenture and Mistral
Credit: Ed Hill (supplied)
In 2025, the 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness also successfully expanded to Sheffield and Hereford for the first time, as well as returning to Birmingham for its second year.
The event unites local running communities to support local organisations. Better still, in 2026, the event is expected to expand again; for instance, after a rescheduling, the event is heading over to Yorkshire once more for the inaugural edition of The Leeds 24 Hour Run in March 2026.
Reflecting on the event’s seventh year, The 24 Hour Run Against Homelessness co-founder, Thomas Lewis, says: “Every year I think we’ve hit our peak in terms of fundraising and turnout, and every year we somehow manage to surpass it. I’m completely blown away by the support and dedication of the Manchester running community. Bring on next year.”
Fran Darlington-Pollock, the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity’s outgoing CEO, added: “We’re so proud to continue supporting this incredible event and all the hard work that goes into making it such a success year after year.
“The passion and dedication of the organisers, runners, and supporters are truly inspiring, and we’re so grateful for the funds raised, which help people experiencing homelessness through A Bed Every Night.”
Anyone still wanting to make a donation can do so by visiting The 24 Hour Run website and the attached JustGiving page HERE, which will remain open for a few weeks following the event.
There are plenty of other ways we can help fight homelessness throughout the year, and it’s by pursuing vital causes like this that we truly put the great in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester stadiums included in the bid to host the Women’s World Cup confirmed
Danny Jones
The locations for the official UK bid to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup have been revealed, along with the Greater Manchester football stadiums chosen for the honour.
Not exactly a ground-breaking spoiler, but the FA did make a somewhat curious choice when they shared the news.
In case you hadn’t heard the news earlier this year, our nation has officially thrown its hat into the ring for the Women’s World Cup (WWC) in 2035, with England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all set to offer up their arenas as part of the record-breaking proposal.
Naturally, a region as footy-obsessed as ours and with two of the biggest stadiums in the country was always going to be included, but as mentioned, there was a particular detail that lots of people quickly noticed following the announcement.
Yes, in a slightly bizarre but ultimately innocuous turn of events, Etihad Stadium – home of Manchester City FC – has been selected, as was the world-famous ‘Theatre of Dreams‘, the only difference being that it was listed separately from the city itself.
Instead, Man United’s iconic home turf, Old Trafford, has been listed as just that: in Trafford, specifically, as opposed to simply being listed in the same section as its sky blue counterpart.
Now, while it’s true that all 10 boroughs have their own identity, culture (not to mention some subscribing to still being part of Lancashire or even Cheshire), it did strike us and others as a bit odd to put that rather iconic and equally historic venue down as almost separate from the city.
Many would argue that one of the things Manchester is best known for around the globe is the team of Red Devils that play at that ground.
Naturally, ‘Cityzens‘ have had their fair share of fun with the post and, conversely, there’s been plenty of retorts regarding ‘supporters from Stockport’, as you would expect…
Nevertheless, we’re just glad to see the Etihad and Old Trafford continuing to cater to some of the biggest dates on the sporting calendar.
Some have actually argued that the region should have been given opportunities to host more stadiums and/or games as part of the market pitch, as the likes of both Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic’s stadiums were floated as viable or even better alternatives, capacity-wise.
Either way, with the 22 venues that have been selected for the UK’s bid for the 2035 Women’s World Cup and us Brits currently unopposed in the race to secure the tournament, the FA are going all-in for the 48-team competition, which would be “the biggest single-sport event ever staged in the UK.”
You can read more down below.
Our shared ambition: to host the largest single-sport event ever staged in the UK, and the first FIFA World Cup in this country since 1966.#AllTogetherpic.twitter.com/y6GOPEPDdG
Danny Jones -
11th March 2025 
