Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has emphasised that “not a penny of public money” will be provided to build Manchester United’s new stadium. In March, United revealed ambitious proposals for a cutting-edge 100,000-capacity stadium at a London event, with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe suggesting the venture could be finished by 2030.
Ratcliffe proposed the notion of taxpayers partially financing the £2billion scheme, declaring: “People in the north pay their taxes and there is an argument you could think about a more ambitious project in the north which would be fitting for England, for the Champions League final or the FA Cup final.”
Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has previously declared that no public funding would be provided for the stadium itself, and he reinforced that position to The Added Time Podcast.
Nevertheless, a Mayoral Development Corporation has recently been formed for the regeneration scheme surrounding the stadium, which will deliver enormous economic advantages.
Burnham declared: “It’s not about giving them money because we have a really clear principle here at the start of this journey with the Mayoral Development Corporation. Manchester United will be paying for the stadium. There will not be a penny of public money going into that.
“But we have absolutely a role to play in making everything around the stadium as good as it can be because of the economic benefit that brings. If you think about it, there is a train station behind the stand there and it’s not been used for a number of years for safety reasons.
“Part of it would see that station relocated a little bit, maybe a bit nearer Lou Macari’s chippy or somewhere near there, and that would then reopen and massively benefit existing communities, Gorst Hill, Stretford and the people who live there, so the public benefit of this would be massive.
“Thousands of new homes, thousands of new jobs, so it’s much wider than the ground itself.”
United and the city region share ambitions to secure major matches from the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2035 for the venue, with the showpiece final amongst the targets.
Burnham acknowledged the goal of securing the 2035 World Cup final for Manchester, explaining: “I am closely involved to the point where we’ve just asked parliament to establish a Mayoral Development Corporation. So that is a vehicle, a legal entity, that will oversee the wider regeneration of the whole area.
“That is more my responsibility, the wider environment around any new stadium. It’s a huge opportunity for us as a city and a region. If you think about that area, it’s the area around the old Salford docks.
“You’ve got Media City on the other side. This could be a global location if we get it right. I know people here kind of struggle to see why it impacts life on this end of the M62 [Liverpool], but actually there are freight terminals behind the existing Old Trafford that send lots of trains through Manchester city centre.
“That is a major cause of the chaos on railways across the north because it causes blockages in Manchester. Therefore, every train coming across the country is often then late getting over to Liverpool.
“So it’s a project that actually makes sense on loads of levels. It actually would lead to the freight tunnels being relocated to St Helens and therefore growth here [Liverpool].
“It’s a major growth project for the whole of the north west. And the enticing prospect in my mind is if we really get it moving, I think there’s a fairly high likelihood that we will be hosting the women’s FIFA World Cup in 2035.
“Imagine a final at that new Old Trafford. It would be quite something, wouldn’t it?”.
Blueprint plans for the revolutionary stadium have been put on hold whilst talks continue over securing vital land.
Freightliner owns the railway yard surrounding Old Trafford, which remains essential to the ambitious proposals.
United remain confident of striking an agreement to purchase the territory for their groundbreaking stadium venture.