Manchester United Invest £11m In Upgrading Disabled Facilities At Old Trafford

Manchester United's new MUDSA platform Under the Glazer ownership Manchester United have come under continued pressure for their lack on investment within the stadia facilities at their Old Trafford ground. However, since the fall-out of the European Super League debacle and the fan protests against the Glazer ownership, which led to the cancellation of last season’s tie against rivals Liverpool, the owners finally began to engage with supporters and promised a series of projects to ensure investment within areas outside of the playing squad. One of the items on the agenda was looking at ways to invest in Old Trafford to turn the iconic stadium back into a world-class venue once again and bring it up to modern standards. Accessibility and standards of disabled facilities were one of the main topics on the agenda and it appears they may have succeeded.

The £11 million development has created 118 new wheelchair positions and 158 new amenity seats in a variety of areas around the stadium, with a new purpose-built concourse at the back of the Stretford End being the focal point of the upgrades.

This is the final part of a £20million spend at the ground this summer, which included exterior work of painting and cleaning, as well as the installing of a new pitch, floodlights and rail seating, plus an upgrade to their changing rooms and media facilities.

Following the acceptance their grounds had fallen below the level of new builds in recent years, United have put together plans to bring the iconic Old Trafford ground back up to world-class standard. They will have to work around the restraints and heritage of their ground, but Chief Operating Officer Collette Roche has revealed to the media that the club are now working on how to take the improvements forward. "We did quite a lot over the summer, we spent about £20million on a new pitch, floodlights, changing rooms, the rail seats… but for me that is only the start. We do recognise the need to invest even more in Old Trafford and that’s what we’ve turned our attention to now. We’re starting to scope out what a world-class Old Trafford looks like and we’ll go through the process and the project of getting that off the ground."



New build grounds such as Arsenal's Emirates Stadium and, more recently, the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, have raised the bar, with Old Trafford beginning to look tired in comparison.

When co-chairman Joel Glazer attended a virtual fans forum this summer, the topic of improvements at Old Trafford were discussed. While those plans are being pushed ahead with, the club are keen that their supporters' views must be heard.

This is something echoed within Roche’s comments. "From an engineering perspective sometimes it’s easier just to start from fresh on a green site. For us Old Trafford is like a museum, it’s something we want to build on. Heritage is really important to this club, we want to modernise it rather than start over and I think that’s something I’ve heard loud and clear from our fans. As we go through the process of what does Old Trafford look like in the future, we will ask them the question and hopefully the fans will feed into the design the same way MUDSA have."

The facilities have been welcomed by the club's disabled supporters' association (MUDSA). They have worked closely with the Manchester United on the new facilities, and are delighted with the outcome, especially with disabled supporters having the choice of where to sit.

Image credit: Manchester United Football Club.