United managing director Richard Arnold has admitted expanding Old Trafford is a priority but it could leave them temporarily “homeless”.
While Tottenham were able to seamlessly move out of White Hart Lane to play at Wembley, Manchester United’s options are severely limited.
The current Old Trafford capacity is 74,994 with only Wembley, at 90,000, coming close to the same size.
But the national stadium is a 400-mile roundtrip from Manchester and would be a non-starter.
It would send United back to the drawing board with location suggesting the Etihad, the home of fierce rivals Manchester City, would be the only option.
Yet that is highly unlikely to happen with any suggestions of moving into City’s ground – with a capacity of more than 55,000 – likely to be met with outrage.
It means United have a major problem on their hands with the redevelopment of Old Trafford becoming a pressing issue.
There have long been calls for the largest league ground in England to not only receive a lick of paint but be expanded from its current capacity.
The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust has called for the stadium to become “the largest in Europe” as the club and their fans “deserve no less”, with plans afoot to bolster Old Trafford’s capacity to a reported 88,000.
Managing director Arnold has underlined issues involved in redeveloping and expanding the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, with engineering challenges compounded by issues of finding a suitable temporary home like Tottenham have managed with Wembley.
“We haven’t left the easiest stand until last,” Arnold told United We Stand, quoted in the South China Morning Post.
“The South Stand – the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand – is the last unexpanded stand.
“It’s sandwiched in a fairly narrow strip of land between the pitch and the main Manchester to Liverpool railway.
“There’s not much space on either side of the stand, meaning that it’s a very complex engineering challenge to deliver.
“It would be a multi-season challenge and it isn’t certain that there’s a way of doing it which doesn’t render us homeless.
“We have the biggest fanbase in the country and we’re not in London, where we could use Wembley.
“So that’s not a light challenge for us and we don’t want to give up the home advantage that we have here.
“Moving elsewhere would be difficult and the logistical issues associated with expanding the South Stand are not negligible.
“And that’s before you start getting into how big the expanded stadium should be.”
Arnold is confident Old Trafford will be expanded “one day” and says stadium development is backed by the Glazer family – but United are not only looking to improve the stadium but the atmosphere.
United boss Jose Mourinho has made his frustration with the Old Trafford faithful known during his tenure and last week the club introduced cheaper tickets for young fans to help improve the atmosphere.
Pitchside seats in the lower Stretford End will be available for £15 for fans aged 18-25 next term, while season and match ticket prices have been frozen for a seventh consecutive campaign.
United successfully trialled a singing section in the FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton, while a survey of fans is in the pipeline – if perhaps not the use of song sheets mentioned in a recent fans’ forum.
United are also in favour of safe standing at Old Trafford.
