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The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has ruled out the possibility of public funding being used for Manchester United’s plans for a new stadium.
United are currently considering their options with regard to Old Trafford.
It’s understood that there are currently two main alternatives – either the refurbishment of the current existing grounds or the construction of a brand new stadium.
A recent report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that United are currently leaning towards the latter option, in which case Old Trafford will be demolished.
Last week, the club confirmed the appointment of global architecture studio, Foster + Partners to develop a masterplan for the area surrounding Old Trafford as part of their ambitious regeneration project.
There were suggestions that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS could look to enlist taxpayer cash in their bid to construct a state-of-the-art 100,000-capacity stadium for United, that would be considered “the Wembley of the North.”
This claim of course sparked some backlash, with former Liverpool man Robbie Fowler even accusing Ratcliffe of “not reading the room.”
Burnham has now set the record straight [via BBC) and indicated that the Red Devils will have to fund any new stadium or refurbishment on their own but some public funds could go into infrastructure for the new neighbourhood in the future, to help build transport links.
For this to materialise, it’s understood that a freight rail terminal situated behind Old Trafford needs to be moved to free up land to make room for any expansion.
Speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Monday, the mayor called on the government to bankroll plans to connect the under-construction Parkside freight terminal on the St Helens-Wigan border to the West Coast Main Line – a venture that is estimated to cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
Burnham said, “What you have here is the huge potential to fix the rail system of the north west of England.”
“The freight coming up to Parkside and Port Salford, taking it out of our city centre, fixes things for passengers. They won’t have to have the freight disruption.”
“What that then does is free up the space around Old Trafford so the club is able to have all of its options looked at and has the biggest possible footprint to use so it can bring forward the most ambitious regeneration. We hope it’s the best football stadium in the world, which brings benefits to residents around it.”
Burnham was accompanied by United legend Gary Neville.
Neville revealed that he doesn’t care too much whether United build a new stadium or refurbish Old Trafford.
The eight-time Premier League winner remarked that the only thing that matters is that United have a world-class stadium at the end of it all.
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