Inside the Old Trafford Stadium District Masterplan

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20 March 2025

Manchester United’s Old Trafford is set to be regenerated into a world-class football destination.

 

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Foster + Partners have submitted a masterplan for Manchester United that includes a new stadium and mixed-use developments. 

The mixed-use district, set on a one-million square metre brownfield site, would include a network of green civic spaces, streets, bridges, and waterfront areas. 

A new 100,000-seat stadium would be its centrepiece, with wraparound balconies that overlook the wider development. Three masts in the style of the team’s Red Devil trident emblem support a translucent canopy that envelopes the stadium, wrapping around the stands and shielding a generous public plaza from rainfall. The covered plaza features a range of interactive experiences for fans and visitors – and overlooks the city’s famous Bridgewater Canal that runs adjacent to the site. 

 

Picture: a CGI showing fans on balconies looking down onto the public plaza. Image Credit: Foster + Partners

 

A new processional route will also run from a new train station to the plaza, which will serve as a focal point for fan gatherings and community events.

Modular offsite prefabrication and the use of the Manchester Ship Canal are hoped to significantly increase the speed of construction.

The project has the potential to deliver an additional £7.3 billion per year to the UK economy, including the possible creation of 92,000 new jobs, more than 17,000 new homes as well as driving an additional 1.8 million visitors annually.

Lord Norman Foster, Founder and Executive Chairman, Foster + Partners, said: “This has to be one of the most exciting projects in the world today, with incredible regional and national significance. 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. The outward-looking stadium would be the beating heart of a new sustainable district, which is completely walkable, served by public transport, and endowed by nature. It is a mixed-use miniature city of the future – driving a new wave of growth and creating a global destination that Mancunians can be proud of.”

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Co-owner of Manchester United, added: “Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadiums, at the centre of a regenerated Old Trafford. Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport. By building next to the existing site, we will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience only footsteps from our historic home. Just as important is the opportunity for a new stadium to be the catalyst for social and economic renewal of the Old Trafford area, creating jobs and investment not just during the construction phase but on a lasting basis when the stadium district is complete. The government has identified infrastructure investment as a strategic priority, particularly in the north of England, and we are proud to be supporting that mission with this project of national, as well as local, significance.”    

Picture: a CGI showing the new stadium with its translucent canopy. Image Credit: Foster + Partners

 

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 20 March 2025

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