Man United's Old Trafford Expansion Would Force Club Into Temporary Home
Manchester United's hopes of expanding their Old Trafford stadium from a 76,000 to an 88,000 matchday capacity have been dealt a serious blow, after a member of the club's hierarchy has claimed they would have to find a temporary new stadium for the plans to go ahead.
In an interview with the South China Post, via the Sun, club director Richard Arnold expressed his concerns over the difficulty of expansion, stating: "We haven’t left the easiest stand until last. The Sir Bobby Charlton Stand is the last unexpanded stand. There’s not much space on either side of the stand meaning that it’s a very complex engineering challenge.
“It would be a multi-season challenge and it isn’t certain 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 and we don’t want to give up the home advantage we have here.”
United certainly have a tricky task on their hands, as expanding the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand isn't a task that could be completed during the summer break.
Given the iconic status of Old Trafford, building a new stadium appears to be out of the question - while a season-long stadium share with their local rivals Man City would likely be an incredibly unpopular move on both sides.
