Tag Archives: old trafford

Thieves Like Us

Confession: up until a couple of years ago, I was broadly in favour of a new ground. I’m not particularly sentimental when it comes to buildings plus I don’t think I’m the only one who feels OT lost its soul when the Stretford End was demolished. So when the question of moving periodically came up I would blithely wave it away and claim I wasn’t really bothered. Admittedly, this could also have been influenced by the fact I didn’t think there was even the remotest chance of it ever happening. The club has been saddled with massive debts for 20 years+ so the prospect always seemed a non-starter.

Other clubs have borrowed heavily to finance new stadiums but United are already mortgaged up to their eyeballs just to try and remain competitive. That’s the net result of 2 decades of Glazer occupation during which time OT has barely changed. In an ideal world we’d have built over the railway line when plans for that were drawn up in the early noughties. They’ve shown no interest in infrastructure investment from the minute they took over. Instead it’s been the odd lick of paint here and there and several failed attempts at fixing the famously leaking roof. Scandalous really, but that’s where we’re at.

It’s now 18 months since there was any news on the proposed new stadium but last week Collette Roche was wheeled out to provide an update of sorts. Although she trilled enthusiastically about making a lot of progress over the last year, as usual there was little substantive detail provided. Apparently the land acquisition is progressing “really, really well” but there was nothing to suggest any movement on the reported deadlock with Freightliner. Given there’s a reputed £350M gap in valuations to overcome, don’t expect this one to be resolved quickly.

There’s still no indication of exactly who’s planning to pay for it either, although the club have now confirmed (as long suspected) that they’re seeking outside investment. The likely source of funding will be from US-based private equity giants, the likes of Blackstone Inc, Ares Management or Apollo Global. Another possibility would be the Carlyle Group, who were reported to be in talks with the Glazers when they were finalising plans to sell part of their stake in the club back in 2023.

Aside from coming clean about financing, there was literally nothing else to report. The rest of the interview saw Roche trotting out the usual platitudes about fan engagement, “we want to build this stadium with them, not for them”, which is quite frankly the biggest load of bollocks I’ve ever heard in my life. Not a single United fan I know wants this move and most people actively despise the idea. As has been clear from the start of this process, the club had a preordained idea what they wanted and any efforts to consult with fans on the subject are merely performative

At the first round of Town Hall Meetings at OT in 2024 we were told that this was just the first step and there would be plenty more opportunities to engage. In the subsequent 18 months there’s been a single survey sent out gauging reaction to various ticketing options (rest assured, this proposed debenture scheme will definitely happen)… and that’s it. Apparently there were some smaller focus groups held last year (including season ticket holders and members) but I’ve no idea how they were selected – I attended the first meeting and haven’t heard anything since.

Whilst I’m sure the club are determined to retain outright ownership of the new stadium, the fact the entire project is reliant on outside investment raises the distinct possibility that this might not be the case. Further debt financing is neither desirable nor affordable so I expect an entirely new structure could be the most likely outcome. MUFC would become a separate entity with a joint venture company or special purpose vehicle (SPV) forming to encompass everything related to the new stadium.

Although there’s no official confirmation that MUFC won’t be the primary owners, given that existing debts are at such a high level, it’s hard to see how they’ll secure funding without setting up a “stadium company” model. This kind of lease-back arrangement with shared ownership would be infinitely more attractive to any potential investor. It would result in MUFC technically paying rent to the stadium company who would then use that revenue to pay down the loans taken out that funded the building costs.

The optics around this are pretty terrible of course, but INEOS are well-versed in spin and they’ll be plenty of client journalists on-hand to pretend this is all very wholesome and above board. Call me a dinosaur if you like but I’m still fuming that we’re being led down this path to start with. I’m absolutely convinced that the club’s claim of 52% of ST Holders and members being in favour of moving was inaccurate. Whilst we’re on that subject, why were members consulted at all? I’m not interested in what Rory from Hemel Hempstead who goes once a season thinks

I strongly suspect the main driver behind all this, ultimately, is the desire for one final gargantuan payday prior to the Glazers selling up. By borrowing heavily to fund a new stadium they’ll essentially be repeating what they did in 2005 – using someone else’s money to buy something they can’t afford and saddling the club (or “stadium company” in this case) with another couple of billion pounds of debt. Once the project is greenlit, both the club and the surrounding land will appreciate in value and revenue projections will increase. At that point the share price will rise sharply and they’ll be free to ride off into the sunset.

Every club who moves starts off thinking their new home is brilliant before the initial excitement subsides and they start lamenting what they’ve lost. West Ham and Spurs went through it and Everton are currently in the process of realising life at the Hill-Dickinson isn’t all that. I’ve been to both the Met-Life and the SoFi in the USA and although visually impressive, they’re essentially gigantic, corporate megadomes. I’m calling it now, the novelty of selling off our history for chicken tenders, cup holders and £1500 season tickets will wear off in a matter of weeks.

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Is This It

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I’m reluctant to use the word ‘progress’ but there are signs afoot that we might finally be getting somewhere. 5 league games unbeaten isn’t exactly a milestone to be celebrated but putting all cynicism aside, it’s the first time it’s occurred since February 2024. When the team loses its innate ability to suffer a collective meltdown once a game I might truly start believing things are changing. Until that occurs and for the moment at least, it’s a step in the right direction

I’m becoming more and more convinced that a number of our problems are self-made. In a season where we’re only playing once a week, I’m not sure why Amorim persists with this habit of making defensive changes at around the 70 minute mark. If these were purely down to injuries like the recent Spurs game then fair enough – but half the time these occur for no discernible reason. Despite the recent improvement, the team remains very fragile and it doesn’t take much for things to quickly unravel. I’d be far more confident if the manager decided on his preferred back 3 and stuck with them wherever possible.

The single biggest change that’s affected our fortunes over the last month has to be the emergence of Senne Lammens. He deserves immense credit for stepping into the starting keeper’s berth with zero fuss and looks totally unfazed by his new surroundings. Bigger names than him have shrivelled in the spotlight when given the opportunity, so it’s very encouraging he’s made such an assured start to his United career. Given the fact he’s already proved he can handle Anfield on a Sunday afternoon, I’m fairly confident we might have fixed one of our biggest problems.

When I wrote last time I was genuinely concerned for Amorim’s future and doubted if he’d even reach November. The Chelsea and Liverpool results together with the current mini unbeaten run have probably bought him more time as well as regaining the support of a sizeable number of fans who were previously wavering. There weren’t many left in my circle with anything positive to say about him after the defeat at Brentford – a terrible performance that followed a similarly listless display at the Etihad where City barely had to get out of 2nd gear.

The Liverpool game was a huge result for both the team and the manager. It was a long time since we’d won there and they’ve given us a few maulings in recent years. They certainly don’t look the force they’ve been in recent seasons now the hangover from Klopp’s departure has finally kicked in 12 months later than anticipated. Nevertheless, we looked competitive and there was clear evidence of a plan in place. Cunha was absolutely terrific holding the ball up during the 2nd half – what a difference having a player like that as an outlet as opposed to the likes of Rashford or Garnacho.

The challenge now is to prove that this current run of form isn’t just a blip and to keep it going. Looking at the upcoming fixtures, this could be doable. Villa away and Newcastle at home over Christmas are the only moderately tough games we have until we face City mid-January. The rest look very winnable on paper, though these are precisely the type of routine games in which we’ve struggled over recent years. If we can string a few more wins together then a top 5 finish and European qualification should become an achievable goal – something that looked a distant prospect when the season began so poorly.

Whereas fortunes on the pitch might be improving, everything else about the club continues to disappoint. It’s now 12 months since the announcement of the stadium no sane person actually wants and the project’s progress is predictably slow. The latest survey was an absolute belter, containing the most rudimentarily stupid set of questions about ticket prices and seat locations. Q7. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £3000 situated in row 700?’ Errr… no. Q8. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £3000 situated next to the dugout?’ Again… no. Q9. ‘Would you be interested in buying a ST costing £500, 20 rows up behind the goal?’ Obviously… yes.

I’m not sure how they intend to extrapolate any meaningful data from this nonsense other than ‘the idiot proles desire sensibly-priced tickets close to the pitch’. It’s a completely pointless exercise in the guise of ‘fan engagement’ that’ll be used to justify a steep increase in ST prices when the move eventually does occur. It’s blindingly obvious now what happen – any tickets within a few feet of the pitch will cost an absolute fortune and if want a ST for less than a grand, brace yourself for several flights of stairs (possibly escalator rides provided they’re still within budget).

The 5 year timeline that Ratcliffe mentioned previously continues to look incredibly optimistic. Andy Burnham appeared on a podcast recently saying that the train line running adjacent to the ground will need to be moved and could end up “nearer Lou Macari’s chippy”. Completing an infrastructure project of that scale within the next 4 years would be some feat, never mind building a new stadium from scratch. Even if they managed to purchase the land required tomorrow I reckon you’re looking at another decade at least before we’re even close to leaving OT.

The ticket office remain fixated on doing their utmost to make life as difficult as possible for supporters. Anecdotally at least, success rates for away tickets have reached an all-time low – yet there’s no way of actually proving this following their decision to stop publishing details of application numbers and % splits across the different pots. Plenty I know in the standard pot have had nothing all season despite applying for every game – yet entirely coincidentally, instances of groups of a dozen tourists appearing in away ends appear to be on the rise.

Even if you are fortunate enough to receive a ticket, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to see the game. At Spurs recently, some tickets were being scanned red which meant the holder had to visit the TO and verify their identity with ID. There were other reports of people being stopped at the turnstile and made to close and re-open the app to check that they were the original recipient and holder. You might read this and think ‘what’s the problem?’, but it all amounts to a gross abuse of privilege and the club wildly overstepping the mark in terms of what’s actually legal.

As I’ve said previously, the claim that these measures are in place to combat touting is highly dubious as tickets for away games continue to be traded online for eye-watering sums. I’m more inclined to suggest it’s part of a campaign to target regular fans and dish out sanctions if any minor transgression of their ‘rules and regulations’ can be proven. A word of advice, if anyone purporting to be a club employee approaches you at the turnstile of an away ground and demands to see your phone, wander off and return 5 minutes later when their attention is elsewhere. Either that or just tell them to sling it.

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Not Like Us

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The long, frustrating slog of last season was forgotten in an instant. I’d anticipated a summer not thinking about United but instead I’ve spent weeks floating round in a contented daze, thoughts constantly cycling back to the unbridled joy that was triggered by the final whistle at Wembley. What an incredible tonic it was. Mad how something so insignificant to the majority of people can send thousands of us into a state of near delirium. It’s been a long time since we last experienced a day like that. Absolute perfection. Football, bloody hell.

The good vibes continued when it was eventually confirmed that ETH would be staying on as manager. I’m still to be convinced that he’s the right man for the job long term, but given the lack of credible alternatives and the manner of the cup win, sacking him would have been incredibly harsh. Against a backdrop of the takeover, disciplinary issues in the dressing room and a never ending injury crisis, delivering a trophy and European football was a fine achievement. Merely extending his current deal can hardly be interpreted as a vote of confidence, however – it’s more of a stay of execution.

It’s pretty grim that the manager’s future is being questioned before a ball has been kicked, but clearly the new regime isn’t messing about. Anything resembling a repeat of last season won’t be tolerated. And, quite frankly, nor should it be. Unless Ten Hag can deliver a marked improvement in both consistency and results, he’ll be lucky to last until the end of the season. United have to do better, and fresh changes to the coaching staff indicate there’s a clear pathway for someone (hello, Ruud) to step up and replace him as an interim the moment Ineos decree that enough is enough.

Nevertheless, all that is hopefully some distance off. The club were unusually proactive early in the window (another welcome change) although there’s still lots of work to do if we’re going to see anything resembling the squad overhaul that’s needed. At the moment we still look short considering Martial, Varane, Amrabat, Van de Beek, Greenwood and Kambwala have all left the club. We need at least 3 more in before the end of the window otherwise it’s difficult to see how Ten Hag has any hope of improving on last season’s position – especially given the additional Europa fixtures this year and the fact the number of injuries shows no sign of abating.

With Ten Hag citing fatigue as a factor at the end of another jaunt to the USA, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make a case for these fixtures being in anyway helpful to preparations ahead of a new season. For the umpteenth year in a row we’re set to begin the campaign missing players through injury and with others still at various stages of recovery from the Euros/Copa America. Flying 5,000 miles around the globe to play some meaningless friendlies might be commercially astute, but it seems detrimental to the squad’s conditioning if there are multiple casualties to contend with by the time the tour has concluded.

Obviously, such concerns didn’t stop me booking flights as soon as Los Angeles was announced. I’d never visited the West Coast before and this seemed like as good an opportunity as any. LA is absolutely massive and unlike when visiting NYC, the public transport links are bafflingly insubstantial. If you aren’t hiring a car then Uber is a must when travelling late at night if you don’t fancy taking your chances on the Metro, where you’re highly likely to encounter some of the city’s more eccentric inhabitants.

As for what it’s actually like, well it’s a culture shock. I stayed in Santa Monica on the coast and you quickly realise that whilst the streets feel very safe, there’s a not-insignificant homeless population – many of whom are in the throes of fentanyl addiction which makes their actions unpredictable to say the least. You just have to accept that amidst all the boutique shops, Michelin-starred restaurants and miles of golden beaches you’re highly likely to stumble across a sizeable number of people with their entire earthly possessions in a shopping trolley… and they might decide to stop and drop their kecks at any moment.

I got chatting to an Irish ex-pat who has been out there for 25 years and we were discussing the contrast to living over here. He said the year-round sunshine never got old and that his life consisted of regular, ‘pinch me’, LA moments. I think the most LA thing I experienced was whilst walking through Palisades Park on a Friday afternoon. You had a group of a dozen or so well-to-do women striking Yoga poses and there was a bloke with a massage table enthusiastically offering his services to anyone passing. Meanwhile, just a few feet away you had a couple of homeless guys arguing over the contents of a bin. It was quite a scene. Talk about opposite ends of the California lifestyle happily co-existing.

The United game was being played at the SoFi in Inglewood, an outrageously opulent $5.5 billion NFL stadium that opened its doors in 2020. It’s absolutely incredible, both the architecture and the facilities – little wonder it’s being cited as one of the inspirations behind the decision to build Old Trafford 2.0 as opposed to developing what we have now. Although it’s hugely impressive, I’ll still be disappointed if United commit to such a move in the coming months. Yes, it’s shiny and new and looks great on the photographs but ultimately it’s just a high-end, soulless Enormodome. I certainly wouldn’t want to play there every week.

I’m not just being contrary for the sake of it, but undertaking a project like that would be a disaster in my eyes. Any new stadium would arrive years late, hugely over budget and bearing no resemblance to the place we’ve considered home for decades. I know the YouTube lads are ecstatic at the prospect, but I’m more concerned with United remaining accessible to my friends and I as we hurtle through middle age. Make no bones about it, if we go down this road expect your ST renewal to come in at a couple of grand minimum. I don’t want a 200% increase in ticket prices for the sake of a padded seat and a cup holder. That isn’t scaremongering or shortsightedness, it’s simply the reality of what will happen.

Everything we’ve grown up with would quickly be eroded. Some will cling on because they can still just about afford it, but the bulk of our core support will be sacrificed in the name of progress. We’re going to be told a lot of lies in the coming months when the decision is inevitably greenlit, about how it’s necessary for the club to be competitive and sign the best players and all that nonsense… please don’t buy into it. One of the main drivers behind this is that it will accelerate a purging of our traditional fanbase so they can milk additional millions from an entirely different breed of MUFC supporter. Ineos might appear preferable the Glazers, but their motivation for being here is ultimately the same.

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