Trafford’s Labour councillor Liz Patel has said that while the council welcome Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s plans to make Old Trafford “the Wembley of the North”, funding of the stadium’s redevelopment will not come through taxpayers’ money.
Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 28% stake in the club was confirmed recently, with the billionaire setting out a number of plans “to take Manchester United back to the top of English, European and world football, with world-class facilities for our fans.”
Central to Ratcliffe and INEOS’ goals for the Red Devils is the redevelopment of Old Trafford. The new ownership group have previously confirmed the intention to invest £300m to enable future investment in the club’s home stadium, but Ratcliffe has also admitted that he is seeking help from the government in order to fund a “national stadium in the North” project.
“It’s about time someone built a national stadium in the north of England. If it can be achieved [with taxpayers’ money], it would clearly be my preference,” Ratcliffe recently said.
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“There is quite a big argument, in my view, for regenerating that whole south side of Manchester. The nucleus of it would be building a new world-class state-of-the-art stadium which could take England games, the FA Cup final, Champions League finals. It could serve the north of England.”
Speaking to the BBC, Trafford’s Labour councillor Patel has agreed with the need for funding to redevelop the decrepit Trafford area and welcome Ratcliffe’s plans for the stadium: “To have a Wembley of the North would be wonderful. That is great ambition from Jim Ratcliffe and these [council] plans match that in terms of the setting and the future of the area.”
Although keen to back the plans however, Patel was also keen to insist that funding for the project would not come from taxpayers.
“We will seek investment into the Wharfside Development Framework,” Patel added. “How United get together the finances for their own stadium refurbishment would be separate.”
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