Club reveals initial findings of fan consultation on stadium

The Club has today released some initial information regarding the feedback from the stadium consultation, as well as confirming that a final decision on whether to build an entirely new stadium on redevelop the existing Old Trafford has been delayed until next summer.

The Club statement shows that a new build stadium has majority support amongst fans, with support stronger amongst season ticket holders than less regular match-goers. Whilst this is an important initial statistic, the Club has not published the full findings of the consultation. We have urged the club to clarify when the full survey findings will be published as it is only by looking at the full picture that can we understand what fans really feel, and what motivates that opinion.

In respect of the delay to a decision, we of course understand this is clearly a complex project and one of the most important decisions in the history of the Club. The stated timings aiming for a decision before Christmas always felt ambitious and so a delay into next year is not a huge surprise. As long as the new schedule is stuck to we would expect fans to be comfortable with that timeline.

One of the biggest questions remains how any development would be funded. As we all know, the Club is already laden with high levels of debt and so we believe the redevelopment ought to be principally funded by equity investment from the owners themselves and/or new investors, which could also include fans. The risk we all need to guard against is that they fund the stadium plans via a substantial leap in ticket prices, similar to what we saw in the early years of the Glazers ownership. We have also seen issues at some other Premier League clubs where stadium debt has stunted player investment for a decade (Arsenal) or been extremely unpopular with huge ticket price rises (Spurs). We believe this would be completely unacceptable, and will fight hard to stop this being the case.

Where fans could have a positive role in funding stadium works though is via a fans share scheme. As you will recall, we had a scheme largely agreed before the Ineos investment came in. Since then, the scheme has been under review by the new ownership, with a decision on a new stadium and how it will be funded needed before they can determine whether they are willing to proceed with the previous plans.

With the time now between now and the summer we urge the Club to do three things to ensure fans continue to have sufficient input into the decision:

  1. Publish the consultation findings in full
  2. Continue and enhance the existing fans consultation programme
  3. Include discussion of financing options in future consultation, including the potential role of a fans share scheme

As ever, MUST will continue to reflect fans’ views to the club. This is one of the most important decisions in the history of the club. We need to get this right.

Many thanks for your continued support

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