Chair of the Old Trafford Regeneration Taskforce, Lord Sebastian Coe, has highlighted two obstacles that threaten to delay Manchester United’s plans to construct a brand new 100,000-seater stadium.

In March last year, United announced plans to build the biggest stadium in the UK.

The club confirmed that the stadium will form part of a wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area, which is predicted to be the biggest such project in the country since the transformation of the Stratford area that came about as a result of the 2012 Olympics in London.

It’s estimated that the project could create up to 92,000 new jobs, lead to the construction of 17,000 homes and bring an additional 1.8 million visitors to the area annually. The venture will be worth up to £7.3bn per year to the UK economy.

Last month, United stated that the construction of the new £2bn stadium will be privately funded. United insisted there have been positive discussions with several potential partners.

Lord Coe, who led London’s winning bid for the 2012 Olympics, spoke on The Sports Agents podcast and issued an update on the situation.

He insisted the project is moving in the right direction, but pointed to securing the land and scheduling limitations as two issues that could hinder progress.

Lord Coe said, “Look, I love regeneration projects, and I was really pleased to be asked to get involved in that. I do actually believe in good locally funded projects to make lives easier for local people.”

“And I also saw from the London model that if you build it around sport, the multiplier impact of getting other stuff done is far quicker than it would have been.”

He continued, “Land acquisition is always complicated. I know that from London. So, at this moment, it’s just putting the stuff together sequentially and incrementally and using a world class stadium to be a catalyst for so many other things, including inward investment.”

“So, it’s about jobs, it’s about housing, it’s about educational aspiration. And I’ve seen sport so often used properly, changing local landscapes, and this is an exciting project.”

On the timelines, he remarked, “Well, again, it’s slightly uncertain at the moment. The stadium is being scoped and being improperly scaled. But again, that is also dependent on the purchasing and the acquisition of various other parcels of land in that space.”

“That’s all taking place at the moment, and I won’t maintain a running commentary on that. But we’re moving in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, United return to action on Monday when they host Brentford.

online polls

The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social