Man Utd to spend £11m on facilities this summer as Glazers look to appease fans

Manchester United are set to install new floodlights at both Old Trafford and their training ground, Carrington, as part of a £11m plan to improve their facilities this summer.

This is part of a grand plan to revamp Old Trafford having left it behind for too long, which has been one of the key criticisms of the Glazer family’s ownership of the club.

Amongst the other changes at the club, Old Trafford will now have 1,500 barrier seats as part of their safe standing initiative, while both home and away dressing rooms will be upgraded.

On the agenda is also new pitches for the men’s and women’s teams to train on and there will be a new, Covid-secure ticketing and digital access system along with disabled facilities.

The move comes at a time where fans’ discontent with the ownership is at a high.

The poor treatment of Old Trafford, rising debt of the club, lack of consultation with the fans, poor investment into the team and the European Super League fiasco has led to calls for change.

Last week, in a fans forum, Joel Glazer spoke to fan representatives – the Glazer family’s first official communication with fans since taking over the club in 2005.

Speaking about the facilities, Glazer said: “Old Trafford is at the heart of Manchester United and while we have spent over £100m over the last 10 years on infrastructure projects, we will now accelerate the process of planning much more significant investment and upgrades to the stadium.”

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He added: “Preliminary planning work is already under way [for infrastructure work at Carrington] and there will be significant funding available to further enhance our facilities and ensure they remain world class.”

It was last month that Casey Stoney, the manager of the women’s team since their rebirth in 2018, left with many suggesting it was due to the poor treatment of the women’s side and inadequate facilities in training.

That further enraged supporters and only added more weight to their protests – one of which got a Premier League match against Liverpool postponed.

To ensure better communication between owners and the fans, Glazer promised the creation of a Fan Advisory Board and Fan Share Scheme.

How far these investments go will be interesting to see because United risk being left behind when it comes to facilities as compared to their domestic and European rivals.

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