Close to 150 miles separate Manchester and Newcastle, but you would not have known it. Not when Sir Jim Ratcliffe took to the stage at an architects’ headquarters in the capital this week to discuss Manchester United’s plans to build a new 100,000-seater stadium.
“I think it will create enormous value for the North of England,” the Manchester United co-owner claimed.
Really? The proposals will, obviously, be welcomed in the North West as part of the wider regeneration of the Old Trafford area and the club have suggested the project could create 92,000 new jobs, lead to 17,000 homes being built, bring another 1.8 million visitors to the area annually and generate an additional £7.3bn per year to the UK economy. However, the North does not stop or, indeed, start in Manchester. Contrary to belief.
Will Newcastle United fans really ‘want to come and visit’ as Ratcliffe appeared to suggest of ‘everybody in the world who’s interested in football’? Will Geordies up to three hours away really stand to benefit if the stadium ends up hosting Champions League finals like Ratcliffe hopes? Will the prospect of seeing England play the odd game in Manchester rather than Wembley really be that life-changing, particularly given the comparable journey times by public transport?
Newcastle fans, after all, already have their own mecca on their doorstep. England have even played at St James’ Park more recently than Old Trafford and, unlike the Theatre of Dreams, the ground was chosen as a host stadium for Euro 2028, which will have a knock-on effect for the city. As ChronicleLive previously reported, UK Sport’s socio-economic modelling tool has estimated that being a host could be worth £98.7m.
The reach of the stadium is very much at the forefront of the minds of Newcastle’s hierarchy at the moment as the club weigh up whether to transform St James’ or to build a new ground not too far away. CEO Darren Eales even spoke last week about how ‘if we get it right, it is something that not only benefits the club but the wider region’.
Rather than looking on longingly at the so-called Wembley of the North, in Manchester, the Magpies want their own super stadium, which will ‘create enormous value’ for this region.
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