The reporter reported coldly With clubs in debt and teams struggling in the bottom half of the Premier League, how can the ambitious Ratcliffe revive Manchester United? His answer was to build the largest stadium in England with a capacity of 100,000 people.

The new 'Theatre of Dreams', which will be completed in as little as five years, will be at the heart of INEOS Group's strategy to rejuvenate Manchester United – a great football club must have a great stadium as its foundation. Old Trafford has become a thing of the past for Manchester United's great history, and it is hoped that the great United will place their hopes on the new 'Theatre of Dreams'.

The new "Theatre of Dreams" is not only the first in the UK

Expanding the capacity of Manchester United's stadium and modernising it was a promise Ratcliffe made before he took the helm. But now the expansion has turned into a new build, and on March 11, Manchester United released two videos showing the new stadium project and a 13-page proposal, with a futuristic new 'Theatre of Dreams' that immediately shocked the world.

The British media called it "a milestone in the history of British sports", Manchester Mayor Burnham called it "the biggest opportunity for urban rejuvenation in the UK after the 2012 London Olympics", and the high-profile Ratcliffe even believes that the new "Theatre of Dreams" will become a world-class landmark comparable to the Eiffel Tower.

Lord Norman Foster, an old friend of Lord La and one of the most famous British architects of modern times, presided over the design of the new course. Built next to Old Trafford, the new stadium will be inspired by the main stadium of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, with three masts supporting an umbrella-like tent covering the roof of the stadium and surrounding areas, and will be the world's largest outdoor shelter.

The new "Dream Theater" canopy is one of the most innovative designs: the canopy is 417 meters long and 333 meters wide, with a total area of 104,000 square meters. In addition to covering the entire stadium, the area extending to the stadium is 61,000 square meters, and the east plaza outside the new stadium is 26,700 square meters, twice the size of New York's Times Square, and will also be sheltered by an umbrella. The canopy is made of water-repellent and heat-resistant synthetic materials, which are thin and almost noise-free. The large area is designed to accommodate the rainy weather in Manchester, where there are up to 136 days of rain a year.

There is an observation deck above the 200-meter-high main mast, and the auxiliary masts on both sides are 150 meters high. Initially, the three-mast only had the function of supporting tents and visual effects of landmarks visible from a distance, and it was only later that the concept of the 'trident', which represents Manchester United's culture, was introduced. The three-mast has a visual range of 37.4 kilometres, meaning it can be seen in Liverpool on a clear day.

The new "Dream Theater" is 51.3 meters high, 272 meters long and 238 meters wide, and the ground of the stadium is built 15.9 meters underground. The stadium is divided into three floors, with VIP seating and private rooms, which will account for 15.5% of the total capacity of the stadium. There's also a wrap-around scoreboard, a three-storey Manchester United Museum, a cinema and a hotel, and even a statue of David Beckham next to the cinema.

The 100,000-person capacity of the new stadium is more than 25,000 more than the old stadium, 10,000 more than the Wembley Stadium (90,000), the largest stadium in the United Kingdom (90,000), at least 50% more than the home stadium of other Premier League giants, and the capacity of the Stade de France in Paris, Luzhniki in Moscow, the Bernabeu in Madrid, and the national main stadiums in Istanbul, Berlin, Kiev, Milan and other places. In Europe, only the refurbished Camp Nou can match it, and together with the surrounding commercial development area, it is not an exaggeration to call it the first stadium complex in Europe.

Revival, starting with the Ferguson model

As we all know, before the Premier League received the dividends of globalization, Manchester United in the Ferguson era continued to expand the Old Trafford stadium to earn matchday revenues far more than their rivals, and in this way won the advantage of market investment and total team salaries. The capacity of the Theatre of Dreams has increased from 44,000 in 1992 to 55,000, 61,000 and 68,000 in 1996 and 4 expansions between 1996 and 2006 to 76,000 at present, while the home capacity of other Premier League giants is basically in the 40,000 range during the same period. However, this matchday advantage has been shrinking as other Premier League giants have built and expanded stadiums with larger capacity in recent years.

Back in 2009, Manchester United intended to increase the capacity to 90,000 people, but never started. The Theatre of Dreams has old facilities, leaky roofs, and matchday revenues that were originally proud of the Premier League and even the five major leagues have been surpassed by Real Madrid, Grand Paris, and Arsenal last season, especially the home capacity of Grand Paris is only 48,000, which is only 60% of Old Trafford. The old Theatre of Dreams was not even eligible to host the 2028 England-Scotland-Wales-Ireland European Championships, but the home stadium of Manchester City made the cut.

Even the Glazer family, which has always only "sucked blood", can't stand the current situation of the Dream Theater. In 2022, they developed their latest plan to expand and modernise the course, which was eventually taken over by Ratcliffe, who went one step further and turned the expansion into a new build.

Previously, Manchester United polled more than 50,000 people, with 52% of fans in favor of the new stadium, while only 31% supported the expansion of the old stadium. The expansion has more drawbacks, not only can the capacity only reach the upper limit of 87,000, but also bear the cost of continuous repair of the core part of the stadium. The newly built stadium not only has a capacity of 100,000 people, but also radiates to the surrounding area to form a new real estate and commercial community, which can obtain more income from the Bernabeu Stadium in Real Madrid. Regaining unrivalled matchday earnings is the ultimate shortcut to a revival of Manchester United.