About Old Trafford
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310, it is the largest club football stadium in the United Kingdom, and the eleventh-largest in Europe. It is about 0.5 miles (800 m) from Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
Nicknamed "The Theatre of Dreams" by Bobby Charlton, Old Trafford has been United's home since 1910. The stadium was bombed during the Second World War, requiring the club to share Maine Road with rivals Manchester City for several years. Ideally, the stadium has expanded significantly in the 1990s and 2000s, adding tiers to the North, West, and East stands.
The stadium features the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand (North Stand) and the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand (South Stand). The Munich Tunnel commemorates the 1958 Munich air disaster. The Stretford End is the traditional home of the most vocal United supporters. A statue of the "United Trinity" (Best, Law, and Charlton) overlooks the forecourt.
The freehold of the ground is owned by Manchester United plc, a New York Stock Exchange-listed company under ticker MANU since flotation on 10 August 2012 at an issue price of 14 US dollars per share. The 11-hectare plot at Sir Matt Busby Way M16 0RA sits on land purchased in 1909 from local brewery Bass Ratcliff for a reported outlay of 60,000 pounds sterling of the day, with the original ground designed by Scottish architect Archibald Leitch (also of Anfield, Ibrox and Craven Cottage fame). A minority 27.7 per cent equity stake was acquired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS Sport on 24 December 2023 for approximately 1.03 billion pounds under a governance agreement that transferred day-to-day sporting operations control to INEOS while leaving matchday and commercial revenues under the Glazer family via the majority Cayman-registered holdco.