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Video: How Emirates Old Trafford beat the clock to ensure One Love Manchester success

Tragedy gave way to joy in Manchester earlier this summer when the One Love Manchester benefit concert took place just days after the horrific terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande gig in the city.

The Emirates Old Trafford hosted 50,000 fans and stars such as Grande, Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus and Coldplay on Sunday, June 4 – just 13 days after 22 people were killed by the bomber at Manchester Arena.

In the latest TheStadiumBusiness Insights video, Anthony Mundy, Operations Director at Emirates Old Trafford, told us how positivity, teamwork and sheer hard work helped overcome a lack of time to ensure the concert’s success.

“It was about everyone pulling together,” he said. “It was only the Tuesday that we were given the green light, so we had five full planning days before the concert.

“I remember the first meeting I sat in with multi-agency people, the police and everyone involved from around Manchester that needed to know what was going on. There were about 50 of us. Nobody knew what was happening, it was just after a Bank Holiday weekend, and the Michael Carrick testimonial game was also due to be taking place 250m away at the Old Trafford football ground on the same day. However, I didn’t hear any negative comments.

“Everyone knew we were in this together and it was just about how we were going to make it happen. It was Manchester as a community coming together. I saw it first hand.”

Mundy added: “Having a strong team at Emirates Old Trafford, we were able to make it happen. People did things that they didn’t know they were capable of.”

Emirates Old Trafford were also recently confirmed as the host venue for TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2018 on 12-13 June.

One Love Manchester

IMAGE: Wikimedia Commons