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United unveils new facilities as part of £20m upgrade

English Premier League football club Manchester United has upgraded the changing rooms and media facilities at its Old Trafford stadium as part of a wider £20m revamp.

The overhauled facilities were used for the first time during United’s opening game of the 2021-22 season against Leeds United last weekend, with the Reds running out 5-1 winners.

The revamp has seen the home changing rooms expanded and the away team’s changing room moved to a larger location on the other side of the Old Trafford tunnel.

In addition, post-match media facilities at the stadium have been upgraded.

The wider programme has also seen all stands at Old Trafford painted and cleaned, while new floodlights have been installed, along with specialist rail seating in one stand to allow for safe standing during games. The rail seating was tested out by fans last month ahead of the start of the new campaign.

New disability facilities are being added within the red and black concourse of the famous Stretford End at Old Trafford, while the pitch was re-laid before the start of the season.

Away from the stadium and extensive work on pitches and facilities is ongoing at the team’s Carrington training ground.

“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,” United’ co-chairman Joel Glazer said.

In June, Glazer pledged to “accelerate” upgrades to Old Trafford as part of what the club has described as “a new era of dialogue and consultation with fans”.

Image: Abhijit Tembhekar from Pune, INDIA/Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)/Edited for size