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Across the forecourt also stands a trio of United greats, unveiled in 2007, which
shows Best, Law and Charlton facing Sir Matt standing over them. The Munich
clock which shows the time and date of the Munich Air Disaster along with the
Munich Plaque which shows the names of those who passed away due to events
in Munich. The new Millennium saw the introduction of a second tier added to the
Stretford End which is now the place where many United fans look for tickets as it
is here that the hard core fans who sing rain or shine are based. United are
renowned for shooting towards the “Stretty” and 9 times out of 10, you will
notice that they play towards the end in the second half of games. At the front of
the second tier, banners are hung by supporters group, stretfordend.co.uk. The
banners range from taunting nearest rivals, Manchester City with the well-
known “counter” which shows the amount of years that City have gone without
marking a major trophy with their name, to celebrating players that have won
over the hearts of United fans, with one such example the 20Legend
banner acknowledging Ole Gunnar Solskjaers time at Manchester United.
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Munich Plaque
Old Trafford played host to FA Cup semi-finals as Wembley was undergoing a
facelift along with hosting the 2003 Champions League final between Italian
giants, AC Milan and Juventus. (AC Milan won on penalties) The stadium is
the only stadia in England that has been given the UEFA 5 star rating, making it a
historic venue for England. England’s national team themselves played their home
games at the ground as Wembley was closed.
2005 saw the construction of the two quadrants in the North East/West corners
enlarging the capacity to a whopping 76,000+, and this is how Old Trafford
currently stands today for all to see.
What The Future May Hold
Many people are angling to see Old Trafford complete by adding two more
quadrants in the two remaining corners along with seeing the South stand
matched to the opposite North stand. This however would be the most expensive
expansion should the club decide to go through with it as to carry out the work,
the railway line would have to be built over and a large plot of land, currently
containing houses, be uprooted for the stand. If such a build was to go through,
the stadium would dwarf the country’s national stadium with a mega 96,000
capacity. Many believe that the club want to do this and have been considering it
for a while now, although up until now, the club have made no announcements.
Hopefully we’ll be looking at a 96,000 all-seater stadium in a few years to come.
