Manchester United’s Stretford End decision will bring back the noise

Manchester United’s famous Stretford End terrace was demolished in 1992, its last great evening was that same year’s League Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough when fans sang non-stop and helped their team reach Wembley.

Considering it was part of England’s biggest club stadium, the old Stretford End wasn’t particularly modern. There were 2,000 seats almost hidden at the back, the view was restricted by roof supports and, in the corner by the main stand (the 8,000-capacity Stretford Paddock), the terracing was wooden. The concourses were dingy, but it was still where the younger and more vocal fans gathered on matchdays.

In its place came an all-seater stand — and in the middle, behind the goal, was an 850-seat executive section. To watch the game from that vantage point went from being one of the cheapest tickets at Old Trafford to one of the most expensive. It costs around £3,000 ($3,700) per season to sit there now.

Fans were appalled that what was traditionally the vocal heartland of United’s support was now an executive area. The atmosphere in the world-famous ‘end’ died as a result.

In hindsight, United admitted that they got it wrong. When, years later, I put the point to Martin Edwards, the chairman of United when the stand was rebuilt, he said:

“The atmosphere did (suffer) a bit, yes. When you build a major stand, the only way you can make it pay for itself is by putting in executive facilities. And if there was any trouble then, it tended to come from the Stretford End. We also had to put new dressing rooms in the stand, and we wanted the family stand at that end. It was a combination of things.”

Imagine the outrage if a block of executive seats was placed in the middle of Liverpool’s Kop or Dortmund’s Yellow Wall. Behind the stand, where fans once queued for a pie and a pint, there was now a huge suite that catered for wealthier supporters instead — some of them United fans made good, who are every bit proper fans — but many who added nothing to the atmosphere.

Not surprisingly, the Stretford End atmosphere — once measured to be louder than a Boeing 747 plane at take-off — suffered as a result.

“After five years of shifting regular fans from one section to another,” wrote stadium expert Simon Inglis in his 1995 book The Football Grounds of Britain, “combined with an even stricter stewarding regime and an even louder and ever more intrusive public address system, the once-electric atmosphere of Old Trafford now only sparks into life fitfully… some visitors have dubbed the stadium ‘Cold Trafford’. If it is to remain a Theatre of Dreams (as Sir Bobby Charlton once called it), the fans must resume their central role, as part of that dream, not merely passive observers.”

A second tier was added to the stand in 2000, but the atmosphere was never the same as it had been before 1993. All of the vocal fans were too spread out around the stadium. Of course, fans were compensated by watching their team win 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League in that time, but the lack of atmosphere at Old Trafford remained a problem.

Times have changed, and now the idea of safe-standing areas returning to top-level football grounds is gaining momentum. Even Edwards changed his view in time.

“While I was long against a return to terracing, I’ve seen that the safe standing is working well at Celtic and would reconsider,” he said in 2017.

Much progress has been made since then. United have been at the forefront of pushing for safe standing and there are now two sections where fans can legally stand during matches. And although a chunk of the Stretford End was made a family stand in 1993, since 2019 it has been The Red Army section — now the most vocal part of Old Trafford, where around 4,000 like-minded fans help generate an atmosphere.

Now, from season 2024-25, the Stretford End executive section will be gone and in its place will be general admission seats. United have made the decision following consultation with the club’s fans.

Richard McGagh, the club’s head of fan engagement, said: “The Stretford End has been the backdrop to many of the most memorable moments in our history, and when it’s at its loudest you can feel the difference it makes to the players.”

“Fans and fan groups including MUST (Manchester United Supporters Trust) and TRA (The Red Army) have long campaigned for us to remove the executive seats from the heart of the Stretford End and to make them standard tickets, and therefore more accessible to all fans.

“We have listened and agree that as many fans as possible should have the chance to be a ‘Stretford Ender’. We have worked with our fans’ advisory board in recent months to make this happen and we are all looking forward to an even louder Stretford End from August 2024.”

It’s no surprise that some of the best moments this season have been in front of the Stretford End, from the two second-half goals against Manchester City in this month’s derby to the entire stand singing ‘Fred will tear you apart’ to Joy Division’s anthem after his goal in the 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in October.

Collette Roche, United’s chief operating officer, said: “Structural work will take place over the coming year to return the Stretford End to general admission seating and create a new concourse. We will be consulting fans to understand how best to repurpose the space used by the international suite.

“We very much value our executive club members who sit in the Stretford End and recognise the potential impact this change will have. The club is committed to working with those affected to find alternative seating where necessary before the 2024–’25 season.

“Plans for the long-term development of Old Trafford continue to progress, while we simultaneously take short-term steps such as this one to improve the matchday experience. We are grateful to our fans’ advisory board for their backing of this initiative, and believe it provides another positive example of the dialogue with fans.”

Most United fans will view the move positively. Ticket prices, which shot up in the 1990s and again in 2005, after the Glazer takeover, have remained virtually unchanged in a decade — another encouraging sign. It’s to the club’s credit that they have listened.

(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)