During Manchester United’s recent game at home to Ipswich Town – a drama-filled encounter which United didn’t lose – I was sent a statistic: the last time United led at half time in a league game at Old Trafford and then lost that game was against Ipswich Town back in 1984.
And I remembered it well, since that game was my first at Old Trafford. Aged 10, I was invited to attend as part of a friend’s birthday party. My dad, a footballer, didn’t take me to the match since he played every Saturday. That was when Manchester United games were played on a Saturday, rather than on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as they have been mostly this season. Times have changed and so must football stadiums, but the idea of that pitch, which I first saw in 1984, moving doesn’t invoke happiness.
On that day, we went into the wooden Stretford Paddock terrace, a dark, corner segment between the main stand and the Stretford End. And there it was. Wow! A verdant green oasis amid the billowing smoky, grey industry of Trafford Park. I was mesmerised just staring at the pitch; it remains one of the greatest moments of my life. As kick off approached, the noise built, tens of thousands singing and swaying in harmony. It felt exciting, visceral. I ached to go again and it was the first of hundreds of visits.
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I’ve experienced so many great Old Trafford moments. The atmosphere was loudest on the terraces in the late 1980s and becoming all-seater in 1994 sucked so much life out of it. By then, the team were brilliant. Blackburn Rovers at home in 1993 was a day-long party to celebrate a first title in 26 years. Any win against Liverpool or Manchester City; Barcelona at home in ’94, ’98, ’08 and ’23: stunning games with noise to match.
It’s home, a special place, but it had failed to keep pace. Under the Glazers ownership investment stalled, steel girders peeled and rival stadiums closed the gap. In 2006, Old Trafford’s 76,000 capacity was 25,000 seats bigger than the next biggest stadium, at Newcastle United. By next year, six other Premier League clubs had more than 60,000 seats. Others are catching up off the pitch. On it, they’ve already gone past United.
The idea of a new Old Trafford divides opinions among fans. Some want to stay at the existing stadium, others want to move. Opinions are strong – 93 per cent of young supporters polled by United’s youth supporters group are against a new stadium. The club’s own surveys show a preference from fans for a new stadium.
I was long in the stay and redevelop/expand the existing Old Trafford camp, but I’ve been fortunate to see some of the superb new stadia where United have played their pre-season games in the United States and been impressed with the architecture, if not the price of tickets and refreshments.
Something had to be done and Tuesday’s designs for a new 100,000 capacity home were daring and vast. The biggest question has yet to be answered: how will it be paid for? But Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the leading decision maker at United despite being the minority shareholder, wants a new stadium to underpin a vast regeneration project in west Manchester, with new housing, which the city needs. The location is a privileged one, the transport links already established.
It’s vital that longstanding fans are not priced out of any new stadium, that fans are properly consulted about the atmosphere.
I feel conflicted. Sad that Old Trafford may no longer exist. Don’t listen to the naysayers, it’s a very good stadium, but it’s riddled with fault lines and it’s tired. Yet I’m excited about an idealised brighter future for United, a club currently mired under a cloud of despondency amid a poor season where the first team are 14th in the Premier League.
The design? It’ll take getting used to. It’s an assault on senses and sensibilities, but it’s bold and maybe brilliant. It doesn’t look like Manchester United, but what does? The current team doesn’t, the league table doesn’t. But it didn’t when I first went in 1984 either.
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
FIGHT INFO
Men’s 60kg Round 1:
Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1
Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
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%3Cp%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%201.9km%20King%20Salman%20Boulevard%2C%20a%20Parisian%20Champs-Elysees-inspired%20avenue%2C%20is%20scheduled%20for%20completion%20in%202028%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20Royal%20Diriyah%20Opera%20House%20is%20expected%20to%20be%20completed%20in%20four%20years%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20Diriyah%E2%80%99s%20first%20of%2042%20hotels%2C%20the%20Bab%20Samhan%20hotel%2C%20will%20open%20in%20the%20first%20quarter%20of%202024%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20On%20completion%20in%202030%2C%20the%20Diriyah%20project%20is%20forecast%20to%20accommodate%20more%20than%20100%2C000%20people%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20The%20%2463.2%20billion%20Diriyah%20project%20will%20contribute%20%247.2%20billion%20to%20the%20kingdom%E2%80%99s%20GDP%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20It%20will%20create%20more%20than%20178%2C000%20jobs%20and%20aims%20to%20attract%20more%20than%2050%20million%20visits%20a%20year%0D%3Cbr%3E-%20About%202%2C000%20people%20work%20for%20the%20Diriyah%20Company%2C%20with%20more%20than%2086%20per%20cent%20being%20Saudi%20citizens%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
