Liverpool has not been short of opportunities to laugh at Manchester United lately. And the latest has come along courtesy of the newly-unveiled plans to replace Old Trafford, which have much of the Premier League fanbase saying the same thing.
First and foremost, Liverpool will be more grateful than ever that FSG chose to keep Liverpool at Anfield, its historic home. There is certainly nothing historic about the renders for the new Old Trafford (New Trafford?), which resembles some kind of spacecraft that has crash-landed in Salford.
And that’s not the only comparison that has been drawn. With Arne Slot leading Liverpool into a 36-point lead in the Premier League table, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Man United’s designs for a new stadium bear a striking resemblance to a circus.
Admittedly, Jim Ratcliffe faced something of a dilemma, with plenty of modern stadia slammed for being too generic. Even so, you’d have thought someone in the design process might have flagged up the comparisons to a big top, at a time when the new part-owner and his cronies are already being called clowns by many inside and outside the Man United fanbase — maybe the people who would have caught it have been made redundant.
“A circus tent for a bunch of clowns,” wrote Anfield Watch on X. “How fitting.” And it was far from a unique observation. “Welcome to the biggest circus in the United Kingdom,” quipped EPL Bible.
Not to be outdone by Liverpool supporters, City Report joined in the fun as well. “Man City’s new away training ground, The Circus!” was how it chose to introduce the plans to its followers.
And even some Manchester United fans felt that the circus link was unfortunate. Mark Goldbridge slammed the mock-ups. “I think it works well,” he posted sarcastically. “Looks like a circus tent and we’re run like one.”
(Image: Manchester United)
But what about away from the circus comparisons? How are fans responding to the plans to abandon Old Trafford? For Man United’s part, it cites fan surveys that showed over half of supporters in favor of moving to an entirely new ground. It comes with a promise of a capacity in excess of 100,000.
But there is certainly a dissenting minority. One long-standing season ticket holder has suggested this could be the end of his association with Manchester United.
“That’s probably the end of the road for me,” one fan wrote on X. I won’t be renewing once we leave Old Trafford. And I don’t think I’m alone in saying that. Stadium is horrible.”
Not all reactions are so extreme, and plenty are in favor of Manchester United trying something different. But yet again, Liverpool finds itself able to just sit back and enjoy the circus.
