Fans have a special connection to Old Trafford that goes far beyond the bricks and mortar. Photo: Alex Dodd/Getty Images
There is a speech at the end of the 1989 film Field of Dreams in which the character, writer Terence Mann, makes an impassioned argument. “This field, this game is part of our past. It reminds us of everything that was once good and can be again,” he says.
A film about baseball. But we can talk about any sport. Of course, we can talk about football. Of course, the most famous line from the film is, “If you build it, they will come,” when an Iowa farmer, played by Kevin Costner, hears voices and hatches a crazy plan to plow his crops and build a baseball diamond. diamond in the middle of nowhere.
This suggests that location and history don't matter. This legacy is irrelevant when in fact the storyline is the exact opposite. It's about how important it is. How—and, crucially, where—memories are formed and cherished, and so when Costner's character actually kidnaps the author to take him to a baseball game, they go not to a newly built stadium, but to Fenway Park—the historic home of the Boston Red Sox. . since 1912 and is still their home.
It is the oldest stadium in Major League Baseball, and there has been debate for decades about whether it should be torn down and rebuilt. “Boston Deserves Better Than Fenway Park,” was the headline of an article in Boston Magazine as recently as March, which said, “If we're going to love everything since 1912, why don't we also celebrate child labor?” , ice delivery and smallpox?
What does this have to do with Manchester United and Old Trafford? The answer: a lot.
Of course, there are compelling reasons to demolish the creaky, leaky, scandalously abandoned old stadium, as my colleague James Ducker so eloquently outlined. This accompanied an exclusive report in The Telegraph that the architects used by the Populous club were in favor of a complete demolition and construction of a new £2 billion stadium. Why not?
It's easier for a start, plus United own so much land around Old Trafford that they would actually be building next door rather than moving. It will be moving just a few meters to another part of the city.
Old Trafford was home to such Manchester United legends «like Nobby Stiles, George Best and Bobby Charlton. To Gary Neville, David Beckham and Roy Keane Photo: Gary M. Pryor/Getty Images
There's also the thorny issue for United if they try to rebuild while trying to play in front of a significantly reduced capacity instead of 76,000. fans. There is no obvious solution for them to use Wembley as Tottenham Hotspur did when they knocked down White Hart Lane and rebuilt it. Has anyone shared land with Manchester City?
The architects' approval is not surprising — after all, this is what they wanted. Building a new stadium from scratch provides much more opportunity for innovation and exciting design than trying to work with what you have. It will be a state-of-the-art, flagship, award-winning arena, somewhat similar to Tottenham's current arena (also from Populous).
It all makes sense. Absolute meaning. But football is not only about meaning. It's about the emotion, the feeling, the fandom and the richness of the experience — knowing you're sitting in the place where you first fell in love with your team. Or where your father, mother or grandfather first took you. You can look at the area of the field where that goal was scored; where this memory was made.
It was the scene of title wins, great comebacks, heartbreaks, great games, and it was called not the Field of Dreams, but the Theater of Dreams. United didn't play there for eight years, after the main stand was destroyed during the German bombing of the nearby Trafford Park industrial complex in 1941, but they always returned.
Once she left, she stayed. gone. He cannot be resurrected. Old Trafford, United's home ground since 1910, is not a museum. This should be a modern arena. But he has to integrate it with his story. Demolition should be a last resort, not a preferred option.
Tottenham, like Arsenal before them, had no choice, and neither did Everton. Fair. They had to move. But Real Madrid have carried out a stunning renovation of the Bernabeu, and Barcelona are renovating the Camp Nou, and the best example for United is certainly what Liverpool have done at Anfield. And oddly enough, their owners are Fenway Sports Group, which also owns the Red Sox.
A move looked like the most likely option for Liverpool. Instead, Anfield has undergone an impressive partial refurbishment, which has not been without its challenges and problems, but is reaping its rewards. And not least because they didn't have to move an inch without losing the uniqueness of the stadium.
This must be the solution United are committed to. It is under consideration — along with reconstruction and less major repairs (the worst solution) — and should remain the intention until it proves impossible. Football stadiums are not heritage sites, but they should be given that status in the sport and be given priority until there is no other choice. We are turning our backs on history too quickly.
Свежие комментарии