Manager has convinced club to turn a hospitality suite into a pre-match base, finally ending the need to meet up at a hotel three miles away
Manchester United have turned a premium hospitality suite at Old Trafford into a new pre-match base for Erik ten Hag’s first-team squad after the manager won a battle his predecessors Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal both lost.
Ten Hag had pushed for a dedicated space where the players could eat and prepare on match days after opting to scrap hotel meets before home games.
United bowed to Ten Hag’s wishes after the club’s previous hierarchy blocked similar requests from Mourinho and Van Gaal, and have spent the past year overhauling parts of the south stand at Old Trafford to accommodate the manager’s needs.
Old Trafford sources feel the move is another example of the football-first strategy Richard Arnold has been eager to impose since taking over as chief executive 18 months ago after repeated criticism in the past that on-pitch matters were often trumped by commercial considerations.
Van Gaal accused United of being a “commercial club” during his time as manager while Mourinho – who harboured similar misgivings – grew increasingly frustrated at the logistical and security issues involved in meeting at hotels before games.
Both managers petitioned for a pre-match base at Old Trafford that would prevent the squad from having to meet at the Lowry Hotel in Salford Quays before games.
Matchday rendezvous at the Lowry Hotel are finished for Manchester United players who will have a dedicated space at Old Trafford in future Credit: Martin Rickett/PA Wire
There was a period when United’s team bus encountered problems making the three-mile journey from the Lowry to Old Trafford in good time due to traffic. On one infamous occasion before a Champions League tie against Juventus in October 2018, Mourinho even got off the coach and walked to the ground in what also presented a security risk.
But it is only now, under Ten Hag, that efforts have been made to properly house the first team on match days and the manager is said to be excited by the changes.
The No 7 Suite was used by the team during Ten Hag’s first campaign last season but this was only ever a temporary space and had to be vacated for hospitality use 90 minutes before kick-off.
Now a new permanent lounge and diner space has been created for this season that provides what the manager feels will be a more controlled, comfortable and practical environment.
United have been overhauling the players’ nutrition strategies as part of wider fuelling studies and there is a belief that this process will be aided by the ability to provide all their own food on site.
The decision involved a big revenue trade-off given that premium hospitality space was being assigned to the first team.
United stood to lose millions from the changes, which presented considerable financial and logistical challenges for Arnold and chief operating officer Collette Roche. But they have found ways to claw money back in other areas by creating new hospitality spaces in previously unutilised areas of the east stand and quadrants.
United believe the changes were necessary as part of Ten Hag’s drive to raise standards and bring back success, but they also offer a reminder of the desperate need for extensive redevelopment of Old Trafford or a new stadium entirely.
Plans to redevelop Old Trafford and United’s Carrington training ground are effectively on hold while the club await the outcome of a strategic review announced eight months ago.
Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe are both promising considerable investment in Old Trafford and Carrington if they buy the club.
But the Glazers have yet to decide whether to sell the club, keep it or stay on in some capacity while seeking outside investment.
Whatever materialises, sources are clear that any major redevelopment of the stadium and training facilities cannot happen without significant capital investment.
