Lord Seb Coe provides Man United fans with Old Trafford update after task force proposal

Lord Seb Coe has announced that he chaired the first meeting of the Old Trafford regeneration task force on Monday, April 15.

The former British Olympian has joined Manchester United legend Gary Neville, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and others to oversee the redevelopment of Old Trafford. The Reds' stadium has been in desperate need of modification for several seasons, with new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe making it one of his key priorities when he joined the club last year.

In March, the task force was created, and it appears work has now begun to get the project up and running. Confirming the first meeting on X, Coe tweeted: "Yesterday, I chaired the first meeting of the Old Trafford Regeneration Task Force to kick off a conversation about how the development of a world-class football stadium for the north of England can deliver social and economic benefits for the region.

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"At the London 2012 Olympics, I saw first-hand how sport can be a powerful driver of urban regeneration and I am excited to be part of this project. This meeting marked the start of a multi-stakeholder process to explore options for the stadium and surrounding area.

"We are at the start of this journey, and it is too soon to know where it will lead. But we will consult closely with fans and local residents along the way, and keep everyone informed of progress."

Coe was one of the leading figures behind London's successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012 which was deemed to be a great success. Ratcliffe's desire is to build a new stadium in the vicinity of Old Trafford.

Explaining his vision in March, the INEOS founder said: "This can be a major regeneration project for an area of Greater Manchester which has played such a key role in British industrial history, but which today requires new investment to thrive again. The north-west of England has a greater concentration of major football clubs than anywhere else in the world, yet we don’t have a stadium on the scale of Wembley, the Nou Camp or the Bernabeu.

"We will not be able to change that on our own, which is why this task force is so important to help us seize this once-in-a-century opportunity."