Despite being cognizant of occasional leaks in the Old Trafford roof, Manchester United was unable to rectify this issue. This problem came to light with the 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday when an unexpected water leakage was observed. While it is known that the stadium’s covering is faulty allowing rain to penetrate, the club vehemently refutes the notion that the major influx of water from the Stretford End’s southwest corner on Sunday was due to a roof leak. The club attributes this instead to the tremendous downpour that occupied the roof’s drainage system causing it to overflow.
Post the match that ended around 6.20pm, a tremendous 41mm rain was recorded in the following two hours. Incredibly, 25mm of this was observed in the primary thirty minutes. This is an exceptional increase of 29mm compared to the same period last year, coming close to the national average rainfall for May in the UK.
United has contemplated the idea of replacing the stadium’s roof, although the cost of such an endeavour — with substantial operational implications — is assumed to be in the millions. Ultimately, any decision taken will be directly tied to the stadium’s refurbishment plans, an ongoing process initiated over two years ago and which saw accelerated progress upon the March establishment of the taskforce considering all regeneration possibilities.
Notably, in 2019, spectators at Stretford End were subjected to a similar downpour before United’s 2-0 defeat against Manchester City. The same hindrance was experienced during the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace in September of the same year.