Manchester United withdraw Old Trafford as venue for Rugby World Cup

Manchester: Manchester United have caused huge problems for the 2015 Rugby World Cup by withdrawing Old Trafford as a venue for the tournament.

Organisers ER2015 were only told within the last fortnight about United’s concerns — doubtless shared by manager Sir Alex Ferguson — over staging up to three games. That was well after the original deadline for the listing of venues and schedules, which has been delayed until mid-April to complete negotiations for the Olympic Stadium.

Losing United’s 75,000-capacity stadium — an integral part of England’s World Cup plans since the successful bid in 2009 — meant ER2015 immediately opened talks with Manchester City for the Etihad Stadium, which wasn’t even on the long list of potential venues.

Negotiations are going well but City coming to the rescue for a desperately needed Manchester location will still mean a loss of nearly 30,000 seats per game compared to Old Trafford — a major setback given the need to sell 2.9 million tickets to meet the £80 million guarantee to the International Rugby Board.

United’s decision was made by the board with the backing of the groundstaff and no doubt the all-powerful Ferguson, who reportedly is not keen on any non-football use of the stadium. Last September ER2015 chairman Andy Cosslett denied that Ferguson had vetoed the prospect of rugby union.

The club have just signed a new contract for rugby league’s Grand Final to continue at Old Trafford. That commitment, added to football’s busy autumn schedule, including likely Champions League group games, led to the U-turn.

United, who are having to replace the Old Trafford pitch for the first time in 10 years this summer, also didn’t want to risk damaging a relatively new surface. The England v Argentina rugby union international held there in June 2009 caused problems for United’s groundstaff, but there is a belief at the club that rugby league matches, with their minimal scrum action, don’t churn up the pitch nearly as much.

The loss of Old Trafford also makes it even more imperative that the programme of construction work at the Olympic Stadium to prepare for West Ham’s arrival in 2016 allows World Cup rugby to take place there in 2015.