<P> The east side of the stadium is also the site of Hotel Football, a football - themed hotel and fan clubhouse conceived by former Manchester United captain Gary Neville . The building is located on the east side of Sir Matt Busby Way and on the opposite side of the Bridgewater Canal from the stadium, and can accommodate up to 1,500 supporters . It opened in the summer of 2015 . The venture is conducted separately from the club and was funded in part by proceeds from Neville's testimonial match . </P> <P> In 2009, it was reported that United continued to harbour plans to increase the capacity of the stadium further, with the next stage pointing to a redevelopment of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, which, unlike the rest of the stadium, remains single tier . A replication of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand development and North - East and North - West Quadrants would see the stadium's capacity rise to an estimated 95,000, which would give it a greater capacity than Wembley Stadium (90,000). Any such development is likely to cost around £ 100 million, due to the proximity of the railway line that runs adjacent to the stadium, and the corresponding need to build over it and thus purchase up to 50 houses on the other side of the railway . Nevertheless, the Manchester United group property manager confirmed that expansion plans are in the pipeline--linked to profits made from the club's property holdings around Manchester--saying "There is a strategic plan for the stadium...It is not our intention to stand still". One criticism of the plans, however, is that increasing the height of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand would further reduce the amount of light coming onto the pitch, which has caused problems in similarly large stadia--such as Wembley Stadium, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the San Siro; according to Alex Ferguson, the developments on the other stands have already caused problems . It was also suggested that, should such an expansion take place, Old Trafford could be used instead of Wembley for big matches such as England internationals--in order to increase the ability of fans in the north of the country to watch England play; and FA Cup semi-finals--to maintain the prestige of the national stadium for the final . </P> <P> In March 2016 (ten years after the previous redevelopment), talk of the redevelopment of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand re-emerged . The stadium's provision for disabled fans is below standards required by regulations . Increasing capacity for disabled supporters is estimated to reduced overall capacity by 2,300 . Five different solutions have been considered for the summer of 2017 . One option is to increase the capacity up to 80,000 by adding a second tier to the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, bringing it to a similar height to the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand opposite but without a third level . Replication of the corner stands on the other side of the stadium would further increase the stadium's capacity to 88,000 and increase the number of executive facilities . Housing on Railway Road and the railway line itself have previously impeded improvements to this stand but the demolition of housing and engineering advances mean that the additional tier could now be built at reduced cost . </P> <P> Old Trafford has also been used for purposes other than football . Before the Old Trafford football stadium was built, the site was used for games of shinty, the traditional game of the Scottish Highlands . During the First World War, the stadium was used by American soldiers for games of baseball . On 17 September 1981, the North Section of cricket's Lambert & Butler Floodlit Competition was played there; in the semi-finals, Nottinghamshire defeated Derbyshire and Lancashire beat Yorkshire, before Lancashire beat Nottinghamshire by 8 runs in the final to reach the national final, played between the other regional winners at Stamford Bridge the next day . </P>

Man utd first ever game at old trafford