After the first round of the 1996/97 English Premier League concluded, Manchester City's away match against Newcastle United stirred a sensational response.
Okocha, especially, making his top-flight debut, delivered a performance brimming with vision and flair—scoring a subli free-kick and assisting Henrik Larsson's clinical finish.
People and dia alike focused unanimously on this ga as the headline story. While tabloids had a field day, major newspapers such as The Tis, The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian all featured prominent front-page articles about the match.
The Tis, headline: "Okocha Orchestrates as City Signal Intentions with Ruthless Debut Win"By Jonathan Northcroft
The Daily Telegraph, headline: "Jay-Jay's Dream Debut Powers City Past Newcastle"By Simon Bajkowski
The Guardian, headline: "City's New Era Begins in Style as Okocha Inspires Dominant Win"By Barney Ronay
Newcastle looked startled; City looked settled—already.
Richard was very pleased as he read all of this, all of which reflected positively on Manchester City's current performance. Only tabloids like The Sun—with their long history of downplaying City—tried to minimize the team's success, choosing instead to amplify coverage of other matches.
The perfect debut was behind them. Now, it was ti to get back to work—Maine Road awaited.
Early in the morning, right at 6 a.m., Richard was already in his office. In fact, he wasn't the only one— even the current CEO had arrived at the stadium, already busy handling matters related to the new stadium plans.
KNOCK~KNOCK~KNOCK
A firm knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, halting whatever he was about to do.
Richard glanced up from his desk.
"Co in," he called out.
The door creaked open slowly, and in stepped the club CEO, Miss Heysen, holding a stack of docunts that imdiately piqued his curiosity.
"Richard, the construction company just stopped by and submitted their design for approval for the new stadium. Please take a look at it."
Realization dawned on Richard.
After he withdrew from supporting the 2002 Commonwealth Gas—a move that nearly put him at odds with the Greater Manchester Council due to the funding being redirected to Wembley in London—he imdiately made a bold decision: to bid £1 billion for a plot of land to build a new stadium.
Arup Group, who were originally the design consultants, architects, and contractors for the Commonwealth Gas stadium, had no choice but to accept the bitter reality that Richard had cancelled their stadium developnt plan.
As everyone knew, building a stadium was a highly lucrative endeavor, and naturally, they were disappointed. However, no one expected Richard to suddenly co up with an even bolder—and frankly, crazier—idea.
Spending £1 billion on the land alone sent shockwaves through the construction industry, prompting companies across the country to scramble for a chance to secure the project.
There is a problem, though—every company needs to submit their stadium design, which will later be used as the blueprint for Manchester City's new stadium.
Naturally, the Arup Group beca the first to submit their design, as Richard still held deep respect for them—they were, after all, the ones who once shaped Maine Road. However, he couldn't help but frown.
Incorporated a cable-stayed roof structure, supported entirely by twelve exterior masts and cables... this— isn't this the Etihad Stadium before redevelopnt?
Not to ntion the location...
As he flipped through the plans—which included an aerial view and marked the locations of the training facilities along with other buildings—he sighed, shook his head, and finally asked his first question.
"Why is it still on a greenfield site?"
Greenfield—undeveloped land. While it allows developers to build from scratch with fewer spatial constraints, the downside is significant: roads, utilities, and transit systems may also need to be built from scratch, driving up costs. Not to ntion, planning permission can take longer due to environntal regulations and zoning laws.
"And also, isn't this stadium design the sa one originally proposed by the Lee Consortium Group?" Richard asked, narrowing his eyes at the blueprints.
In other words, this is the original design of the City of Manchester Stadium, the one built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Gas, before it was later developed into what is now known as the Etihad Stadium.
Miss Heysen nodded. "Yeah... to be honest, this design from Arup is just a redesigned version of what the Lee Consortium submitted earlier. Nothing major has changed—just so layout tweaks and updated material specs."
"That land was originally designated for the stadium," Miss Heysen explained, placing a finger on the map. "The entire project—including the land acquisition, infrastructure, and construction—is estimated to cost nearly £100 million. The design features a 48,000-seat football stadium."
Richard shook his head. This wasn't what he envisioned. The stadium had to be more than functional—it had to be iconic. A structure that would define the club's identity and stand as a symbol of its future.
He looked at the map and pointed to a spot that had been circled—Bradford Colliery, the site of a forr coal mine.
"Can we use this place here to build the new stadium instead of the greenfield site?"
The area Richard pointed to was a brownfield site—Bradford Colliery, a forr coal mine. Roads, utilities, and public transport were already in place, significantly reducing setup costs and construction ti.
In other words, redeveloping derelict and underused land would be far more efficient and ti-saving.
Since the land was already practically under their control—with the council having given the green light—there was no objection from Miss Heysen.
"I need to talk with the construction company about it," she said. "We'll have to deal with the cleanup of pollutants or hazardous materials first. It might cost more."
"So expenses can be cut," Richard replied firmly, "but so can't be skimped on."Since this involved the new stadium, he naturally wouldn't budge an inch.
With Arup submitting a recycled version of their old design—rely revamped slightly—Richard naturally crossed them off the list for the stadium project. They might still be considered for other developnts, but as far as the stadium was concerned, their role was over.
The designs submitted after Arup Group's were, to be honest, far from unique.
After skimming through one, two, three—up to nine blueprints—Richard's hand finally stopped on one.
The one submitted by GMP Architekten.
Though the design was still preliminary and different from the one prepared by the Arup Group, Richard could already see the uniqueness of this stadium.
The impressive renderings depicted a modern stadium with a capacity of 65,000 people.
"This one," Richard said imdiately, choosing the design and handing the blueprint to Miss Heysen.
When Miss Heysen saw which design Richard had picked, she was taken aback.
"This? Are you sure?" she asked.
Richard paused for a mont before nodding. "Ask GMP to redevelop the design in 2D so we can clearly see the exact form of the stadium."
After all, they weren't planning to construct the new stadium imdiately, as many things still needed to be considered first.
"Also, I almost forgot," Richard suddenly said before picking up a pen and starting to list everything that needed to be done alongside the stadium:
Training ground
Youth academy
dical and rehabilitation center
Player dormitories
Administrative offices
Fan zone or museum
Parking facilities
Public transport access
Comrcial spaces (cafes, rchandise stores, etc.)
dia and press facilities
Matchday logistics center
"So much?" Miss Heysen couldn't help but ask.
"Of course, it's better if we handle it all in one go," Richard said with a smile. "One construction group alone might not be able to manage the entire scope. We should consider involving additional firms to take on different aspects of the project."
The architect, structural engineer, general contractor, and main contractors. Every role is crucial—they can't afford to overlook any part of the process.
Talking with Miss Heysen made Richard quickly lose track of ti. Before he knew it, the clock struck 7:30, and he had just wrapped up the discussion with her.
"That's all for now regarding the new stadium. Thank you for your work. I need to head out to watch the training session."
Because for the first ti, Manchester City's High Performance team would be collaborating with the coaching staff to conduct a joint training session—and as the head of High Performance team, Richard naturally had to be there.
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