Sir Jim Ratcliffe is doing what Manchester United did in the 1990s with bold £2bn decision

The history of Old Trafford works as a modern metaphor for what is happening on the pitch below the historic stands and the fading paintwork. A stadium that once set the standard has stagnated and the rusting in the steel has spread to what is happening below, or vice versa.

For more than a decade this is a football club that has stood still. In the modern Premier League, standing still is the equivalent of going backwards, and going backwards pretty quickly. That is what has happened to Manchester United.

The best club stadium in the country isn't even the best stadium in the north west now. It might still be the biggest, but the Etihad and the redeveloped Anfield are more fan-friendly and more modern. Everton's new Bramley Moore stadium on the banks of the River Mersey will also eclipse Old Trafford.

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So it is on the pitch. City are now the dominant force in English football and Liverpool have gone past United in the previous decade. The absence of proper leadership at this football club has affected almost every area of the business.

That has occurred on the Glazers' watch and if they still had their hands on the tiller you can be sure the stagnation would be ongoing. They were never going to fund significant work at Old Trafford, the ambition and the intent just wasn't there. The same is true on the pitch. They have spent money half-heartedly and without care or attention.

But Sir Jim Ratcliffe has restored that feeling of renewal around the club and he immediately recognised that the state of the stadium was an issue, for supporters and