Manchester United Football Club legends Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt, have joined former teammates Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs as investors in the Hotel Football development under construction near the club's stadium in Manchester.
The five players, who together with David Beckham are often referred to as 'Fergie’s Fledglings', are the main backers behind the estimated £23m (US$38.7m, €28.3m) complex, which will also serve as the Old Trafford Supporters' Club (OTSC).
The project is the brainchild of GG Hospitality, the company set up by Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville, which in December opened the 120-seat themed restaurant Café Football in Westfield Stratford, east London.
The 8,000sq m (86,111sq ft) building – designed by AEW Architects – will incorporate a 133-bedroom hotel with public space for OTSC members and spectators, a new Café Football and a club shop. There will also be a rooftop 5-a-side pitch and the players joined forces earlier this month to test out the setting in a kick-about with the project’s construction workers (see video below).
The 11-storey Hotel Football is due for completion in Autumn 2014 and will be ran by general manager Stewart Davies, who has previously headed up Manchester venues the Mint Hotel and the Hilton Double Tree.
Like Café Football, Hotel Football is expected to be the first in what will become a world-wide brand.
