What AI thinks Sheffield United's stadium Bramall Lane will look like in the year 2050 | OneFootball

Bramall Lane is one of the most famous stadiums in English football

Sheffield United have called Bramall Lane home since September 1889, with the club's first-ever game at the famous old stadium coming in a 4-0 success over Birmingham St George's.

Since then, the famous old stadium which had stood for 34 years prior to the Blades being formed, has overseen plenty of historic, good and bad moments for the club, and has undergone plenty of renovations to fit with the times.

Situated right in the heart of the Steel City, the ground is also one of the biggest in the Championship and the EFL as a whole, with a current capacity of 32,072 only bettered by six second-tier clubs in the 2024/25 season, including cross-city rivals Sheffield Wednesday and upcoming play-off final opponents Sunderland, with the Stadium of Light able to house 48.707 at present.

The topic of moving stadiums or modernising historic grounds is extremely relevant at this moment in time, with Everton ending their 133-year association with Goodison Park, whilst Birmingham City are set to move to a 62,000-capacity stadium in the coming years at a cost of £2-3bn.

With all of this in mind, FLW has asked the AI chatbot, ChatGPT, what Bramall Lane could look like in a quarter of a century.

AI predicts Bramall Lane expansion and modernisation by the year 2050

It was previously revealed in 2018 that the club had plans to increase the capacity of the South Stand by a further 5,400 seats, which would take the capacity to approximately 38,000, as well as ambitions to improve the famous Kop stand, where a strong and passionate atmosphere is always generated on matchdays.

AI predicted that both of these plans would come to fruition, and that the exterior of Bramall Lane would also be altered to reflect the South Yorkshire city's heritage in the steel-making trade, as well as a change of natural light rather than relying on floodlights which are currently in place around the stadium.

As we are seeing across the country, it was also claimed that safe standing would be installed as well as an enhancement to hospitality areas and the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, which currently houses 155 bedrooms and can be found between the South Stand and Bramall Lane stand.

As a result, ChatGPT predicts a major rise in revenue streams into the club's coffers, which would be a major upgrade on loss, which was north of £7m, revealed in the latest accounts published by the United hierarchy.

Two stands being redeveloped, the filling in of corners between the Kop and South Stand and freshly designed concourse spaces would take the capacity to between 40,000 and 45,000 according to AI, although whether such visions will align with the real world depends on the journey the club embarks on in the next 25 years, which all starts at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.

Sheffield United supporters would love to have a bigger and more modern stadium than cross-city rivals

Of course, the unpredictable nature of football makes these predictions extremely exciting and somewhat humourous, although it would give Blades fans 'one-up' on their bitter rivals if such plans were to commence, as Hillsborough would be a smaller and outdated stadium by comparison.

Supporters up and down the country will argue that stadiums with character and tradition must be preserved as a monument to the heritage of the club, but these are facets which can be simultaneously linked with modernisation and a forward-thinking mentality which generates greater revenue and allows for clubs to compete with the elite for a sustained period of time, which is something the Blades failed to do in their previous Premier League campaign as they were relegated with a whimper.