Old Trafford ( ) is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capability of 74,140 seats, [ 1 ] it is the largest club football stadium ( and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembley Stadium ) in the United Kingdom, and the eleventh-largest in Europe. [ 2 ] It is about 0.5 miles ( 800 meter ) from Old Trafford Cricket Ground and the adjacent tramway stop. Nicknamed “ The Theatre of Dreams ” by Bobby Charlton, [ 3 ] Old Trafford has been United ‘s home ground since 1910, although from 1941 to 1949 the club shared Maine Road with local anesthetic rivals Manchester City as a solution of Second World War bomb damage. Old Trafford undergo respective expansions in the 1990s and 2000s, including the addition of excess tiers to the North, West and East Stands, about returning the stadium to its original capacity of 80,000. future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second grade to the South Stand, which would raise the capacitance to around 88,000. The stadium ‘s phonograph record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town.
Reading: Old Trafford
Old Trafford has hosted an FA Cup Final, two concluding replays and was regularly used as a impersonal venue for the rival ‘s semi-finals. It has besides hosted England fixtures, matches at the 1966 World Cup, Euro 96 and the 2012 Summer Olympics, including women ‘s international football for the first fourth dimension in its history, and the 2003 Champions League Final. Outside football, it has been the venue for rugby league ‘s annual Super League Grand Final every class except 2020, and the final of Rugby League World Cups in 2000 and 2013 .
history
construction and early on years
Old Trafford ‘s East Stand in 2011, displaying a view of the stadium over the course of one hundred years Before 1902, Manchester United were known as Newton Heath, during which time they first played their football matches at North Road and then Bank Street in Clayton. however, both grounds were blighted by miserable conditions, the pitches ranging from annoy to marsh, while Bank Street suffered from clouds of fumes from its neighbouring factories. [ 4 ] Therefore, following the club ‘s rescue from near-bankruptcy and rename, the newfangled chair John Henry Davies decided in 1909 that the Bank Street grind was not fit for a team that had recently won the First Division and FA Cup, so he donated funds for the construction of a new stadium. [ 5 ] not one to spend money frivolously, Davies scouted around Manchester for an appropriate site, before settling on a patch of bring adjacent to the Bridgewater Canal, just off the north goal of the Warwick Road in Old Trafford. [ 6 ] Designed by scottish architect Archibald Leitch, who designed several other stadium, the prime was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators and featured seat in the south stand under cover, while the remaining three stands were left as terraces and exposed. [ 7 ] Including the purchase of the farming, the construction of the stadium was originally to have cost £60,000 all tell. however, as costs began to rise, to reach the intended capacity would have cost an extra £30,000 over the original estimate and, at the suggestion of club repository J. J. Bentley, the capacitance was reduced to approximately 80,000. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Nevertheless, at a clock when transfer fees were inactive around the £1,000 mark, the monetary value of construction alone served to reinforce the club ‘s “ Moneybags United ” epithet, with which they had been tarred since Davies had taken over as chair. [ 10 ] In May 1908, Archibald Leitch wrote to the Cheshire Lines Committee ( CLC ) – who had a rail storehouse adjacent to the proposed web site for the football grind – in an try to persuade them to subsidise construction of the grandstand alongside the railway line. The subsidy would have come to the summarize of £10,000, to be paid back at the rate of £2,000 per annum for five years or half of the gate receipts for the grandstand each class until the lend was repaid. however, despite guarantees for the loan coming from the golf club itself and two local breweries, both chaired by cabaret chair John Henry Davies, the Cheshire Lines Committee turned the proposal down. [ 11 ] The CLC had planned to build a newly place adjacent to the raw stadium, with the predict of an anticipate £2,750 per annum in fares offsetting the £9,800 price of building the place. The station – Trafford Park – was finally built, but foster down the line than originally planned. [ 6 ] The CLC later constructed a modest station with one timber-built platform immediately adjacent to the stadium and this opened on 21 August 1935. It was initially named United Football Ground, [ 12 ] but was renamed Old Trafford Football Ground in early 1936. It was served on match days only by a shuttlecock service of steam trains from Manchester Central railroad track station. [ 13 ] It is presently known as Manchester United Football Ground. [ 14 ] construction was carried out by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester [ 15 ] and development was completed in recently 1909. The stadium hosted its inauguration game on 19 February 1910, with United playing host to Liverpool. however, the home side were ineffective to provide their fans with a acquire to mark the juncture, as Liverpool won 4–3. A diarist at the game reported the stadium as “ the most big [ sic ], the most roomy and the most remarkable stadium I have ever seen. As a football reason it is unrivalled in the global, it is an honor to Manchester and the dwelling of a team who can do wonders when they are so discard ”. [ 16 ] Before the construction of Wembley Stadium in 1923, the FA Cup Final was hosted by a number of different grounds around England including Old Trafford. [ 17 ] The beginning of these was the 1911 FA Cup Final replay between Bradford City and Newcastle United, after the original connect at Crystal Palace finished as a no-score draw after extra meter. Bradford won 1–0, the finish scored by Jimmy Speirs, in a catch watched by 58,000 people. [ 18 ] The ground ‘s second gear FA Cup Final was the 1915 concluding between Sheffield United and Chelsea. Sheffield United won the match 3–0 in front of closely 50,000 spectators, most of whom were in the military, leading to the final being nicknamed “ the Khaki Cup Final ”. [ 19 ] On 27 December 1920, Old Trafford played host to its largest pre-Second World War attendance for a United league match, as 70,504 spectators watched the Red Devils lose 3–1 to Aston Villa. [ 20 ] The background hosted its first international football match belated that decade, when England lost 1–0 to Scotland in front of 49,429 spectators on 17 April 1926. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] Unusually, the record attendance at Old Trafford is not for a Manchester United home game. alternatively, on 25 March 1939, 76,962 people watched an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town. [ 23 ]
Wartime fail
The central burrow at Old Trafford ( left ) is the merely surviving separate of the master 1910 stadium after the stadium ‘s bombard in World War II. The recess burrow ( right ) is now used by players on matchday. In 1936, as part of a £35,000 renovation, an 80-yard-long roof was added to the United Road stand ( now the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand ) for the first gear time, [ 24 ] while roofs were added to the confederacy corners in 1938. [ 25 ] Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Old Trafford was requisitioned by the military to be used as a storehouse. [ 26 ] Football continued to be played at the stadium, but a german bombard foray into on Trafford Park on 22 December 1940 damaged the stadium to the extent that a Christmas day fixture against Stockport County had to be switched to Stockport ‘s ground. [ 26 ] football resumed at Old Trafford on 8 March 1941, but another german raid on 11 March 1941 destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand ( now the South Stand ), forcing the club ‘s operations to move to Cornbrook Cold Storage, owned by United chair James W. Gibson. [ 26 ] After imperativeness from Gibson, the War Damage Commission granted Manchester United £4,800 to remove the debris and £17,478 to rebuild the stands. [ 24 ] During the reconstruction of the stadium, Manchester United played their “ home ” games at Maine Road, the home of their crosstown rivals, Manchester City, at a price of £5,000 a year plus a percentage of the gate receipts. [ 27 ] The club was now £15,000 in debt, not helped by the rental of Maine Road, and the Labour MP for Stoke, Ellis Smith, petitioned the Government to increase the clubhouse ‘s compensation package, but it was in conceited. [ 24 ] Though Old Trafford was reopened, albeit without cover, in 1949, it meant that a league game had not been played at the stadium for closely 10 years. [ 28 ] United ‘s first crippled back at Old Trafford was played on 24 August 1949, as 41,748 spectators witnessed a 3–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. [ 29 ]
completion of the headmaster plan
A roof was restored to the Main Stand by 1951 and, soon after, the three remaining stands were covered, the process culminating with the addition of a ceiling to the Stretford End ( now the West Stand ) in 1959. [ 25 ] The club besides invested £40,000 in the initiation of proper floodlight, so that they would be able to use the stadium for the european games that were played in the late evening of weekdays, alternatively of having to play at Maine Road. In order to avoid obtrusive shadows being cast on the pitch, two sections of the Main Stand roof were cut away. [ 24 ] The first gear equal to be played under floodlights at Old Trafford was a first base Division match between Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers on 25 March 1957. [ 15 ] however, although the spectators would now be able to see the players at night, they silent suffered from the problem of obstruct views caused by the pillars that supported the ceiling. With the 1966 FIFA World Cup debauched approach, at which the stadium would host three group matches, this prompted the United directors to wholly redesign the United Road ( north ) point of view. The old roof pillars were replaced in 1965 with modern-style cantilevering on top of the roof, allowing every spectator a completely unobstructed horizon, [ 25 ] while it was besides expanded to hold 20,000 spectators ( 10,000 seated and 10,000 standing in movement ) at a monetary value of £350,000. [ 30 ] The architects of the new point of view, Mather and Nutter ( now Atherden Fuller ), [ 15 ] rearranged the organization of the stand to have terracing at the front, a larger seat area towards the back, and the beginning private boxes at a british football ground. The east stand – the only remaining uncover bandstand – was developed in the lapp manner in 1973. [ 31 ] With the first gear two stands converted to cantilevers, the club ‘s owners devised a long-run plan to do the same to the other two stands and convert the stadium into a bowl-like stadium. [ 32 ] such an contract would serve to increase the air within the crunch by containing the crowd ‘s noise and focusing it onto the pitch, where the players would feel the full effects of a capacitance crowd. [ 33 ] interim, the stadium hosted its third FA Cup Final, hosting 62,078 spectators for the play back of the 1970 final between Chelsea and Leeds United ; Chelsea won the match 2–1. The establish besides hosted the second branch of the 1968 Intercontinental Cup, which saw Estudiantes de La Plata win the cup after a 1–1 draw. [ 34 ] The 1970s saw the dramatic rise of football vandalism in Britain, [ 35 ] and a knife-throwing incident in 1971 forced the club to erect the country ‘s first perimeter wall, restricting fans from the Old Trafford slope. [ 30 ]
conversion to all-seater
The Stretford End before its renovation in the early 1990s With every subsequent improvement made to the background since the Second World War, the capacity steadily declined. By the 1980s, the capability had dropped from the original 80,000 to approximately 60,000. The capacity dropped still further in 1990, when the Taylor Report recommended, and the politics demanded that all First and Second Division stadium be converted to all-seaters. This mean that £3–5 million plans to replace the Stretford end with a mark modern bandstand with an all-standing terrace at the front and a cantilever roof to link with the perch of the ground had to be drastically altered. [ 15 ] This wedge renovation, including the removal of the terraces at the battlefront of the other three stands, not merely increased the cost to around £10 million, but besides reduced the capacity of Old Trafford to an all-time humble of around 44,000. [ 36 ] In addition, the club was told in 1992 that they would lone receive £1.4 million of a potential £2 million from the Football Trust to be put towards work related to the Taylor Report. [ 37 ]
outside Old Trafford, 1992 The club ‘s revival in achiever and increase in popularity in the early 1990s ensured that far exploitation would have to occur. In 1995, the 30-year-old North Stand was demolished and work cursorily began on a fresh stand, [ 38 ] to be cook in time for Old Trafford to host three group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final at Euro 96. The club purchased the Trafford Park trade estate, a 20-acre ( 81,000 m2 ) locate on the other web site of United Road, for £9.2 million in March 1995. construction began in June 1995 and was completed by May 1996, with the first two of the three phases of the resist opening during the season. Designed by Atherden Fuller, with Hilstone Laurie as plan and construction managers and Campbell Reith Hill as structural engineers, the new three-tiered stand cost a entire of £18.65 million to build and had a capacity of about 25,500, raising the capacitance of the entire ground to more than 55,000. The cantilever roof would besides be the largest in Europe, measuring 58.5 thousand ( 192 foot ) from the back wall to the presence border. [ 39 ] Further success over the following few years guaranteed however more development. First, a second tier was added to the East Stand. Opened in January 2000, the stadium ‘s capability was temporarily increased to about 61,000 until the first step of the West Stand ‘s second gear tier, which added yet another 7,000 seats, bringing the capacity to 68,217. It was now not only the biggest club stadium in England but the biggest in all of the United Kingdom. [ 40 ] Old Trafford hosted its first major european concluding three years subsequently, playing host to the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final between Milan and Juventus. [ 41 ]
The redevelop East Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2000–01 season. From 2001 to 2007, following the demolition of the old Wembley Stadium, the England national football team was forced to play its games elsewhere. During that meter, the team toured the country, playing their matches at respective grounds from Villa Park in Birmingham to St James ‘ Park in Newcastle. From 2003 to 2007, Old Trafford hosted 12 of England ‘s 23 home matches, more than any other stadium. The latest international to be held at Old Trafford was England ‘s 1–0 passing to Spain on 7 February 2007. [ 42 ] The catch was played in front of a crowd of 58,207. [ 43 ]
2006 expansion
Peter Oldfield-Edwards ‘ plate model of Old Trafford on display in the club museum in March 2010 Old Trafford ‘s most holocene expansion, which took place between July 2005 and May 2006, saw an addition of around 8,000 seats with the addition of second tiers to both the northwest and northeast quadrants of the ground. [ 32 ] Part of the new seat was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a fresh Premier League criminal record. [ 44 ] The record continued to be pushed upwards before reaching its current flower on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw United tick Blackburn Rovers 4–1, meaning that fair 114 seats ( 0.15 % of the total capacity of 76,212 ) were left unoccupied. [ 45 ] In 2009, a reorganization of the seating in the stadium resulted in a reduction of the capacity by 255 to 75,957, meaning that the club ‘s home plate attendance record would stand at least until the adjacent expansion. [ 46 ] [ 47 ]
Old Trafford during a match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Old Trafford celebrated its hundredth anniversary on 19 February 2010. In recognition of the occasion, Manchester United ‘s official web site ran a feature of speech in which a memorable moment from the stadium ‘s history was highlighted on each of the 100 days leading up to the anniversary. [ 48 ] From these 100 moments, the top 10 were chosen by a panel including baseball club statistician Cliff Butler, journalist David Meek, and former players Pat Crerand and Wilf McGuinness. [ 49 ] At Old Trafford itself, an art competition was run for pupils from three local schools to create their own depictions of the stadium in the past, portray and future. [ 50 ] Winning paintings were put on permanent display on the multitude of the Old Trafford kin rack, and the winners were presented with awards by artist Harold Riley on 22 February. [ 51 ] An exhibition about the stadium at the club museum was opened by former goalkeeper Jack Crompton and chief executive David Gill on 19 February. [ 51 ] The exhibition highlighted the history of the stadium and features memorabilia from its past, including a broadcast from the inauguration match and a 1:220 scale exemplar hand-built by model artist Peter Oldfield-Edwards. [ 52 ] Finally, at Manchester United ‘s home match against Fulham on 14 March, fans at the game received a replica imitate of the program from the first Old Trafford match, and half-time see relatives of the players who took part in the foremost bet on – equally well as those of the golf club president John Henry Davies and stadium architect Archibald Leitch – taking part in the burying of a time space capsule of Manchester United memorabilia near the center tunnel. [ 53 ] only relatives of winger Billy Meredith, wing-half Dick Duckworth and club repository Ernest Mangnall could not be found. [ 54 ]
Old Trafford was used as a venue for several matches in the football contest at the 2012 Summer Olympics. [ 55 ] The stadium hosted five group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final in the men ‘s tournament, and one group game and a semi-final in the women ‘s tournament, [ 56 ] the first women ‘s international matches to be played there. [ 57 ] Since 2006, Old Trafford has besides been used as the venue for Soccer Aid, a biennial charity equal initially organised by singer Robbie Williams and actor Jonathan Wilkes ; however, in 2008, the couple was played at Wembley Stadium. [ 58 ] On 27 March 2021, Old Trafford hosted its inaugural game of the Manchester United women ‘s team, with West Ham United as the opposition in the Women ‘s Super League. [ 59 ]
structure and facilities
A plan of the layout of Old Trafford. The shaded area indicates the section designated for away fans. The Old Trafford pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, formally known as the Sir Alex Ferguson ( North ), East, Sir Bobby Charlton ( South ) and West Stands. Each stand has at least two tiers, [ 60 ] with the exception of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, which entirely has one tier ascribable to construction restrictions. The lower tier of each stand is split into Lower and Upper sections, the Lower sections having been converted from terracing in the early 1990s .
Sir Alex Ferguson Stand
The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand ( North Stand ) seen from the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand ( South Stand ) The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, once known as the United Road stand and the North Stand, runs over the acme of United Road. The stand is three tiers tall, and can hold about 26,000 spectators, the most of the four stands. It can besides accommodate a few fans in executive boxes and cordial reception suites. [ 61 ] It opened in its current express in 1996, having previously been a single-tiered stand. As the anchor ‘s chief stand, it houses many of the land ‘s more popular facilities, including the Red Café ( a Manchester United subject restaurant/bar ) and the Manchester United museum and trophy room. originally opened in 1986 as the foremost of its kind in the world, [ 62 ] the Manchester United museum was in the southeast corner of the flat coat until it moved to the redevelop North Stand in 1998. The museum was opened by Pelé on 11 April 1998, since when numbers of visitors have jumped from 192,000 in 1998 to more than 300,000 visitors in 2009. [ 63 ] [ 64 ]
A statue of Sir Alex Ferguson was installed at Old Trafford on 23 November 2012. The North Stand was renamed as the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand on 5 November 2011, in award of Alex Ferguson ‘s 25 years as director of the golf club. [ 65 ] A 9-foot ( 2.7 megabyte ) statue of Ferguson, sculpted by Philip Jackson, was erected outside the stand on 23 November 2012 in recognition of his status as Manchester United ‘s longest-serving coach. [ 66 ]
Sir Bobby Charlton Stand
The Sir Bobby Charlton Stand ( South Stand ) seen from the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand ( North Stand ) Opposite the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand is the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, once Old Trafford ‘s main stand and previously known as the South Stand. Although merely a single-tiered base, the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand contains most of the grind ‘s executive suites, [ 67 ] and besides plays host to any VIPs who may come to watch the equal. Members of the media are seated in the middle of the Upper South Stand to give them the best opinion of the match. The television gantry is besides in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, so the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand is the one that gets shown on television least frequently. [ 25 ] Television studios are located at either end of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, with the club ‘s in-house television receiver station, MUTV, in the East studio and early television stations, such as the BBC and Sky, in the West studio. The dugout canoe is in the center of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, raised above lurch grade to give the director and his coaches an promote view of the crippled. Each team ‘s bunker flanks the previous players ‘ tunnel, which was used until 1993. The old tunnel is the only remaining function of the original 1910 stadium, having survived the fail that destroyed much of the stadium during the second World War. [ 68 ] On 6 February 2008, the burrow was renamed the Munich Tunnel, as a memorial for the fiftieth anniversary of the 1958 Munich air disaster. [ 69 ] The current burrow is in the South-West recess of the land, and doubles as an entrance for the emergency services. If bombastic vehicles require access, then the seating above the tunnel can be raised by up to 25 feet ( 7.6 thousand ). [ 70 ] The tunnel leads up to the players ‘ dress room, via the television interview area, and the players ‘ loiter. Both the home and away dressing rooms were re-furbished for the 2018–19 season, and the corridor leading to the two was widened and separated to keep the opposing teams apart. [ 71 ] On 3 April 2016, the South Stand was renamed the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand before kick-off of the Premier League home match against Everton, in respect of erstwhile Manchester United player Sir Bobby Charlton, who made his Manchester United introduction 60 years earlier. [ 72 ] [ 73 ]
West Stand
The West Stand, with its mosaic of seats displaying the stand ‘s colloquial list possibly the best-known stand at Old Trafford is the West Stand, besides known as the Stretford End. traditionally, the point of view is where the hard-core United fans are located, and besides the ones who make the most noise. [ 74 ] in the first place designed to hold 20,000 fans, the Stretford End was the last stand to be covered and besides the final stay all-terraced rack at the flat coat before the coerce upgrade to seating in the early 1990s. The reconstruction of the Stretford End, which took place during the 1992–93 season, was carried out by Alfred McAlpine. [ 75 ] When the second tier was added to the Stretford conclusion in 2000, many fans from the old “ K Stand ” moved there, and decided to hang banners and flags from the barrier at the presence of the tier. so ingrain in Manchester United culture is the Stretford End, that Denis Law was given the dub “ King of the Stretford goal ”, and there is now a statue of Law on the concourse of the bandstand ‘s upper tier. [ 76 ]
East Stand
A brass at Old Trafford honouring the victims of the Munich air calamity
The East Stand as seen from the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand ( North Stand ) The East Stand at Old Trafford was the second to be converted to a cantilever roof, following the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. It is besides normally referred to as the Scoreboard End, as it was the placement of the scoreboard. The East Stand can presently hold about 12,000 fans, [ 32 ] and is the location of both the disabled fans incision and the away part ; an experiment involving the move of aside fans to the one-third grade of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand was conducted during the 2011–12 season, but the results of the experiments could not be ascertained in time to make the move permanent wave for the 2012–13 season. [ 77 ] The disabled section provides for up to 170 fans, with free seats for carers. Old Trafford was once divided into sections, with each department consecutive assigned a letter of the alphabet. Although every incision had a letter, it is the K Stand that is the most normally referred to today. The K Stand fans were renowned for their song support for the club, and a big array of chants and songs, though many of them have relocated to the second grade of the Stretford End. [ 78 ]
Manchester United ‘s megastore is located on the East Stand of Old Trafford The East Stand has a tint glass façade, behind which the club ‘s administrative center is located. These offices are the dwelling to the staff of Inside United, the official Manchester United magazine, the club ‘s official web site, and its other administrative departments. Images and advertisements are frequently emblazoned on the front of the East Stand, most often advertising products and services provided by the club ‘s sponsors, though a protection to the Busby Babes was displayed in February 2008 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Munich air out disaster. Above the megastore is a statue of Sir Matt Busby, who was Manchester United ‘s longest-serving director until he was surpassed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010. There is besides a brass dedicated to the victims of the Munich air catastrophe on the south end of the East Stand, while the Munich Clock is at the articulation of the East and South Stands. [ 15 ] On 29 May 2008, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Manchester United ‘s first european Cup title, a statue of the cabaret ‘s “ holy place three “ of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, entitled “ The United Trinity ”, was unveiled across Sir Matt Busby Way from the East Stand, immediately opposite the statue of Busby. [ 79 ] [ 80 ]
The Manchester United cabaret patronize has had six different locations since it was first opened. originally, the shop was a humble hovel near to the railroad track lineage that runs alongside the background. The shop was then moved along the distance of the South Stand, stopping inaugural antonym where aside fans enter the land, and then residing in the build that would late become the club ‘s trade office. A surge in the club ‘s popularity in the early 1990s led to another move, this time to the forecourt of the West Stand. With this move came a great expansion and the conversion from a little shop class to a “ megastore ”. Alex Ferguson opened the new megastore on 3 December 1994. [ 81 ] The most holocene moves came in the late 1990s, as the West Stand required room to expand to a second base grade, and that meant the destruction of the megastore. The store was moved to a temp web site opposite the East Stand, before taking up a 17,000 hearty feet ( 1,600 m2 ) permanent wave residence in the reason shock of the expanded East Stand in 2000. [ 82 ] The deck space of the megastore was owned by United ‘s kit sponsors, Nike, who operated the shop until the termination of their sponsorship deal at the end of July 2015, when ownership reverted to the cabaret. [ 83 ]
pitch and surroundings
The lurch at the ground measures approximately 105 metres ( 115 yd ) long by 68 metres ( 74 yd ) wide, [ 1 ] with a few metres of run-off space on each side. The center of the deliver is about nine inches higher than the edges, allowing surface water to run off more well. As at many advanced grounds, 10 inches ( 25 curium ) under the gear is an underground heat organization, composed of 23 miles ( 37 kilometer ) of formative pipes. [ 84 ] Former club coach Alex Ferguson much requested that the cant be relaid, [ 85 ] most notably half-way through the 1998–99 temper, when the team won the soprano, at a price of about £250,000 each time. The pot at Old Trafford is watered regularly, though less on wet days, and mowed three times a week between April and November, and once a week from November to March. [ 84 ]
The Hublot clock loom in Old Trafford ‘s car park E1 In the mid-1980s, when Manchester United Football Club owned the Manchester Giants, Manchester ‘s basketball franchise, there were plans to build a 9,000-seater indoor arena on the locate of what is now Car Park E1. however, the chair at the time, Martin Edwards, did not have the funds to take on such a stick out, and the basketball franchise was finally sold. [ 86 ] In August 2009, the car ballpark became home to the Hublot clock tugboat, a 10-metre ( 32 foot 10 in ) -tall column in the shape of the Hublot logo, which houses four 2-metre ( 6 foot 7 in ) -diameter clock faces, the largest ever made by the company. [ 87 ] The east side of the stadium is besides the site of Hotel Football, a football-themed hotel and fan clubhouse conceived by erstwhile Manchester United master Gary Neville. The building is located on the east side of Sir Matt Busby Way and on the antonym 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 individually from the club and was funded in separate by proceeds from Neville ‘s testimony match. [ 88 ]
future
In 2009, it was reported that United continued to harbour plans to increase the capacity of the stadium farther, with the next stage pointing to a renovation 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 get up to an estimated 95,000, which would give it a greater capacity than Wembley Stadium ( 90,000 ). [ 89 ] Any such development is probable to cost around £100 million, due to the proximity of the railroad track line that runs adjacent to the stadium, and the corresponding motivation to build over it and thus purchase improving to 50 houses on the other side of the railroad track. [ 32 ] Nevertheless, the Manchester United group property coach confirmed that expansion plans are in the grapevine – 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 hush ”. [ 90 ] In March 2016 ( ten years after the previous renovation ), talk of the renovation of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand reappear. In order to meet handiness standards at the stadium, an £11 million investment was made into upgrading its facilities, creating 118 new wheelchair positions and 158 new agreeableness seats in assorted areas around the stadium, vitamin a well as a modern purpose-built concourse at the back of the Stretford End. [ 91 ] Increasing capacity for disabled supporters is estimated to reduce overall capacity by around 3,000. To mitigate the reduction in capacity, versatile expansion plans have been considered, such as adding a second tier to the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, bringing it to a exchangeable stature to the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand face-to-face but without a third base level and increasing capacity to around 80,000. replication of the corner stands on the other side of the stadium would further increase its capacity to 88,000 and increase the number of executive facilities. Housing on Railway Road and the railroad track cable itself have previously impeded improvements to the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, but the destruction of housing and engineering advances mean that the extra grade could now be built at reduce cost. [ 92 ] In 2018, it was reported that plans are presently on hold due to logistic issues. The extent of the shape required means that any renovation is probable to be a multi-season project, due to the need to locate heavy machinery in areas of the stadium presently inaccessible or occupied by fans during catch days and the fact that the stall presently holds the switch rooms, press boxes and television receiver studios. Club managing director Richard Arnold has said that “ it is n’t sealed that there ‘s a way of doing it which does n’t render us homeless. ” This would mean that Manchester United would have to leave Old Trafford for the duration of the works – and while Tottenham Hotspur were able to use the neutral Wembley Stadium for two seasons while their own new stadium was built, the merely stadium of comparable size anywhere near Old Trafford are local rivals Manchester City ‘s City of Manchester Stadium, or possibly Anfield, base of historic rivals Liverpool, neither of which are considered viable. [ 93 ] In 2021 United co-chairman Joel Glazer said at a Fans Forum meet that “ early-stage plan work ” for the renovation of Old Trafford and the club ‘s Carrington train footing was afoot. This followed ‘increasing criticism ‘ over the miss of exploitation of the prime since 2006. [ 94 ]
early uses
Rugby league
Old Trafford has played host to both codes of rugby football, although league is played there with greater regularity than union. Old Trafford has hosted every Rugby League Premiership Final since the 1986–87 season, [ 95 ] in addition to the contest ‘s successor, the Super League Grand Final from 1998. [ 96 ] The first rugby league match to be played at Old Trafford was held during the 1924–25 temper, when a Lancashire representative side hosted the New Zealand national team, with Manchester United receiving 20 per penny of the gate receipts. [ 21 ] The first league match to be held at Old Trafford came in November 1958, with Salford playing against Leeds under floodlights in battlefront of 8,000 spectators. [ 97 ] The inaugural rugby league Test match played at Old Trafford came in 1986, when Australia beat Great Britain 38–16 in battlefront of 50,583 spectators in the first test of the 1986 Kangaroo go. [ 98 ] [ 99 ] The 1989 World Club Challenge was played at Old Trafford on 4 October 1989, with 30,768 spectators watching Widnes beat the Canberra Raiders 30–18. [ 100 ] Old Trafford besides hosted the moment Great Britain vs Australia Ashes tests on both the 1990 and 1994 Kangaroo Tours. The stadium besides hosted the semi-final between England and Wales at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup ; England won 25–10 in front of 30,042 fans. The concluding rugby league international played at Old Trafford in the 1990s saw Great Britain record their only win over Australia at the ground in 1997 in the second trial of the Super League Test series in movement of 40,324 fans. When the Rugby League World Cup was hosted by Great Britain, Ireland and France in 2000, Old Trafford was chosen as the venue for the concluding ; the match was contested by Australia and New Zealand, and resulted in a 40–12 win for Australia, watched by 44,329 spectators. [ 101 ] Old Trafford was besides chosen to host the 2013 Rugby League World Cup Final. [ 102 ] The game, played on 30 November, was won by Australia 34–2 over defending champions New Zealand, and attracted a crowd of 74,468, a world record for a rugby league international. [ 103 ] During the game, Australia winger Brett Morris suffered a clayey crash into the ad boards at the Stretford End, emphasising questions raised pre-match over the guard of Old Trafford as a rugby league venue, in finical the short in-goal areas and the gradient around the circumference. [ 104 ] In January 2019, Old Trafford was selected to host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup Final, with the men ‘s and women ‘s matches being played as a in a doubling header. [ 105 ] due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was the first year in which Old Trafford did not host the Super League Grand Final due to concerns about having to possibly reschedule the catch, which Manchester United were ineffective to accommodate. [ 106 ]
Rugby coupling
Old Trafford hosted its beginning rugby marriage international in 1997, when New Zealand defeated England 25–8. A second match was played at Old Trafford on 6 June 2009, [ 107 ] when England beat Argentina 37–15. [ 108 ] The stadium was one of 12 confirm venues set to host matches of the 2015 Rugby World Cup ; however, in April 2013 United pulled out of the abridge over concerns about pitch choice and not wanting to compromise their relationship with the 13-man code. [ 109 ]
other sports
Before the Old Trafford football stadium was built, the web site was used for games of shinty, the traditional game of the scottish Highlands. [ 110 ] During the First World War, the stadium was used by american soldiers for games of baseball. [ 97 ] 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 early regional winners at Stamford Bridge the following day. [ 111 ] In October 1993, a WBC – WBO Super-Middleweight union battle was held at the grind, with around 42,000 people paying to watch WBO ace Chris Eubank fight WBC champion Nigel Benn. [ 112 ] [ 113 ]
Concerts and early functions
away from sporting uses, several concerts have been played at Old Trafford, with such big names as Bon Jovi, Genesis, Bruce Springsteen, Status Quo, Rod Stewart [ 114 ] and Simply Red play. An version of Songs of Praise was recorded there in September 1994. [ 97 ] Old Trafford is besides regularly used for private functions, peculiarly weddings, Christmas parties and business conferences. [ 115 ] The first wedding at the grind was held in the Premier Suite in February 1996. [ 98 ]
Records
A graph of Manchester United ‘s average attendances over the time period from 1949 to 2009 The highest attendance recorded at Old Trafford was 76,962 for an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town on 25 March 1939. [ 23 ] however, this was before the flat coat was converted to an all-seater stadium, allowing many more people to fit into the stadium. Old Trafford ‘s read attendance as an all-seater stadium presently stands at 76,098, set at a Premier League game between Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers on 31 March 2007. [ 23 ] Old Trafford ‘s record attendance for a non-competitive plot is 74,731, set on 5 August 2011 for a pre-season testimony between Manchester United and New York Cosmos. [ 116 ] The lowest recorded attendance at a competitive game at Old Trafford in the post-War earned run average was 11,968, as United beat Fulham 3–0 on 29 April 1950. [ 117 ] however, on 7 May 1921, the reason hosted a moment Division match between Stockport County and Leicester City for which the official attendance was just 13. This number is slightly deceptive as the ground besides contained many of the 10,000 spectators who had stayed behind after watching the couple between Manchester United and Derby County earlier that day. [ 118 ] The highest average attendance at Old Trafford over a league season was 75,826, set in the 2006–07 season. [ 119 ] The greatest entire attendance at Old Trafford came two seasons later, as 2,197,429 people watch Manchester United win the Premier League for the third base year in a row, the League Cup, and reach the final of the UEFA Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup. [ 120 ] The lowest average attendance at Old Trafford came in the 1930–31 season, when an average of 11,685 spectators watched each game. [ 121 ]
ecstasy
adjacent to the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand of the stadium is Manchester United Football Ground railroad track station. The station is between the Deansgate and Trafford Park stations on the Southern Route of Northern Rail ‘s Liverpool to Manchester line, and is lone overt on matchdays. [ 122 ] The grind is besides serviced by the Altricham, Eccles, South Manchester and Trafford Park lines of the Manchester Metrolink network, with the nearest stops being Wharfside, Old Trafford ( which it shares with the Old Trafford Cricket Ground ) and Exchange Quay at nearby Salford Quays. All three stops are less than 10 minutes walk from the football prime. [ 123 ] Buses 255 and 256, which are run by Stagecoach Manchester and 263, which is run by Arriva North West footrace from Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester to Chester Road, stopping near Sir Matt Busby Way, while Stagecoach ‘s 250 servicing arrest outside Old Trafford on Wharfside Way and X50 service stops across from Old Trafford on Water ‘s Reach. [ 124 ] There are besides extra match buses on the 255 military service, which run between Old Trafford and Manchester city center. [ 125 ] other services that serve Old Trafford are Arriva ‘s 79 avail ( Stretford – Swinton ), which stops on Chester Road and 245 ( Altrincham – Exchange Quay ), which stops on Trafford Wharf Road, plus First Greater Manchester serve 53 ( Cheetham – Pendleton ) and Stagecoach ‘s 84 service ( Withington Hospital – Manchester ), which stop at nearby Trafford Bar tram catch. [ 124 ] The earth besides has several car parks, all within walking distance of the stadium ; these are unblock to park in on non-matchdays. [ 126 ]
References
Bibliography
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- Brandon, Derek (1978). A–Z of Manchester Football: 100 Years of Rivalry. London: Boondoggle.
- Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Patrick Stephens. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
- Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd ed.). London: CollinsWillow. ISBN 0-00-218426-5.
- James, Gary (2008). Manchester – A Football History. Halifax: James Ward. ISBN 978-0-9558127-0-5.
- McCartney, Iain (1996). Old Trafford – Theatre of Dreams. Harefield: Yore Publications. ISBN 1-874427-96-8.
- Mitten, Andy (2007). The Man Utd MiscellanyISBN 978-1-905326-27-3.
- Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. ISBN 0-7528-7603-1.
- Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack (2008). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008–2009. Sky Sports Football Yearbooks. London: Headline Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-7553-1820-9.
- White, John (2007). The United Miscellany. London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-745-1.
- White, John D. T. (2008). The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st ed.). London: Orion Books. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7.
Notes
Coordinates :
- Old Trafford at ManUtd.com
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