OLD TRAFFORD
Old Trafford, Manchester is one of the most impressive football stadia worldwide
and is home to Manchester United. There’s been a long arduous history over
Old Trafford and here, we are going to look at the beginning of a new stadium,
the destruction which followed, the rebuild and of course what stands proud
today on Sir Matt Busby Way…
The Beginning
As Newton Heath, United played at both North Road and Bank Street but as
developments took place around the club, so did a stadium change. The name
was changed to what we all know them by today, Manchester United and a plot
of land was bought for what at the time was a very expensive £60,000, and it
was here that the home of the club would be constructed. In 1909, the build was
complete and the end product was a stadium, terraced on 3 sides with a main
stand, seated and under cover, which was the South stand and still to this day,
remains the main stand. Designed by Archibald Leitch, a man also responsible for
works at Ibrox, Hampden Park and White Hart Lane, had put forward plans for
the stadium to be capable of holding a capacity of 100,000 although due to
expenses the capacity had to be cut back to 60,000 which could stretch to 80,000
if need be. It was in this stadium where the highest ever recorded attendance
atOld Trafford was taken and it came in a meeting between Wolverhampton
Wanderers and Grimsby Town in an FA Cup semi-final, meaning that Manchester
United don’t officially hold the highest attendance for within their own
homeground. Wolves and Grimsby attracted a total of 76,962 spectators in March
1939 while the biggest number recorded at a United game is just short at 76,098
against Blackburn Rovers in March 2007. 1934 saw the replacement of the roofing
over the South stand along with the adding of cover to the two South corners
and partial covering of the North stand. The stadium was progressing well and
more key developments were on the horizon but unfortunately…
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Old, terraced Stretford End
The Destruction
…in March 1941, the stadium which had so much time and effort put into, was
ruined during the Second World War as German planes, who were dropping
bombs on Manchester, intending to hit the dock lands close to Old Trafford but
ended up hitting a special part of Manchester. The stadium was in complete
ruins almost most notably the main South stand which took the brunt of the
damage. The tunnel however stood tall and proud which amazed everybody
involved. United were given money to clear up the mess and rebuild the
stadium but because the area was under construction, it meant that
Manchester United wouldn’t be able to play a game in their real home for alomst
10 years. During this time, the club was relocated to cross-town rivals Manchester
City at Maine Road. As work went on at Old Trafford, they constructed the
stadium almost to the exact details of the previous stadium.
The Rebuild
Shortly after, in the 1950’s, roofing was added to Stretford End, and in the ‘60’s
modern cantilever roofing was added to the North stand and the East stand. This
was a huge development in the construction history of Manchester United and
was the fuel need to propel further developments to the home of Manchester
United. At the time, plans were afoot to have every stand in Old Trafford set to
cantilever style roofing, as roof-posts which were constructed to keep the roof
standing obstructed fans views of the game. Some grounds nowadays still have
this style of roofing, some due to financial limitations or planning permission whilst
others prefer the old style English look. United were in full support of the new
idea by then club owners, the Edwards. Before this took place, the Stretford End
was a half seated, half terraced stand but due to the Hillsborough disaster, it was
stated the top clubs in England had to have all-seated stadiums. This wasn’t of
much concern to the United backroom as they already had plans to do away with
it but at the time, fans were disappointed by the news as the Stretford End, the
most famous United stand would cease to allow standing. The Stretford once had
its noise recorded to that louder then a jumbo jet taking off. The last ever game
to be played in front of the team was a match against Tottenham Hotspur in
which United emerged victorious on a 3-1 score line. The terrace was demolished.
The Stretford End was the final stand in Old Trafford to have its makeover of
cantilever roofing and in 1994, Old Trafford became the first ever stadium to have
a stadium with all stands erected to cantilever styling. However, due to the
removal of standing in the Stretford End, United suffered a huge decrease in
crowd attendances as the capacity fell from around 58,000, to 44,000, and this
size was simply not big enough to cater for the thousands of loyal supporters.
United were to break another record when they announced that they would be
renovating the already biggest North Stand into a mega, 3 tiered stand holding
up to 28,000 spectators to view the team in red and this was to be the biggest
style of stand in Europe and still is today. It has proved to be £19M well spent on
the United side. The stand is now a feature of English football and also houses
the stadiums historic museum where one can learn about the United history
which has built up since the beginning of the club.
The Present Day Old Trafford
After going through so many ordeals a magnificent stadium stands tall on Sir Matt
Busby Way. The main stand, the South stand, is the smallest stand in the
stadium all due to the fact that a rail line runs directly behind it and housing just
behind that. Astronomical figures were reported recently on the figure United
would have to dish out in order to build over the rail line and build on the land
behind that. The current stand holds the TV cameras and the official Manchester
United TV station, MUTV studios. The old tunnel is also located here in between
the two managerial areas but since 1993, the club now use a tunnel in the corner
of the South and West stands and the teams emerge from here. The old tunnel,
recently renamed the Munich tunnel remains and is a stopping point on the official
club tour. The stand is also the lowest in the stadium, set at a smaller angle
meaning it stretches further back. An interesting fact of Old Trafford is that all the
way around the ground, the seats in the first four rows are in fact below the
street level around the stadium.
In further developments, the club decided that even further expansion was in
need to keep up with the growing demand on one of the worlds biggest football
teams. What this entailed was that an extra tier was to be added to the East
stand also known as the well known K-Stand where hard-core United fans
congregate although some have moved to the opposite Stretford End which was
the other stand which was in line for a makeover with a second tier. The East
stand had its second tier opened for operation in January of 2000 which boosted
the stadium capacity to just over 61,000. The East stand is a very iconic stand at
Old Trafford and it is here where the clubs Megastore where unimaginable
turnover is made every single day as people of all ages from all over the world
purchase goods from the latest jersey to bottle openers, is based. You can also
access the club reception at the front of the stand. Standing proud and standing
tall over the Megastore is the man who made Manchester United what they are
and is the man who is responsible for the Busby Babes and the nickname of the
Red Devils and it is of course, that statue of Sir Matt 'Mattha' Busby.
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Sir Matt Busby statue outside Old Trafford, and ‘The United Trinity’ statue
of Law, Best and Charlton
Cont...