The above words were written
on Old Trafford's opening day in 1910. Manchester
United had just moved from their old stadium of Bank
Street, Clayton, to a new stadium in the Old
Trafford area of west Manchester. Built in 1909, for
the then huge sum of £60,000 it was terraced on
three sides with a seated main stand undercover The
stadium was designed by famous Scottish architect
Archibald Leitch, who also designed stands at
Hampden Park, Ibrox Stadium and White Hart Lane In
1911 and 1915 it held the FA Cup final and in 1920
it had its largest ever attendance of 70,504 for a
league game against Aston Villa. The FA Cup
Semi-Finals of 1939 of Portsmouth vs Grimsby would
top that with 76,962. The stadium was heavily
damaged in World War 2 and for a while United played
at local rivals, Man City's Maine Road stadium from
1946-1949 Old Trafford was a venue for the 1966
World Cup and also held the 1970 FA Cup Final replay
between Chelsea and Leeds. Old Trafford became the
first stadium to erect perimeter fencing in the
1970's to combat crowd disturbances Roofed cover was
later added to the other three sides of the stadium,
however all these stands suffered from obstructed
views because of old fashioned roof-post design. In
the mid 1960s development of modern cantilever
stands began on the north and east of the ground.
The new design had terracing at the front and a
large seated section behind. Gradually the entire
ground was redeveloped in the 70s and 80s,
culminating with the Stretford End in 1994 In the
1960s, 70s and 80s, over 58,000 could pack into Old
Trafford. However in the early 1990s after the
Hillsbrough disaster, the Taylor Report required
England's top teams to become all-seater stadiums.
The Old Trafford design master plan of the 1960's
was now complete and the stadium was a perfect bowl,
but With United more popular than ever the reduced
44,000 capacity was just too small This led to
further expansion in 1995-6 with the construction of
the giant three-tiered North Stand holding 26,000
and bringing capacity to nearly 56,000 The North
Stand, reaching around 200 feet in height has four
lift towers and the largest cantilever roof in
Europe. This massive, brooding structure towers over
the pitch, intimidating opposing teams. Costing £19
million to build it also houses the excellent United
Museum (open on non-match days) and glittering
trophy room (hopefully always full) as well as the
Red Cafe restaurant and two layers of executive "Sky"
boxes The South stand is the main stand at Old
Trafford containing the managers bench area, the
directors/television/ police control boxes and
luxury restaurants and executive suites. Here, the
seating slopes at a different angle to the rest of
the stadium, making it slightly lower than the other
stands Interestingly, the first 20 or so rows of
seats around all four sides of the ground are below
street level The South stand is rarely seen on
television as it contains the TV gantry, which looks
North. The players tunnel used to be at the centre
of this stand but in 1993 it was moved to the
South-west corner. The old tunnel still remains and
is opened for special occasions and stadium tours
The East Stand is home to the diehard K-Stand United
fans as well as the away fans enclosure in the
South-East corner and disabled section. It was
formerly known as the Scoreboard End, so called
because of the large scoreboard that resided until
the late 60s, when an electronic one was installed.
This scoreboard was recently replaced by two modern
electronic scoreboards in each corner of the North
Stand Further building redevelopment added a second
tier at the east end in January 2000, making a
61,000 capacity. On the outside is a large tinted
glass front, similar to a modern office block. Here
stands the Sir Matt Busby Statue, Munich memorial
plaque and the famous clock commemorating the Munich
air crash on 6th February 1958. Its also the
location of the huge Manchester United Megastore
where every type of club merchandise is available
The west side of the ground for many, will always be
known as the legendary Stretford End. In the days
before all-seater stadia the Stretford End was a
heaving mass of almost 20,000 standing United fans
who were amongst the loudest in Britain. It was once
measured that the roar from the crowd was louder
than a Jumbo Jet taking off. The old terrace was
replaced in 1993 and in August 2000 a second tier of
seating was added here, bringing a total capacity of
67,750 The West Stand holds the Family seating area
and beneath the corner is the players dressing
rooms/tunnel and lounge. It also has a statue of
60's striker Denis Law in the upper concourse - Law
was known as "The King of The Stretford End"
Old Trafford was a Euro 96 venue and is now an
annual host for the FA Cup Semi-final. Many claim
the atmosphere at Old Trafford is not as good as it
once was, ironically it is the legend of the Old
Trafford atmosphere that has brought the tourists
yet they are partly responsible for its decline. Sir
Alex Ferguson has often complained about the lack of
singing and low noise levels, therefore the new
upper West Stand tier has designated singing areas
to try and recreate the days of old The long-term
plan for the stadium is to rebuild the South stand
in a similar style to the North and fill in the
corners to make a whopping 90,000. Possible
hindrances to further enlargement are the nearby
Bridgewater Canal and railway track which restrict
space around the stadium. There are currently no
plans for any more expansion work in the immediate
future Old Trafford is undoubtedly one of the
greatest and most famous sporting arena's in the
world. In an era where many clubs are moving from
their traditional homes and although down the years
it has changed beyond all recognition, the magic of
Old Trafford will always remain. On a big match day
or European night the atmosphere is as good as any
venue in world football. The Theatre of Dreams (as
Bobby Charlton named it) is the biggest club ground
in Britain and a fitting home for the world's most
famous football club.
Created And Maintained
By Hiran Patel
This website is in no
way connected to Manchester United Football Club
