Old Trafford

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Old Trafford (given the nickname The Theatre of Dreams by Sir Bobby Charlton) is an all-seater football stadium in the Trafford borough of Greater Manchester, England and the home of Manchester United F.C. The ground has been United's permanent residence since 1910, bar an eight year absence from 1941 to 1949 following the bombing of the stadium in the Second World War (during which the club ground-shared with Manchester City at Maine Road). The stadium is located approximately half a mile from Old Trafford cricket ground and adjacent Manchester Metrolink tram station.

The ground has frequently hosted FA Cup semi-final matches (as a neutral venue), and hosted several England international fixtures whilst Wembley was under reconstruction. It also hosted 1966 FIFA World Cup matches, Euro 96 matches and the Champions League final in 2003. With London winning its bid for the 2012 Olympics, the stadium will be used for some preliminary men's and women's football matches during the Summer Games. Since 1998, when rugby league adopted play-offs to determine the Super League champions, Old Trafford has staged the Grand Final. In its early days, the ground also hosted games of shinty, the traditional sport of the Scottish Highlands^[2].

Behind Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford has the largest capacity of any English football stadium at just over 76,000, and is the only UEFA 5-star rated facility in England.

[edit] Creation

Prior to 1902, Manchester United were known as Newton Heath F.C., during which time they played their football matches at Bank Street in Clayton. The club came close to bankruptcy, and was renamed Manchester United. Following financial restructuring, the Bank Street ground was deemed unsatisfactory, and funds were released for a new stadium.

Original plans suggested the ground would hold 100,000 (not all-seated), though this was scaled back to 80,000 (never actually reached). The ground was developed at a then-substantial cost of £60,000, featuring seating in the south stand under cover, with the east, west and north stands uncovered. Designs were drawn up by famous Scottish architect Archibald Leitch, who also designed stands at Hampden Park, Ibrox Stadium, Highbury, Craven Cottage and White Hart Lane.

Development was completed in 1909, and its inaugural game was played against Liverpool F.C., resulting in a 4-3 win for the visitors.

In 1911 and 1915, it played host to the FA Cup Final, and in 1920 it had its largest ever pre-World War II attendance of 70,504 for a United (and league) game, against Aston Villa.

Ironically, the ground record at Old Trafford is not for a United home game (which is rare for British club grounds). On the 25 March 1939, 76,962 people watched an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town. However, if future developments continue this record looks certain to be broken by United themselves.

[edit] Expansions

Bombing during the Second World War on 11 March 1941 destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand. Though this was rebuilt in 1949, it meant that a league game had not been played at Old Trafford for nearly 10 years.

Subsequent improvements occurred, including all the stands being covered (as opposed to just the main stand originally), and proper floodlight installation. Following the 1959 reconstruction of the Stretford End in line with the style of the original ground, the club then embarked on a radical new direction to create a bowl-style stadium. The first cantilever-roofed stand came in 1964 with the opening of the United Road (North) Stand and with it, the first private boxes at a British football ground. In 1973, the cantilever was extended to the Scoreboard End, reconstruction of the South Stand followed from 1978 to 1984 and in 1986 the south-east corner, still little altered up to that point from the original construction, was replaced with a similar cantilever.

The next stage would have been replacement of the Stretford End with a new all-standing terrace with a cantilever roof to link with the three already-redeveloped sides of the ground. In 1990, though, following the Hillsborough disaster, the Taylor Report recommended, and the government demanded, a move to all-seater stadia. Subsequent rebuilding of the Stretford End and conversion of the paddocks on the other three sides of the ground in line with the Taylor Report dropped capacity to around 44,000. However, the club's popularity ensured that further development would occur. In 1995, the North Stand was rebuilt as a three tier stand, raising the capacity to approximately 55,000. Upper tiers were then added to the East and West Stands in 1999-2000, bringing the number of seats to around 68,000.

Old Trafford's most recent expansion saw an increase of around 8,000 seats with the addition of second tiers to both the north-west and north-east quadrants of the ground. The stadium is now the 36th largest soccer venue in the world and the 12th largest in Europe. The South Stand remains the only single-tiered stand, its development hindered by a railway line located directly behind it. Although the line could be built over, it would require an expensive engineering solution and the demolition of at least fifty residential properties. Such a development would raise the capacity to approximately 96,000.

Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premiership record. However, this lasted just 3 days before 69,522 people watched United play West Ham on 29 March, and was re-broken on a frequent basis as more sections of the new quadrants were opened. The latest Premiership attendance record to be set was set on 31 March 2007 when 76,098 spectators saw United comprehensively beat Blackburn Rovers 4-1.

[edit] Manchester United Museum

Manchester United's club museum is located in the North Stand. According to the club's website, it attracts over 200,000 visitors a year.

[edit] Manchester United FC Halt

This is a single-platform railway station located directly behind the South Stand. It is only open on matchdays.

[edit] Trivia

• The ground has appeared in more films than any other in Britain. Films that Old Trafford appears in include Hell Is a City (1960), Billy Liar (1963) and Charlie Bubbles (1968).
• Old Trafford was the first English ground to have to install a perimeter fence to counter fan violence and hooliganism in the 1970s.
• The grass at Old Trafford is cut three times a week from April to November, and once a week from November to March.^[3]
• Weather conditions are rarely a problem at Old Trafford; the centre of the pitch is nine inches higher than the edges, aiding drainage of surface water off the pitch, and there are 23 miles (37 km) of plastic piping 10 inches under the surface that circulate hot water to melt any snow that may have fallen on the turf.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Manchester United Official Website
• Image Gallery and Additional Information
• Old Trafford at WorldStadiums.com
• Images and Information about stadium history
• Fan Photos from Old Trafford

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