Man United Blog, having brought you the complete history of Manchester United in its eleven part series, covering the period from the 1870s to 2000-onwards, feel that the playing history of the club would not be complete without also considering the history of its famous ground, Old Trafford. This could not be considered at a more pertinent time, when one reads a report from The Sun today saying that Old Trafford will be re-named under a possible sponsorship deal, after Vodafone prematurely ended its deal with the club. The Sun claimed the new sponsor could get its name not only on the players’ shirts but also as an addition to the title of the ground. So to the history…

As the The Sporting Chronicle stated on Saturday 19th February 1910:

“The most handsomest, the most spacious and the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed”

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 GBP60,000 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 GBP19 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.

The history and development of this infamous football ground is covered in some excellent books which you can find at The Ji Sung-Park Online Shop. You can also buy some wonderful Old Trafford memorabilia through one of our sponsors: Kitbag

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Edwin van der Sar may not be having a very stellar season right now but Sir Alex Ferguson still has a lot of confidence in him and has gone so far as to declare Van der Sar as the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

Van der Sar has been going through a rough patch this year because of different woes. For example, he broke two fingers during a pre season game against Bayern Munich. The injury forced him to the sidelines for two long months. He then suffered another injury when he collided with Tim Cahill of Everton last November, which put him out of action for five weeks. He was already nearing his eventual return from injury but his wife suffered a stroke, which has forced him to go on indefinite leave from the team.

Van der Sar finally made a return last January 16 in the match against Burnley, and proving how good of a goalkeeper he is Manchester United has yet to concede a goal and he has been instrumental in the Reds getting throug the Carling Cup Final.

Sir Alex said that it’s a combination of his talent, his composure under pressure and his adeptness with the football. With that kind of warm praise from Sir Alex, I’m pretty sure that Edwin van der Sar is feeling quite invincible right now. Hopefully, that feeling of invincibility will be sustained until next week because of the tough match against Arsenal.

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When earlier today the news was announced that Michael Owen the legendary Manchester United number 7, previously worn by ManUtd legends Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, I shuddered. Was one of our most traditional and important numbers in the history of Old Trafford going to a Scouser?

But quickly I remembered that this was a sign of Alex Ferguson’s confidence in Owen, just like he handed the number 7 to Ronaldo straightly upon arrival. The gaffer obviously has mellowed, even though we all know that he still wants ManUtd to win most League titles in history, more than Liverpool FC.

Two seasons ago Wayne Rooney was handed another legendary ManUtd number 10, Denis Law’s favourite number. Does this partnership have the potential to become a legendary one? The #7 and #10 partnership, the most feared striker tandem for every defense in England and Europe?

In other news, you can now also follow Manchester United Blog on Twitter.

Tags:   History · owen · SAF · Squad

After a rather quiet end of 2008-2009 season our favourite Spanish manager has kicked of the new season with a good old fashioned whine again.

For once though our manager surprisingly is not the victim of a Spanish tirade but Benitez publicly lamented the well documented Anfield Road credit crunch the astronomical sums offered for players in this transfer window.

“The market is now crazy. It is all money, money, money now”

“We had to pay big money. But we were signing a good player, an England player (Johnson), and that is very positive.”

Surprisingly the next swipe went out to The Council House and Real Madrid. Continue reading »

Tags:   Benitez · Liverpool FC · Smug

Venue: Stade Louis II,
Kick-off: 1945 BST

For me this match will be my first live super cup.I started watching United play in December 2000 so i wasnt privileged of watching any of the great matches of 1999 or 2000. :( .
Today’s game will be third super cup match under Fergie’s management.

Pundits predict that United are quite weak compared to full form Zenith.Zenith’s recent matches have been noteworthy and are going to make tough night for United.But on the better side,Hargo and Gary Neville are returning to team.Gary makes his first competitive debut after losing his place in team with his injury.
Hargreaves is all fit and wants to make a come-back in team. Continue reading »

Tags:   Super Cup

On Tuesday, Roma comes to OT again and we’ll have another chance to get in our rhythm, hopefully scoring more goals this time. Last season we’ve beaten Roma 7-1 in the replay of the UCL quarter finals, but chances that we’ll repeat this royal beating are rather slim. Not because we don’t have the talent to so, but more because those monster scores are rather exceptional and repeating that performance would be a unique performance.

After VDS’s toe injury, SAF faces other defensive problems, with both Vidic and Brown having missed today’s training session. Both defenders received a knock and Fergie mentioned Pique would be the obvious replacement for Vidic or Brown.
Last weekend, our Boss hinted at youngsters being allowed to leave OT and pick up match rhythm. The poor performance of our talented junior squad against Coventry resulted in Ferguson stating that Pique and Danny Simpson could be useful for the first squad. What does this mean for Dong, Evans, Eagles (who played several times already this season) and Lee Martin?

Continue reading »

Tags:   Arsenal · Brown · Ferdinand · Pique · Rom · UCL · Vidic

After a not to brilliant prem start for us, we finally got our first win on Sunday. But the month of August 2007 continues to be a somber month for ManUtd and its fans.

Yesterday a legend retired. The legend who won us the Champions League in 1999, scoring the 2nd goal, 3 minutes in injury time against Bayern Munich. Thank you, Ole Gunnar Solskjær (20)!

Continue reading »

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Does it really surprise anyone that Carlos Tevez is being closely linked with a move to the Theater of Dreams, Old Trafford for a reported 20 million? Sir Alex always has been of a fan of the Argentinian worker, master deliverer and striker.

I guess the only real surprise we could call is the attitude of the Glazer family. Daily more and more Malcolm and Family seem to become a group of angel investors putting Russian playboy Roman in the shadow lights.
50 Million Pound Sterling so far, for only 3 players and the spending spree goes on. 20 Million for Carlos Tevez. Another talented youngster. That would nothing less than 70 (seventy!) Million in only 5 weeks.

I’ll admit that I was happy when the Glazers took over. Happy because they were American.
Not that I particularly love Americans, they are nice people as long as they don’t discuss politics, which they sadly do way too often. But when it comes to sports, only Americans could have fitted Manchester United, because Americans understand exactly what the deonthology of ManU is.

To entertain.

And who could better word our spirit than the club director Sir Bobby Charlton, remembering the words of the legendary Sir Matt Busby?

People often ask me what it is that makes Manchester United so special. When I played for the club Sir Matt Busby always used to say that the lad who works on the factory shop floor, but finds it boring, wants excitement in his free time… that when he goes to football at the weekend he wants excitement. He therefore used to tell us that we therefore had a responsibility to entertain. It is a philosophy that has continued right through until today and that has made the club popular the world over.

And entertainment is one thing that Americans understand. And the Glazers show that they understand entertainment.

Entertainment at the Theatre of Dreams, entertainment at Old Trafford. And the new signings will surely add to the ManU Entertainment level, it’ll be Red Devil Samba!

Roman, you’ll have to spend more if you want to enjoy real entertainment. Other than entertainer Jose that is, I mean entertainment on the pitch, because we’ll show you what it is.
It’s part of the ManUnited History, it’s our spirit. ManU is Entertainment!

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Dutch, and Chelsea, scout Piet De Visser said in an interview with the Dutch TV Channel Tien TV, that United paid too much for Nani.

He is a talent, but if you look at the European Championship in Portugal and the current tournament in the Netherlands – Nani has not shown any progress.

Therefore I think Manchester United have paid too much money for a player who has talent, but has not developed since last year.

But what De Visser seems to forget is that there’s a huge difference between Chelsea and ManU. Chelsea buys stars and they perform or don’t perform. No matter if they are over paid or not. Look at the best performing players at Chelsea : except for Lamps and Terry, they all have been very expensive players, in the range of 20million and above.
Others are highly under performing. Just to mention some, SWP, Robben, Ballack, Sheva. Chelsea doesn’t grow players. They perform or they don’t.

But here at ManU, we buy talents and then Sir Alex and Queiroz start working them. Turn them in to world class players. We know how to get the best out of players. Examples are numerous.

Becks.
Rio has grown into a world class player.
Rooney, who gets better every season. And always learns to do more, more than just score. He’ll become deadly in the box, but most of all he’s growing in to the role of a player who can cover the whole pitch wisely. Not like in his first 2 years at Old Trafford when he ran over the whole ground and one wondered why he was at that spot now.
Cristiano. Cristiano was a talent. Nothing more. An expensive talent. Fergie made one of the world’s best players out of him.
Ruud was a talent. He became world’s deadliest striker at Old Trafford. Performing well in The Netherlands doesn’t make you a worldwide fear, just look at Kezman’s performance at Chelsea.
Giggs was a talent.
Both Neville brothers were.
No one knew who Vidic was, today he’s among the world’s defensive elite, together with Rio and Neville.

I could go on for hours with more examples. Fact is, we buy young talents and grow them, turn them in to world’s elite. And then one day, they move on. That’s when Roman, Jose and Chelsea come in play : they want to buy the best players. We make them. Young talents at Chelsea fail.
I’m sure Robben would perform a lot better if he were managed by Fergie. ;-)

Tags:   BS · Chelsea · Nani · RObben

Perhaps now it can be seen as to why the United Reds have been branded one of the most talented and sophisticated lineups assembled to compete in the various European leagues. Most of the players have returned to their mother teams to get a crack at the Euro 2008 qualifiers and a lot of them have come from the United Reds lineup.

Among the names to be heard include that of Wes Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Alan Smith are among the top names being mentioned. A fifth player, Wayne Rooney was supposed to be included but is serving suspension.

Their next opponent is Brazil. While Brazil is not expected to be a pushover, the chemistry and alliance of these players who have been playing together under the United Reds is an advantage on its own. Once they take the field at Wembley Stadium, expect the games to rock along with the fans following them intently as the game kicks off.

[tags]manchester united, united reds, rio ferdinand, michael carrick, wes brown, wayne rooney, alan smith[/tags]

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