The City of Manchester Stadium pitch ready for the visit of Chelsea on 5th April
Manchester is one those great northern English cities where football is appreciated with almost fanatical enthusiasm. It is hardly surprising when you look at the sheer quality of the two premier league clubs representing the famous old city of three rivers - the Medlock, Irwell and Irk.
JOHN REYNOLDS heads north to meet the lads at Manchester City who are, apparently, ...
MAD FOR IT T
he three rivers of Manchester helped to lay the foundations for a huge textile industry. By the end of the 18th century the city had established itself as
the centre of the cotton spinning industry. By 1790 there were over one hundred water-powered cotton spinning factories in and around Manchester. At the same time there was also a thriving coal mining industry. This industrial heritage spawned hardy, working class, men and a pre-requisite was a football team or two to support.
Manchester City FC originated out of St. Mark’s West Gorton FC which was formed in 1880 by St Mark’s church in Clowes Street, West Gorton. The youngest player was aged just 15 and the eldest 20, and most of the club members played in the cricket team too! In 1884 the name was changed to Ardwick AFC and, in 1887, they moved to Hyde Road the club’s first properly enclosed ground. The club later decided that the name should represent the whole of Manchester and, so, Manchester City FC came into being in 1894, remaining at the Hyde Road ground until the early 1920s. Maine Road, regarded by many as City’s spiritual
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home, opened in 1923 with a capacity approaching 90,000 spectators. Nowadays we consider crowds of around 40,000 pretty high but, in 1934, 84,569 fans turned up to watch Man City v Stoke City. That same year City won the FA Cup Final against Portsmouth.
In 2003 Maine Road staged its last ever football match and, despite many a shed tear from the faithful, a third move was made to the City of Manchester Stadium. It had initially been created to house the Commonwealth Games of 2003 but, no sooner had the discus and javelins been packed away, the diggers moved in and lowered the ground area by six metres to accommodate the new football pitch. A lower tier of seats was installed and the entire North Stand was erected. The first game took place in August 2003. Capacity at the stadium is precisely 47,726 seated for football, approximately 62,000 for
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