Old Trafford

Old Trafford

Old Trafford is a world class stadium that being used for a home ground by the greatest football club in the world and also my favorite, Manchester United.This stadium nicknamed "the theatre of dream" by Bobby Charlton. It was Officially opened in februari 19th 1910 with the Capacity of 74.994 people. This stadium was designed by scottish architect Archibald Leitch who designed several other Stadium. This stadium construction cost £90,000 and originally designed with a 100,000 spectators.

https://images.app.goo.gl/DD3XrfnJLUSRWZK87

In 1936, as part of a £35,000 refurbishment, an 80-yard-long roof was added to the United Road stand (now the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand) for the first time, while roofs were added to the south corners in 1938. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Old Trafford was requisitioned by the military to be used as a depot. Football continued to be played at the stadium, but a German bombing raid on Trafford Park on 22 December 1940 damaged the stadium to the extent that a Christmas day fixture against Stockport County had to be switched to Stockport's ground.

Football resumed at Old Trafford on 8 March 1941, but another German raid on 11 March 1941 destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand (now the South Stand), forcing the club's operations to move to Cornbrook Cold Storage, owned by United chairman James W. Gibson. After pressure from Gibson, the War Dammage Comission granted Manchester United £4,800 to remove the debris and £17,478 to rebuild the stands. During the reconstruction of the stadium, Manchester United played their "home" games at Maine Road, the home of their cross-town rivals, Manchester City, at a cost of £5,000 a year plus a percentage of the gate receipts. The club was now £15,000 in debt, not helped by the rental of Maine Road, and the Labour MP for Stoke, Ellis Smith, petitioned the Government to increase the club's compensation package, but it was in vain.Though Old Trafford was reopened, albeit without cover, in 1949, it meant that a league game had not been played at the stadium for nearly 10 years.United's first game back at Old Trafford was played on 24 August 1949, as 41,748 spectators witnessed a 3–0 victory over Bolton Wanderes.

Structure and facilities

Sir Alex Ferguson Stand

The Sir Alex Ferguson Stand, formerly known as the United Road stand and the North Stand, runs over the top of United Road. The stand is three tiers tall, and can hold about 26,000 spectators, the most of the four stands. It can also accommodate a few fans in executive boxes and hospitality suites. It opened in its current state in 1996, having previously been a single-tiered stand. As the ground's main stand, it houses many of the ground's more popular facilities, including the Red Café (a Manchester United theme restaurant/bar) and the Manchester United museum and trophy room. Originally opened in 1986 as the first of its kind in the world, the Manchester United museum was in the south-east corner of the ground until it moved to the redeveloped North Stand in 1998. The museum was opened by Pelé on 11 April 1998, since when numbers of visitors have jumped from 192,000 in 1998 to more than 300,000 visitors in 2009.The North Stand was renamed as the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand on 5 November 2011, in honour of Alex Ferguson's 25 years as manager of the club. A 9-foot (2.7 m) statue of Ferguson, sculpted by Philip Jackson, was erected outside the stand on 23 November 2012 in recognition of his status as Manchester United's longest-serving manager.

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Sir Bobby Charlton Stand

Opposite the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand is the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, formerly Old Trafford's main stand and previously known as the South Stand. Although only a single-tiered stand, the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand contains most of the ground's executive suites and also plays host to any VIPs who may come to watch the match. Members of the media are seated in the middle of the Upper South Stand to give them the best view of the match. The television gantry is also in the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, so the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand is the one that gets shown on television least often.Television studios are located at either end of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, with the club's in-house television station, MUTV, in the East studio and other television stations, such as the BBC and Sky, in the West studio.

The dugout is in the centre of the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, raised above pitch level to give the manager and his coaches an elevated view of the game. Each team's dugout flanks the old players' tunnel, which was used until 1993. The old tunnel is the only remaining part of the original 1910 stadium, having survived the bombing that destroyed much of the stadium during the Second World War.^[67] On 6 February 2008, the tunnel was renamed the Munich Tunnel, as a memorial for the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Munich air disaster. The current tunnel is in the South-West corner of the ground, and doubles as an entrance for the emergency services. In the event that large vehicles require access, the seating above the tunnel can be raised by up to 25 feet (7.6 m). The tunnel leads up to the players' dressing room, via the television interview area, and the players' lounge. Both the home and away dressing rooms were re-furbished for the 2018–19 season, with the corridor leading to the two widened and separated to keep home and away teams apart.

On 3 April 2016, the South Stand was renamed the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand before kick-off of the Premier League home match against Everton, in honour of Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton who made his Manchester United debut 60 years ago.

West Stand

Perhaps the best-known stand at Old Trafford is the West Stand, also known as the Stretford End. Traditionally, the stand is where the hard-core United fans are located, and also the ones who make the most noise. Originally designed to hold 20,000 fans, the Stretford End was the last stand to be covered and also the last remaining all-terraced stand at the ground before the forced upgrade to seating in the early 1990s. The reconstruction of the Stretford End, which took place during the 1992–93 season, was carried out by Alfred McAlpine. When the second tier was added to the Stretford End in 2000, many fans from the old "K Stand" moved there, and decided to hang banners and flags from the barrier at the front of the tier. So ingrained in Manchester United culture is the Stretford End, that Denis Law was given the nickname "King of the Stretford End", and there is now a statue of Law on the concourse of the stand's upper tier.

East Stand

The East Stand at Old Trafford was the second to be converted to a cantilever roof, following the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand. It is also commonly referred to as the Scoreboard End, as it was the location of the scoreboard. The East Stand can currently hold nearly 12,000 fans, and is the location of both the disabled fans section and the away section; an experiment involving the relocation of away fans to the third tier of the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand was conducted during the 2011–12 season, but the results of the experiments could not be ascertained in time to make the move permanent for the 2012–13 season. The disabled section provides for up to 170 fans, with free seats for carers. Old Trafford was formerly divided into sections, with each section sequentially assigned a letter of the alphabet. Although every section had a letter, it is the K Stand that is the most commonly referred to today. The K Stand fans were renowned for their vocal support for the club, and a large array of chants and songs, though many of them have relocated to the second tier of the West Stand.

The East Stand has a tinted glass façade, behind which the club's administrative centre is located. These offices are the home to the staff of Inside United, the official Manchester United magazine, the club's official website, and its other administrative departments. Images and advertisements are often emblazoned on the front of the East Stand, most often advertising products and services provided by the club's sponsors, though a tribute to the Busby Babes was displayed in February 2008 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster. Above the megastore is a statue of Sir Matt Busby, who was Manchester United's longest-serving manager until he was surpassed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010. There is also a plaque dedicated to the victims of the Munich air disaster on the south end of the East Stand, while the Munich Clock is at the junction of the East and South Stands. On 29 May 2008, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Manchester United's first European Cup title, a statue of the club's "holy trinity" of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, entitled "The United Trinity", was unveiled across Sir Matt Busby Way from the East Stand, directly opposite the statue of Busby.

The Manchester United club shop has had six different locations since it was first opened. Originally, the shop was a small hut near to the railway line that runs alongside the ground. The shop was then moved along the length of the South Stand, stopping first opposite where away fans enter the ground, and then residing in the building that would later become the club's merchandising office. A surge in the club's popularity in the early 1990s led to another move, this time to the forecourt of the West Stand. With this move came a great expansion and the conversion from a small shop to a "megastore". Alex Ferguson opened the new megastore on 3 December 1994. The most recent moves came in the late 1990s, as the West Stand required room to expand to a second tier, and that meant the demolition of the megastore. The store was moved to a temporary site opposite the East Stand, before taking up a 17,000 square feet (1,600 m²) permanent residence in the ground floor of the expanded East Stand in 2000. The floor space of the megastore was owned by United's kit sponsors, Nike, who operated the store until the expiry of their sponsorship deal at the end of July 2015, when ownership reverted to the club.