MANCHESTER CITY: MAINE ROAD THE HISTORY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
37,393
0
Published 2019-02-07
THE HISTORY OF MAINE ROAD, THE HOME OF MANCHESTER CITY FC FROM 1923 TO 2003

Maine Road was for 80 years the home of Manchester City until the club moved to the Etihad Stadium in 2003.

In the early decades of the 20th century Manchester City played their home matches at Hyde Road, but after the ground got severely damaged in a fire, plans were made to move to a bigger ground.

Maine Road opened on the 25th of August 1923 with a match between Manchester City and Sheffield United (2-1). The stadium could hold about 85,000 spectators at that time, which made it the largest stadium in England after Wembley Stadium.

The record attendance was achieved in 1934 when 84,569 spectators visited an FA Cup match between City and Stoke. Just after the Second World War the club shared Maine Road with local rivals Manchester United after Old Trafford had gotten damaged during an air-raid.

In the late 1950s the Main Stand got redeveloped and renamed The Kippax Stand. Further smaller improvements were made in the years following and in the 1970s a new North Stand was constructed.

In the 1990s City followed the Taylor Report requirements in redeveloping the ground into an all-seater, which included the construction of two new stands. The first to be completed was the Platt Lane Stand in 1993, which was followed one year later by the demolition and reconstruction of the Kippax Stand, which was turned from a terrace into a new three-tier all-seater stand.

Plans for further redevelopments were made, but abandoned after the club relegated in 1996. The club eventually decided to move away from Maine Road when the City of Manchester Stadium got available after the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The final capacity of the stadium was 35,150 seats. The last match at Maine Road was played on the 11th of May 2003. The match ended in a 0-1 defeat of Manchester City against the visitors Southampton.

The stadium got finally demolished in late 2003 and subsequently replaced with a housing development. Maine Road was located in the Moss Side area south of Manchester’s city centre.
All Comments (21)
  • @barryh.4220
    A proper football ground, full of history, full of memories ... and the british crowd record!
  • @nkskro80
    Only visited Maine Road once when my team Birmingham won in the 97/98 season I think it was & it was the same season Man City dropped into the 3rd division. How times have changed for them in the last 20 years.
  • @billmorris8358
    In a different life, many years ago, in 1974, when I was 17, I very briefly worked at Maine Rd, on the great Stan Gibson's groundstaff team. Although I was there a few months, I left with so many memories. But the picture that bings a memory back is the final picture. On the top of the arms supporting the roof of the North Stand, you can see small bands at intervals along each arm. This was called I recall 'Flash band', it stopped expansion of the joints in hot weather. I was once instructed to climb up onto the North Stand roof to help the contractor bring down all his equipment when he finished the job. The sheets that made up the roof was so thin, a missed placed foot would allow you see the seats underneath! The view was amazing, but you made certain to watch where you placed your feet!
  • @SIRDKA
    Scary place to go as an away fan in the 70's
  • @crb6468
    Still home for me but don’t think we’d be where we are today if we didn’t move.
  • @MrVorpalsword
    I've visited Maine Road a couple of times, it was a vast hotch-potch totally disorganised - seats plonked where there had been stairs down the stand - and that last big stand where the Kippax was, nothing seemed to fit together ... how long did that stand last before they pulled it all down?
  • @tokyohands
    Although by 2000 the stadium was looking a mess, having been poorly redeveloped, it looked like a big site. Did they really need to move away from it??
  • @Ellinon_Vasileus
    I thought Etihad was build on Maine road that it was a conversion of the old stadium... I feel little sad when teams leave their traditional ground!!!
  • @swaldron5558
    I remember in 1970s to 1980s there was world’s worst men’s public toilets at behind of Kippax Stand.
  • @jackplant6903
    i was born in the year it was demolished so sadly i never got to see it
  • @kochstevens3210
    it looks & feels like a football stadium with character.. not like the cold concrete stadiums they build now that all look the same... boring..
  • @dennisesplin3285
    Jehova Witnesses held national convention there. Cleaned Main Road within an inch of its life. Sad to see old fashioned British style stadium gone.
  • @waz3128
    The last quarter of this video should be renamed how to ruin a vintage football ground in 10 years. What a mess. Makes the Etihad seem like a beautiful stadium.