One of the biggest criticisms of Old Trafford during the Glazer family's ownership has been the lack of development to Old Trafford
Old Trafford has been the subject of many debates recently with the club confirming that they have hired a team of architects to develop the stadium.
The world-famous ‘Theatre of Dreams’ is no longer the standard that it used to be and the best outcome for future development is still unknown and has caused division amongst fans.
In this article, we are going to take a look at the history of Manchester United’s playing grounds, looking past the days of Old Trafford.
The first ever ground that Manchester United ever played at was known as North Road Football Ground, however, at the time, this stadium was home to Newton Heath LYR FC, as it was long before the days of Manchester United.
Newton Heath LYR FC was a railway football club founded in 1878 and played football at North Road until 1893.
The ground held around 12,000 people but due to financial issues, they were forced to leave North Road behind and head to their second home.
Nowadays, North Road has since been renamed Northampton Road and a large business park has been erected on the land of Newton Heath’s old home.
After just over a decade of football at North Road, Newton Heath LYR FC began to lose their links to the railway side of the club and dropped the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway part of their name to solely become Newton Heath.
This was also around the time that they began to play their football at Bank Street Football Ground. This would be the first official ground of Manchester United Football Club.
Bank Street homed Newton Heath from 1893 onwards, although in 1902, several issues, including the finances of the club, meant that they almost lost the ownership of their new ground.
This is when John Henry Davies, a very wealthy businessman, saved the club from £2,670 of debt. This sparked the new ownership of the club and was also the birth of Manchester United.
The club was renamed by the new owners as a way to rebrand the club as a team for the wider region of Manchester, rather than the smaller area of Newton Heath.
Manchester United remained at Bank Street until 1910, eight years after John Henry Davies took over. At this time, the beginning of Manchester United’s mammoth success was clear.
Unfortunately, due to the terrible conditions of the pitch and an inconvenient location, Manchester United left Bank Street behind.
Today, Bank Street has been repurposed as the National Cycling Centre, but the heritage of Manchester United’s first-ever stadium remains.
A plaque can be found on the housing opposite the cycling centre, commemorating the old ground.
After deeming Bank Street not fit for purpose, Davies set out on finding a new home for Manchester United.
He discovered a fresh patch of land opposite the Bridgewater Canal and, in 1910, the legacy of Old Trafford began.
United actually lost their first ever game at Old Trafford in a 4-3 defeat to Liverpool.
Old Trafford was constantly developing alongside the ever-improving football club.
Unfortunately, the club was setback during the Second World War, when Old Trafford was damaged by two separate German bombing raids.
The club was forced to rebuild upon the damages which saw large portions of the stadium destroyed.
The only part of the original stadium from 1910 that survived until today is the central tunnel of the ground. Although, it is no longer in use, with United now using the South-eastern tunnel.
As a result of the damages, United had to play their home games at ‘Maine Road’ - the home of bitter rivals Manchester City.
Following repairs, United returned to Old Trafford in 1949 in front of 40,000 fans.
By 1990, Old Trafford was converted to an all-seater stadium as a result of new government requirements and the Taylor Report, an inquiry into the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.
The newest development to Old Trafford was over fifteen years ago from today when the stadium’s quadrants were added in 2006.
Since then, Old Trafford has seen next to no improvement to the ground, besides a few minor changes, including the addition of safe standing and an expansion to the accessibility zones.
The newly planned development has been long-awaited, with Old Trafford’s quality depleting quickly from what once was a top-of-the-range ground.
Whilst it still is the largest capacity ground in English club football, it is seemingly rotting away and in desperate need of renovation.
Whether the stadium is fully rebuilt or simply renovated and expanded, there is no doubt that it is long overdue.
What do you think the best way to develop Old Trafford is? Let us know @NewsUnitedStand on Twitter.
Originally published for The United Stand.
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