Manchester United

[silverbirch]

Actually  the  Manchester United  ground is not  in Manchester...   am I wrong ?

[Brad]

Manchester United's ground is a short distance from the City of Manchester boundary in the borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester. It is closer to Manchester city centre (say Albert Square) 2.6miles than Manchester City's ground which is inside the boundary 3.2miles.
References to Manchester usually mean the Greater Manchester Urban Area rather than the city area in the same way that London means Greater London rather than the square mile of the City of London.

[silverbirch]

would nt mind betting that  the  bulk of the  Stretford End... in the good old  days...
were  from Salford... they d walked down Trafford Road... past the docks  ... to get to
the  Match.... 3 o clock kick off of course !

[atmosferik]

Manchester United may not be quite in Manchester, but its base means that the surrounding areas are appealling and allow Manchester United to build the stands a massive as they like... Eventually, I think the stands could potentially reach 25 miles high?!!?
 
Other grounds are limited and can never expand, such as White Heart Lane and My club Liverpool... Although bulldozing the whole of Anfield wouldn't be seen as such a bad thing as the area isn't the best. I think in future, Liverpool FC may get rid of the main stand and build on the derelict roads behind, but past this, the club will always be limited unless they start from scratch.
 
Manchester United may not be quite in Manchester, but this fact has been an influencing factor on making them the huge club they are now!!!

[MamuciumSon]

As a born and bred Manc and lifelong (as is all my family) red, this is a topic close to my heart.

It's pretty easy to dismiss this "City are the real Manc club" rubbish.

1) As an earlier poster said, Old Trafford stadium is slightly nearer to Manchester town centre (which all maps will tell you is actually St Ann's square) than City's ground. However ...

2) Old Trafford is a lot closer to Mamucium. Ie - Castlefield. ie the first documented settlement as established in AD70 by General Julius Agricola.

I'm afraid that the 1970's council border shake up means little when competing with the above facts.

United, are our team.        

[silverbirch]

I think a lot of people would put  Piccadilly  as the real centre of Manchester... both for numbers of people and  shopping etc 
so no doubt the city fans would claim they are the real Manchester club
( were  talking  the old city ground of course )
 Come to think of it, how could they ever leave that ground ? and leave
all those decades of history ?
  Surely, with all that dough, they could have "improved" the ground,
much on the scale of Old Trafford .... and still be in their historic site !

[MamuciumSon]

I think a lot of people would put  Piccadilly  as the real centre of Manchester... both for numbers of people and  shopping etc 
so no doubt the city fans would claim they are the real Manchester club

Not the point. The point IS that St Ann's square is officially the centre of Manchester.

... and dont forget the even more important Mamucum link.

Are you a bitter Blue by any chance? 

[Brad]

Slightly off topic but according to this article
 
www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2008/08/12/manchester_centre_feature.shtml
 
  St Ann's Square was the official centre of Manchester up to Victorian times but since the town hall was built in 1877 this has been used as the measuring point for distances.

[silverbirch]

St Annes square is a posh enclave where old ladies go to chat and drink tea...
the  real  heart  and  centre  of Manchester is Piccadilly without doubt.
There used to be a great garden in there too  !

Albert Square is where Man U go to when  they do the treble
(or will the blues shatter that dream in a few weeks time .. down wembley way ? )

[silverbirch]

mAKES me  wonder though,  Man U  are a stones throw from Salford docks,
I wonder, is there any historical connection ?
Not sure when football started on that site, but it must have been somewhere around the
time that the docks were built and  the Man Ship Canal was dug.

You re right, there's lots of space around the ground,
last time I went to the old city ground , what a contrast,
totally surrounded by residential terraced houses.... bit like Coranation St.

[silverbirch]

I wonder if you set your compass point in the centre of Piccadilly gardens... put the pencil on the old trafford ground and drew a circle on the map,
would  the  old  city ground  be inside that circle , or  outside ?

[moroto]

I think a lot of people would put  Piccadilly  as the real centre of Manchester.

[silverbirch]

I bet Rooney is regretting his outburst now he is  to miss the semi final

But over at the City ground they are wondering,  is this their year for glory ?
( cant remember when City were last in the semis of the  FA  Cup ! )

Should be a great match at Wembley.....   its on  telly too !



.

[Brad]

I wonder if you set your compass point in the centre of Piccadilly gardens... put the pencil on the old trafford ground and drew a circle on the map,
would  the  old  city ground  be inside that circle , or  outside ?

Not done it with a compass but using driving directions the old City ground at Maine Rd works out at 2.9miles (10mins driving time) and United's ground 3.3miles (12mins driving time).

[silverbirch]

 According to Brad ......looks like if you put your compass point in  Piccadilly Gardens .... and the pencil end  onto the old City ground....and  drew a circle,
Man U  would be about  4/10ths  of a mile  outside the circle..... not even in Manchester.... but lets face it...  "Trafford United"  does nt have the same ring to it  !