Hyde Road
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hyde Road | |
|---|---|
| Bennett Street | |
| Full name | Hyde Road |
| Location | |
| Built | 1887 |
| Opened | 17 September 1887 |
| Owner | |
| Tenants | Manchester City (1887-1923) |
| Capacity | 40,000 |
| Field dimensions | unknown |
Hyde Road was a football stadium in Ardwick, Manchester. It was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1887 until 1923, when they moved to Maine Road. The ground was also known as Bennett Street by some supporters. The most prestigious match to be held at Hyde Road was an FA Cup semi-final between Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday in 1905.
[edit] History
Gorton AFC were one of a number of football sides from east Manchester. Between 1885 and 1887 they had played home games on a field adjacent to the Bulls Head Hotel, on the border of the districts of Gorton and Reddish. The landlord of the Bulls Head demanded a rent increase in 1887, so the club sought an alternative venue.[1] The club captain, Kenneth McKenzie, discovered a patch of waste ground on Hyde Road, Ardwick, and informed the club committee.[2] Lawrence Furniss, the club secretary, ascertained that the ground was owned by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company. He negotiated a seven month lease at a cost of £10,[1] and the club changed name to Ardwick AFC to reflect the new location. A few weeks later, a rudimentary football ground was ready for use. The ground had no changing rooms, and teams changed in a nearby public house, the Hyde Road Hotel, which also held the meetings of the football club. The ground's first seating area was built in 1888, with 1,000 seats.
The increasing popularity of the football club resulted in improvements being made to the ground on several occasions. Improvements costing £600 were made in 1890, and the ground finally gained its own changing rooms in 1896. In the years around the turn of the century an extremely large amount of money by the standards of the period was spent on ground improvements. A new stand was purchased for £1,500 in 1898, and £2,000 of improvement were made in 1904, resulting in a capacity of 40,000. In 1910 roofing was built on the three previously uncovered sides of the ground, resulting in covered accommodation for 35,000 of the 40,000 capacity.
For certain areas of the ground few photographs survive, however, a map dating from 1894 indicates that most of the terracing was of uneven shape, and that bizarrely, a section of railway line leading to a neighbouring boilerworks was situated between the terrace and the pitch on the south-western side of the ground.
In 1920, the ground became the first football venue outside London to be visited by a reigning monarch, when George V watched a match between Manchester City and Liverpool. In November of the same year a fire destroyed the Main Stand, and Manchester City began to seek a new home. Plans to move to a new ground in Moss Side were announced in 1922, and in August 1923 the last football match was played at Hyde Road.
Adjacent to the ground was the Hyde Road Hotel, a public house in which the players used to get changed before the matches at the Hyde Road Stadium. It was also the venue when on 23 September 1894, the fans of Ardwick A.F.C. decided to form Manchester City F.C. and register the MCFC Limited Company.
The Hyde Road Hotel was owned at one point by George Heslop, a former Manchester City player. Unfortunately the pub went out of business and lay empty for several years. Despite several efforts by supporters to save the building, it was knocked down before Manchester City moved to their new stadium at the City of Manchester Stadium. The owners of the land refused to meet supporters to disuss the situation with the land, or if they did, mysteriously moved offices on the days of such meetings.
However, two keystones from the Hyde Road Hotel are now in the memorial garden at the City of Manchester Stadium.
[edit] References
James, Gary Farewell To Maine Road ISBN 1-899538-19-4
Manchester City FC official website - Stadium History accessed 15 November 2005
- ^ a b James, Gary (2006). Manchester City – The Complete Record. Derby: Breedon, 82. ISBN 1-85983-512-0.
- ^ Inglis, Simon (1987). The Football Grounds of Great Britain (2nd ed.). London: Collins Willow, 62. ISBN 0-00-218249-1.
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