Old Trafford

Old Trafford
Theatre of Dreams
Old Trafford after its most recent expansion UEFA Nuvola apps mozilla.svgNuvola apps mozilla.svgNuvola apps mozilla.svgNuvola apps mozilla.svgNuvola apps mozilla.svg
Location Sir Matt Busby Way,
Old Trafford,
Greater Manchester,
England
Broke ground 1909
Opened 19 February 1910
Owner Manchester United
Operator Manchester United
Surface Grass
Construction cost £90,000 (1909)
Architect Archibald Leitch (1909)
Capacity 76,212 seated[1]
Field dimensions 105 x 68 m[2]
(114.8 x 74.4 yd)
Tenants
Manchester United (1910–present)

Old Trafford, given the nickname the Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton, is an all-seater football stadium in the Trafford borough of Greater Manchester, England. With space for 76,212 spectators, Old Trafford has the second-largest capacity of any English football stadium after Wembley Stadium and is the only facility in the country to have been given a five-star rating by UEFA.[3] The stadium is approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from Old Trafford Cricket Ground and the adjacent Manchester Metrolink tram station.

The ground is the home of Manchester United and has been the club's permanent residence since 1910, with the exception of an eight-year absence from 1941 to 1949, following the bombing of the stadium in the Second World War. During this period, the club shared Maine Road with local rivals, Manchester City. The ground underwent several expansions in the 1990s and 2000s, most notably the addition of extra tiers to the North, West and East stands which served to return the ground almost to its original capacity of 80,000. Future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second tier to the South Stand, which would raise the capacity to over 90,000.[4] The stadium's current record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town.[1]

The ground has frequently hosted FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue and several England international fixtures while the new Wembley Stadium was under construction. It also hosted matches at the 1966 FIFA World Cup and Euro 96 and the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final. Aside from football-related uses, Old Trafford has hosted Super League's Grand Final since the rugby league's adoption of playoffs in 1998 and the final of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup.

Contents

History

Construction and early years

The statue of Sir Matt Busby, overlooking the East Stand forecourt

Before 1902, Manchester United were known as Newton Heath, during which time they first played their football matches at North Road and then Bank Street in Clayton. However, both grounds were blighted by wretched conditions, the pitches ranging from gravel to marsh, while Bank Street suffered from clouds of fumes from its neighbouring factories.[5] Therefore, following the club's rescue from near-bankruptcy and renaming, the new chairman John Henry Davies decided in 1909 that the Bank Street ground was not fit for a team that had recently won the First Division and FA Cup, so he donated funds for the construction of a new stadium.[6] The £60,000 lent to the club by Davies was to have paid for the land and the construction of a ground with a capacity of around 100,000 spectators. However, to reach the intended capacity would have cost an extra £30,000 over the original estimate and the capacity was reduced to approximately 80,000.[7] Nevertheless, the cost of construction at a time when transfer fees were still around the £1,000 mark only served to reinforce the club's "Moneybags United" epithet, with which they had been tarred since Davies had taken over as chairman.[8] Designed by Scottish architect Archibald Leitch who designed several other stadia, the ground featured seating in the south stand under cover, while the remaining three stands were left as terraces and uncovered.[9] Construction was carried out by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester[10] and development was completed in late 1909. The stadium hosted its inaugural game on 19 February 1910, with United playing host to Liverpool. However, the home side were unable to provide their fans with a win to mark the occasion, as Liverpool won 4–3. A journalist at the game reported the stadium as "the most handsomest [sic], the most spacious and the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed".[11]

Before the construction of Wembley Stadium in 1923, the FA Cup Final was hosted by a number of different grounds around England including Old Trafford.[12] The first of these was the 1911 FA Cup Final replay between Bradford City and Newcastle United, after the original tie at Crystal Palace finished as a no-score draw after extra time. Bradford won 1–0, the goal scored by Jimmy Speirs, in a match watched by 58,000 people.[13] The ground's second FA Cup Final was the 1915 final between Sheffield United and Chelsea. Sheffield United won the match 3–0 in front of nearly 50,000 spectators, most of whom were in the military, leading to the final being nicknamed "the Khaki Cup Final".[14] On 27 December 1920, Old Trafford played host to its largest pre-Second World War attendance for a United league match, as 70,504 spectators watched the Red Devils lose 3–1 to Aston Villa.[15] Unusually, the record attendance at Old Trafford is not for a United home game. Instead, on 25 March 1939, 76,962 people watched an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town.[1]

Wartime bombing

In 1936, as part of a £35,000 refurbishment, an 80-yard-long roof was added to the United Road stand (now the North Stand) for the first time,[16] while roofs were added to the south corners in 1938.[17] However, German bombs during the Second World War on 11 March 1941 destroyed much of the stadium, notably the main stand (now the South Stand). After pressure from United chairman James W. Gibson, the War Damage Commission granted Manchester United £4,800 to remove the debris and £17,478 to rebuild the stands.[16] 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.[18] 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.[16] 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.[19] 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 Wanderers.[20]

The Stretford End in the early 1990s

Completion of the master plan

A roof was restored to the Main Stand by 1951 and, soon after, the three remaining stands were covered, the operation culminating with the addition of a roof to the Stretford End (now the West Stand) in 1959.[17] The club also invested £40,000 in the installation of proper floodlighting, so that they would be able to use the stadium for the European games that were played in the late evening of weekdays, instead of having to play at Maine Road. In order to avoid obtrusive shadows being cast on the pitch, two sections of the Main Stand roof were cut away.[16] The first match to be played under floodlights at Old Trafford was a First Division match between Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers on 25 March 1957.[10] However, although the spectators would now be able to see the players at night, they still suffered from the problem of obstructed views caused by the pillars that supported the roofs. With the 1966 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, this prompted the United directors to completely redesign the ground's north and east stands. The old roof pillars were replaced in 1965 with modern-style cantilevering on top of the roof, allowing every spectator a completely unobstructed view,[17] while the United Road stand was expanded to hold 20,000 spectators (10,000 seated and 10,000 standing in front) at a cost of £350,000.[21] The architects of the new stand, Mather and Nutter (now Atherden Fuller),[10] rearranged the organisation of the stands to have terracing at the front, a larger seated area towards the back, and the first private boxes at a British football ground. With the first two stands converted to cantilevers, the club's owners devised a long-term plan to do the same to the other two stands and convert the stadium into a bowl-like arena.[4] Such an undertaking would serve to increase the atmosphere within the ground by containing the crowd's noise and focusing it onto the pitch, where the players would feel the full effects of a capacity crowd.[22] Meanwhile, the stadium hosted its third and, to date, final FA Cup Final, hosting 62,078 spectators for the replay of the 1970 final between Chelsea and Leeds United. Chelsea won the match 2–1. The 1970s saw the dramatic rise of football hooliganism in Britain,[23] and when Manchester United were relegated to the Second Division in 1974, the club's hooligan firm – the Red Army – gained notoriety, a knife-throwing incident in 1971 forcing the club to erect the country's first perimeter fence, restricting fans from the Old Trafford pitch.[21]

1973 saw the completion of the roof around the circumference of the stadium, along with the addition of 5,500 seats to the Scoreboard End and the replacement of the old manual scoreboard with an electronic one in the north-east corner. Then, in 1975, a £3 million expansion was begun, starting with the addition of the Executive Suite to the Main Stand. The suite's restaurant overlooked the pitch, but the view was still obstructed by the roof pillars. Therefore, in kind with the roofs of the United Road Stand and the Scoreboard End, the Main Stand roof was replaced with a cantilever design. The Executive Suite and cantilever roof were then extended to the full length of the stand, allowing for the relocation of the club offices from the south-east corner to the Main Stand. The south-east quadrant was then removed and replaced in 1985 with a seated section bringing the total seating capacity of the stadium to 25,686 (56,385 overall). The completion of the cantilever roof around three sides of the stadium allowed for the replacement of the old floodlight pylons, and the attachment of a row of floodlights around the inner rim of the roof in 1987.

Conversion to all-seater

With every subsequent improvement made to the ground since the Second World War, the capacity steadily declined. By the 1980s, the capacity had dropped from the original 80,000 to approximately 60,000. The capacity dropped still further in 1990, when the Taylor Report recommended, and the government demanded that all stadia be converted to all-seaters. This meant that £3–5 million plans to replace the Stretford End with a brand new stand with an all-standing terrace at the front and a cantilever roof to link with the rest of the ground had to be scrapped.[10] This forced redevelopment, including the removal of the terraces at the front of the other three stands, not only increased the cost to around £10 million, but also reduced the capacity of Old Trafford to an all-time low of about 44,000.[24] In addition, the club was told in 1992 that they would only receive £1.4 million of a possible £2 million from the Football Trust to be put towards work related to the Taylor Report.[25]

The redeveloped East Stand was opened at the beginning of the 2000–01 season.

The club's resurgence in success and increase in popularity in the early 1990s ensured that further development would have to occur. In 1995, construction began on a brand-new North Stand,[26] to be ready in time for Old Trafford to host three group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final at Euro 96. The club purchased the Trafford Park trading estate, a 20-acre site on the other site of United Road, for £9.2 million in March 1995. Construction began at the end of the 1994–95 season and was completed by May 1996. Designed by Atherden Fuller, with Hillstone Laurie as project and construction managers and Campbell Reith Hill as structural engineers, the new three-tiered stand cost a total of £18.65 million to build and had a capacity of about 25,500, raising the capacity of the entire ground to approximately 55,000. The cantilever roof would also be the largest in Europe, measuring 58.5 m (192 ft) from the back wall to the front edge.[27] Further success over the next few years guaranteed yet more development. First, a second tier was added to the East Stand. Opened in January 2000, the stadium's capacity was temporarily increased to about 61,000 until the opening of the West Stand's second tier, which added yet another 7,000 seats, bringing the capacity to 68,217.[28] Old Trafford hosted its first major European final three years later, playing host to the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final between Milan and Juventus.

From 2001 to 2007, following the demolition of the old Wembley Stadium, the England national football team was forced to play its games elsewhere. For the first few years, the team toured the country, playing their matches at various grounds from Villa Park in Birmingham to St James' Park in Newcastle. However, from 2003 to 2007, Old Trafford hosted 12 of England's 23 home matches, more than any other stadium. The most recent international to be held at Old Trafford was England's 1–0 loss to Spain on 7 February 2007.[29] The match was played in front of a crowd of 58,207.[30]

Recent expansion

Old Trafford's most recent expansion, which took place between July 2005 and May 2006, saw an increase of around 8,000 seats with the addition of second tiers to both the north-west and north-east quadrants of the ground.[4] Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier League record.[31] The record continued to be pushed upwards before reaching its current peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw United beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1.[32]

Structure and facilities

See also: Stretford End
A plan of the layout of Old Trafford. The shaded area indicates the section designated for away fans.

The Old Trafford pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands. Each stand has at least two tiers,[33] with the exception of the South Stand, which only has one tier due to construction restrictions. The lower tier of each stand is split into Lower and Upper sections, the Lower sections having been converted from terracing in the early 1990s.

Formerly known as the United Road stand, 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. The North Stand can also accommodate a few fans in executive boxes. The North Stand opened in its current state in 1996, having previously been a single-tiered stand. As the ground's main stand, the North Stand 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,[34] 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 on 11 April 1998 by Pelé and, according to the club's website, it attracts more than 200,000 visitors every year.[35]

Opposite the North Stand is the South Stand, formerly Old Trafford's main stand. Although only a single-tiered stand, the South Stand contains most of the ground's executive suites,[36] 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 South Stand, so the South Stand is the one that gets shown on television least often.[17] Television studios are located at either end of the South 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.[37]

The dugout is in the centre of the South Stand, and is 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.[38] On 6 February 2008, the tunnel was renamed the Munich Tunnel, as a memorial for the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Munich air disaster.[39] 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).[40] The tunnel leads up to the players' dressing room, via the television interview area, and the players' lounge.

The West Stand, with its mosaic of seats displaying the stand's colloquial name

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.[41] 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 work on the Stretford End, which lasted until July 1993, was carried out by Alfred McAlpine.[42] 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 even a statue of Law on the concourse of the stand's upper tier.[43]

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.[44] 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.[45] The floor space of the current megastore is actually owned by United's kit sponsors, Nike, who operate the store.

A plaque at Old Trafford commemorating the Munich air disaster

The East Stand at Old Trafford was the second to be converted to a cantilever roof, following the North 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,[4] and is the location of both the disabled fans section and the away section. 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.[46] 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 Nike products, 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, Manchester United's longest-serving manager to date. 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.[10] 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.[47]

The United Trinity, a statue of Manchester United's "holy trinity" of Best, Law and Charlton.

The pitch at the ground measures approximately 106 metres (116 yd) long by 69 metres (75 yd) wide, with a few metres of run-off space on each side. The centre of the pitch is actually about nine inches higher than the edges, allowing surface water to run off more easily. As at many modern grounds, 10 inches (25 cm) under the pitch is an underground heating system, composed of 23 miles (37 km) of plastic pipes.[48] Club manager Alex Ferguson often requests that the pitch be relaid,[49][50] most notably half way through the 1998–99 season, when the team won the Treble, at a cost of about £250,000 each time. The grass at Old Trafford is watered regularly, though less on wet days, and mowed three times a week from April to November and once a week from November to March.[48]

In the mid-1980s, when Manchester United Football Club owned Manchester's basketball franchise, there were plans to build a 9,000-seater indoor arena on the site of what is now Car Park E1. However, the chairman at the time, Martin Edwards, did not have the funds to take on such a project, and the basketball franchise was eventually sold.[51]

Future

It has been estimated that for any further development to be attempted on the stadium, specifically the South Stand, which is still only one tier high, development costs would come to £90–100 million, almost as much as had already been spent on the stadium since its first expansion in 1992. This is due to the fact that up to 50 houses would have to be bought out by the club, which would cause a lot of disruption to local residents, and any extension would have to be built over the top of the railway line that runs adjacent to the stadium. The expansion would potentially include bringing the South Stand up to at least two tiers and filling in the South-West and South-East quadrants to restore the "bowl" effect of the stadium. Present estimates put the projected capacity of the completed stadium at approximately 96,000, more than the new Wembley Stadium.[4]

Other uses

Leeds Rhinos celebrate their 2008 Super League Grand Final victory over St Helens at Old Trafford

Old Trafford has also been used for purposes other than football since it was built. Before the construction of the Old Trafford football stadium, the site was used for games of shinty, the traditional game of the Scottish Highlands.[52] During the First World War, the stadium was used by American soldiers for games of baseball and, in 1981, matches of cricket's Lambert & Butler Cup were held there.[53]

The grand final of rugby league's Super League has been played at Old Trafford every year since the introduction of the playoff system in 1998;[54] however, the first rugby league match to be played at Old Trafford was held in November 1958, with Salford playing against Leeds under floodlights in front of 8,000 spectators.[53] In 1993, the World Super-middleweight Professional Boxing Championship was held at the ground, with over 40,000 people paying to watch Chris Eubank fight Nigel Benn.[55]

Aside from sporting uses, several concerts have been played at Old Trafford, with such big names as Bon Jovi, Genesis, Bruce Springsteen, Status Quo, Rod Stewart and Simply Red playing. An edition of Songs of Praise was recorded there in September 1994.[53] Old Trafford is also regularly used for private functions, particularly weddings, Christmas parties and business conferences.[56]

Records

A graph of Manchester United's average attendances over the period from 1949 to 2008

The record attendance recorded at Old Trafford was 76,962 for an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town on 25 March 1939.[1] However, this was before the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium, allowing many more people to fit into the stadium. Old Trafford's record attendance as an all-seater stadium currently stands at 76,098, set at a Premier League game between Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers on 31 March 2007.[1] This is also the Premier League's record attendance.[57] Old Trafford's record attendance for a non-competitive game is 73,738, set on 1 August 2007 for a pre-season friendly between Manchester United and Internazionale.[58] The lowest recorded attendance at a competitive game at Old Trafford in the post-War era was 11,968, as United beat Fulham 3–0 on 29 April 1950.[59] However, on 7 May 1921, the ground hosted a Second Division match between Stockport County and Leicester City for which the official attendance was just 13. This figure is slightly misleading as the ground also contained more than 20,000 spectators who had stayed behind after the match between Manchester United and Derby County earlier that day.[10]

The highest average attendance at Old Trafford over a league season was 75,826, set in the 2006–07 season.[60] The following season saw the greatest total attendance at Old Trafford, as 2,187,408 people watched Manchester United win the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, and reach the Sixth Round of the FA Cup.[61] The lowest average attendance at Old Trafford came in the 1930–31 season, when an average of 11,685 spectators watched each game.[62]

Transport

Adjacent to the South Stand of the stadium is Manchester United FC Halt railway station. The station is between the Deansgate and Trafford Park stations on the Southern Route of Northern Rail's Liverpool to Manchester line, and is only open on matchdays.[63] The ground is also serviced by the Altrincham line of the Manchester Metrolink network and shares a stop with the Old Trafford Cricket Ground. The stop is a five-minute walk from the football ground.[64] Buses 114, 236 and 252–257 inclusive can also be caught from Manchester Piccadilly train station to the stadium.[65] Visitors to the ground travelling by car can park in any of the ground's car parks, which are all within 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of the stadium.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Rollin, Glenda; and Rollin, Jack (2008). "The Clubs". Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2008-2009. Sky Sports Football Yearbooks. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. pp.254–255. ISBN 978-0-7553-1820-9. 
  2. ↑ "Club Directory" (PDF). Premier League Handbook Season 2008/09. London: The Football Association Premier League. 2008. pp. p.23. 
  3. ↑ "Stadia List" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved on 2008-05-02.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "Old Trafford 1909-2006". manutdzone.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. pp. p.14. ISBN 0-75287-603-1. 
  6. ↑ Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. pp. p.27. ISBN 0-75287-603-1. 
  7. ↑ White, John (2008). "February". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st edition ed.). London: Orion Books. pp. p.50. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7. 
  8. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.234. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  9. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.234–235. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Barnes, Justyn; Adam Bostock, Cliff Butler, Jim Ferguson, David Meek, Andy Mitten, Sam Pilger, Frank Taylor OBE & Tom Tyrell (2001). The Official Manchester United Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Manchester United Books. pp. pp.44–47, 52. ISBN 0-233-99964-7. 
  11. ↑ White, John (2008). "February". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st edition ed.). London: Orion Books. pp. p.50. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7. 
  12. ↑ "Cup Final Statistics". The Football Association (2008-05-17). Retrieved on 2008-09-04.
  13. ↑ "1911 FA Cup Final". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-09-04.
  14. ↑ "1915 FA Cup Final". fa-cupfinals.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-09-04.
  15. ↑ Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. pp. p.31. ISBN 0-75287-603-1. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.235. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Brandon, Derek (1978). A–Z of Manchester Football: 100 Years of Rivalry. London: Boondoggle. pp. pp.179–180. 
  18. ↑ Murphy, Alex (2006). The Official Illustrated History of Manchester United. London: Orion Books. pp. p.45. ISBN 0-75287-603-1. 
  19. ↑ Philip, Robert (2008-02-01). "How Matt Busby arrived at Manchester United", telegraph.co.uk, Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved on 2008-08-21. 
  20. ↑ White, John (2008). "August". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st edition ed.). London: Orion Books. pp. p.224. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.236. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  22. ↑ Hibbs, Ben (2006-08-15). "OT atmosphere excites Ole", ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  23. ↑ Pearson, Geoff (December 2007). "University of Liverpool FIG Factsheet - Hooliganism". Football Industry Group. University of Liverpool. Retrieved on 2008-09-04.
  24. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.238. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  25. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. pp.238–239. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  26. ↑ James, Gary (2008). Manchester – A Football History. Halifax: James Ward. pp. pp.405–6. ISBN 978-0-9558127-0-5. 
  27. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1996) [1985]. Football Grounds of Britain (3rd edition ed.). London: CollinsWillow. pp. p.239. ISBN 0-00-218426-5. 
  28. ↑ "Old Trafford". waterscape.com. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
  29. ↑ "England: Matches Played". The Football Association (2008-09-06). Retrieved on 2008-09-09.
  30. ↑ Sinnott, John (2007-02-07). "England 0-1 Spain", BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-09-09. 
  31. ↑ "Match Report: United 3 Birmingham 0", ManUtd.com (2006-03-26). Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  32. ↑ Coppack, Nick (2007-03-31). "Report: United 4 Blackburn 1", ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  33. ↑ "Seating Plan". Manchester United. Retrieved on 2008-09-04.
  34. ↑ Inglis, Simon (1987). The Football Grounds of Great Britain (2nd ed.). London: Collins Willow. pp. p.60. ISBN 0-00-218249-1. 
  35. ↑ "The Museum". Virtual Tour. ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
  36. ↑ "The Suites". ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  37. ↑ "TV Studio". Match Day Hospitality. Manutd.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-07.
  38. ↑ "Dugout". Virtual Tour. ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  39. ↑ "Football honours Munich victims", BBC Sport (2008-02-06). Retrieved on 2008-02-07. 
  40. ↑ "Player's Tunnel". Virtual Tour. ManUtd.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
  41. ↑ Moore, Glenn (1996-11-19). "Football: You only sing when you're standing", Independent, The. Retrieved on 2008-08-22. 
  42. ↑ "Alfred McAlpine wins £7.2m contract to redevelop Stretford End at Manchester United FC's stadium", The Construction News (1992-05-28). Retrieved on 2008-08-21. 
  43. ↑ Communications Department (2002-02-22). "Denis Law statue unveiled", Manchester United. Retrieved on 2008-08-21. 
  44. ↑ White, John D. T. (2008-05-29). "December". The Official Manchester United Almanac (1st edition ed.). London: Orion Books. pp. p.319. ISBN 978-0-7528-9192-7. 
  45. ↑ Mitten, Andy (2007). The Man Utd Miscellany. London: Vision Sports Publishing. pp. p.137. ISBN 978-1-905326-27-3. 
  46. ↑ Moore, Glenn (1996-11-19). "Football: You only sing when you're standing", The Independent (London). Retrieved on 2008-02-08. 
  47. ↑ "Man Utd 'trinity' statue unveiled", BBC News (2008-05-29). Retrieved on 2008-05-30. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 White, John (2007) [2005]. The United Miscellany (2nd edition ed.). London: Carlton Books. pp. p.17. ISBN 978-1-84442-745-1. 
  49. ↑ Nixon, Alan (2001-01-30). "Football: FA charges Neville as United tear up pitch", The Independent (London). Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  50. ↑ "Fergie wants 'awful' Old Trafford pitch dug and relaid in time for Manchester derby", Daily Mail (2008-01-30). Retrieved on 2008-02-06. 
  51. ↑ Mitten, Andy (2007). The Man Utd Miscellany. London: Vision Sports Publishing. pp. p.122. ISBN 978-1-905326-27-3. 
  52. ↑ "Top football clubs played host to Scots sport of shinty", The Independent (2006-09-09). Retrieved on 2007-08-23. 
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 53.2 Mitten, Andy (2007). The Man Utd Miscellany. London: Vision Sports Publishing. pp. p.138. ISBN 978-1-905326-27-3. 
  54. ↑ "Grand Final stays at Old Trafford", BBC Sport (2004-10-15). Retrieved on 2008-02-04. 
  55. ↑ Dirs, Ben (2008-01-08). "British boxing's sure-fire classic". BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
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