The massive stadium of Old Trafford has a seating capacity of 76,000 and is located in the area of Great Manchester. The construction work of Manchester City started in 1909 and the estimated cost of the project was 60,000 pounds. As the project continued, the cost of construction increased and 30,000 pounds had to be injected into the project to fully fund it.
The construction plan for Old Trafford was an ambitious one as it was planned that the huge stadium will be built with a seating capacity of 100,000 people. However, thanks to the respectable suggestion of J.J. Bentley, the final capacity of the stadium was revised to a more practical target of 80,000. The stadium was completed and officially opened on 19th February, 1910.
The stadium went through a tough ordeal in the World War II when bombing by the Germans caused significant damage to the stadium. As a result of this, the stadium had to go through major repairs and consequently, had a major uplift. The club was granted an amount of 4,800 pounds for the repair by the War Damage Commission and this served as a somewhat alleviating factor for the club. The total cost of repair for the stadium was 23,000 pounds and it took considerable time for the stadium to be bought in a working condition. The stadium was able to host its first game after the World War II in August, 1949.
Many improvements were made to the stadium after the Second World War. However, every improvement that was made to the ground meant that the overall seating capacity of the stadium steadily declined as a result of it. The original capacity of 80,000 had declined to around 60,000 by 1980 and continued to drop as more improvements were made to the ground.
In the year 1990, the club was forced to convert a portion of the stadium to all-seaters because of the recommendations of Taylor Report and demands of the local government. This meant that the club had to drastically alter their plan, costing three to five million pounds, of replacing a stand and to install cantilever roof. These forced development increased the cost of the overall plan to an estimated ten million pounds. Furthermore, it resulted in the seating capacity to drop to an all time low of 44,000.
The success of the club and the resulting popularity in the 1990s meant that the club was losing out on a lot of revenue in terms of the Manchester United Tickets because of the reduced capacity of the stadium. Furthermore, the stadium was to host games of the Euro 96 and this led the club to quickly work on increasing the capacity of the stadium.
The club continued to increase the seating capacity of the stadium until it reached 68,217 to become the biggest club stadium of not only England but UK, at that time. The club intends to further increase the capacity of the club to an estimated ninety five thousand in the future. This would enable the club to significantly increase their revenue from the Manchester United Tickets sale.
Lisa Dorgan is an English Football reporter, writing about the English and European football leagues, the Premier league football clubs, teams and players as well as specific teams such as Manchester United club and where to obtain online the Manchester United Tickets at excellent prices.
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