The Birth of The Stretford End

Shane Bluck said:
One of the things I distinctly remember about going as a kid was...

52p return on the bus... 90p to get in... 25p for a programme and 50p for chips

£2.17 for the whole day out.... leaving me with £1.33 from my hard earned paper round...

How many kids can earn enough money to follow the lads today? That is a sad thought.... none of 'em can ever experience that joy...
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Jesus......I remember it being 2p to get there on the bus...:nervous:

Used to get the 210 bus to Belle Vue and then the 52 or 53 I think it was..........
 
TomClare said:
He was still a part timer then - the actual game was in fact in late 1954 and as you said, the first three were Wood, Foulkes and Byrne. He didn't sign full time pro until January 1955 - and there was a really good reason why he delayed it so long - can anyone guess what that reason was?
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They couldn't agree on who owned his image right? ;)
 
Shane Bluck said:
Back in the early 80s...

I was a regular in the Stretford end, in those days there was a fence down the centre of it seperating it into a North and South side.. or in reality a left and right side... I often went in the South side of the stand and used to get in there early as a kid and sit on the bar near the corner flag, poke my boney knees through the railings and stay there for the whole match.... as close to my heroes as possible...
One time we got there late, now when I say late, I mean 2pm for a 3pm KO, in those days the ground was getting full by 2pm, this was a combination of the fact you could get a pint in the ground, there was a quality pre match sing song.... and it was pay on the turnstiles... so if you got there too late... you may not get in...

Anyhow.. I arrived at 2pm, we were only playing Oxford United.. but there was no where that a short arse kid could see the game, and my usual spec on the bar near the corner flag had been snaffled long ago...
Our only option was to climb onto the roof of the toilets at the back of stand... up we got and had a right old party, we were black with dust as it was covered in shite up there, but I seem to recall we won 2-0 and climbed down happy, looking like a bunch of chimney sweeps...


One of the things I distinctly remember about going as a kid was...

52p return on the bus... 90p to get in... 25p for a programme and 50p for chips

£2.17 for the whole day out.... leaving me with £1.33 from my hard earned paper round...

How many kids can earn enough money to follow the lads today? That is a sad thought.... none of 'em can ever experience that joy...
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I used to go in that South side of the Stretty, and in the early '80s too. Used to stand about halfway down, between the right hand post and the corner flag. I was older than you, though -- about 18 -- and I had to pay full price (either £2.00 or £2.50, I think).
 
Man Utd Mrs said:
So do I..........

...........I have many happy memories of the scoreboard end "crew".:D
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How many still call them the Stretty, the Scoreboard, United Road, etc? Has that all gone now?
 
heightmassive said:
This is how the Strettie looked in my early G stand days



I had an LMTB with my old fella from day 1 so I only ever went on the Stretford for cup games with my mates.

As for the 'Scoreboard end'....I'm more inclined to call it K stand.
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K stand, absolutely. I called it both. Some called it the Warwick Road end too.

(But they were nobs.) I kid, I kid.
 
TomClare said:
Couldn't agree with you more.
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Tom love your posts, great reading.


but can you explain why why the record attendence at OT was for a wolves v grimsby semi final and not one of your games.

serious question. as until this season your record at OT is 6K less than the record, you still havent beat it BTW

You can get 82k at maine road but not at home....any insight is welcome
 
The Kippax Kid said:
Tom love your posts, great reading.


but can you explain why why the record attendence at OT was for a wolves v grimsby semi final and not one of your games.

serious question. as until this season your record at OT is 6K less than the record, you still havent beat it BTW

You can get 82k at maine road but not at home....any insight is welcome
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Before the start of WWII, the capacity of the Old Trafford ground was in fact 80,000, and had been since it was built in 1910. Between the two wars, United really were in the dolfrums and very nearly went out of existence. There was no way that they were ever going to draw 80,000 for one of their games in those dark days. Even before WWI it is interesting that they could draw 50 - 60,000 one week and the next week could be down to 7-10,000! It was slightly larger than the ground that was rebuilt between 1945 - 1949.

Maine Road was a big ground and I think that they once got 84, 000 in there before the War for a cup game. The Kippax was a huge great enclosure that used to arc up like a quarter moon, and was uncovered. I was at Maine Road for a few games that drew attendances of 75,000. The first time in January of 1955 for a 4th round Cup tie between City and United, and then for the Borrussia Dortmund game in 1956 which ended in a United win by 3-2. I have to say, it was comfortable for all the matches that i attended there - no crushing or anything like that.
 
The Kippax Kid said:
Tom love your posts, great reading.


but can you explain why why the record attendence at OT was for a wolves v grimsby semi final and not one of your games.

serious question. as until this season your record at OT is 6K less than the record, you still havent beat it BTW

You can get 82k at maine road but not at home....any insight is welcome
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KK... Why was the council house made to be so much bigger than it was needed?

Is it just so you can fill it whenever you play us?

Serious question....:angel:
 
I am in awe really of your writing, Tom - an encyclopaedic knowledge, superb language - these articles are such a joy to read reallly!

I just thought of a little information that I'd probably like to know - is it known at which end we actually scored more goals the Stretford End or the ScoreBoard end?
 
The Kippax Kid said:
Tom love your posts, great reading.


but can you explain why why the record attendence at OT was for a wolves v grimsby semi final and not one of your games.

serious question. as until this season your record at OT is 6K less than the record, you still havent beat it BTW

You can get 82k at maine road but not at home....any insight is welcome
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I started going to Old Trafford in 1970. The capacity then was about 63,000. I guess it reduced with increased seating, in particular the old cantilever stand and other changes for the World Cup.

As Tom says, United's crowds were not as big during the first twenty years after the war. Looking at the average attendances during those years, we had 8 years under 40,000, a further 10 under 50,000 and only 2 over 50,000.

At present, we are on a high for football popularity. How will the game be when the inevitable downturn happens?
 
Pimpy the Magic Elf said:
The reply to my comment makes me come to the conclusion that you are in fact unable to understand the fundamental idea behind the concept of light hearted humor.

Strange sense of humour.

For you and the rest of the resident pea brains:

I'l ignore that bit.

GREAT POST.
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That's better. Thank you. :)
 
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