Old Trafford Stadium

Old Trafford Football Stadium (given the nickname The Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton) is the home of Manchester United F.C. Located in the borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, it has been United's home since 1910. The stadium was bombed in 1941, forcing the club to temporarily share Manchester City's home ground, Maine Road, until the rebuilding of Old Trafford was completed in 1949.

Until the new Wembley Stadium is completed Old Trafford will have the largest ground capacity of any English football stadium, currently holding just over 73,000 spectators. Ongoing work on two corner stands will result in a capacity of 76,000 by the 2006-07 season. Currently, the only larger football ground in the United Kingdom is the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Old Trafford is by far the largest club ground in Britain and is all-seater, which is a legal requirement of all higher league British club grounds and new stadium developments since the Taylor Report in the early 1990s. Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when the attendance was 69,070, a record for The Premiership, a record that was broken just 3 days later when 69,522 people watched United play West Ham on 29 March. The stadium's record attendance was 76,962, set on 25 March 1939 for a FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. and Grimsby Town F.C., although this is expected to be beaten once all the new seating has been opened. The Premiership's current attendance record was set when 73,006 spectators saw United win 4-0 against Charlton Athletic F.C. on 7 May 2006.

It frequently hosted FA Cup semi-final matches (as long as Manchester United were not involved), and occasionally hosted England international fixtures whilst Wembley was under reconstruction. It also hosted 1966 World Cup matches and the Champions League final in 2003. With London winning its bid for the 2012 Olympics, the stadium will be used for some preliminary men's and women's football matches during the Summer Games.

Since 1998, when rugby league adopted play-offs and a Grand Final to determine the Super League champions, Old Trafford has staged the Grand Final.

The football stadium is close to the Old Trafford cricket ground.

The Stretford End is the West stand of the stadium and is where the diehard fans have been historically situated. Previously, the K Stand in the old East Stand was the home of the vocal supporters although following expansion to the West Stand (Stretford End) many relocated. In the past, the noise has been compared to that of a Jumbo Jet. However, nowadays, Old Trafford is criticised for not creating a big enough atmosphere on a regular basis. This is perhaps because of the seating arrangments; the family section, the least vocally heard, is situated on the first tier of the Stretford End, together with the now infamous corporate 'Prawn Sandwich Brigade' in the South Stand. The rivalry between nearby neighbours Liverpool and Manchester is paticualrly fierce.

In 2005, FA Premier League fans from all over the world voted online that Old Trafford would be the stadium they would prefer to watch any game. The ground featured in the 1967 Albert Finney film Charlie Bubbles where a child is disappointed at missing out on fully being involved in the match due to watching from behind the glass window of one of the private boxes.

Latest European Soccer World Cup News

Soccer News: Champions League Group Stage Begins Defending champion Manchester United begins Champions League play on Wednesday as group stage play gets underway. Manchester United faces Villarreal on Wednesday and it is possible that Cristiano Rona...

Soccer News: Chelsea?s Michael Essien out for Months Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is expected to be out of action for a few months with a knee injury he suffered in Ghanas World Cup qualifier against Libya. The injury is a major blow to Chelsea who...

Conflicting Reports Regarding Ronaldo’s Future Cristiano Ronaldo could be headed to Real Madrid, or he could not. The Glazer family, who owns Manchester United are talking like Ronaldo to Real Madrid is almost a certainty but other United official...

Manchester United Soccer News: Cristiano Ronaldo?s Future to be Decided Next Week Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he will decide next week whether or not to stay with Manchester United or go to Real Madrid. Soccer Betting at SBG Global It is expected that Real Madrid will make an...

Champions League Quarterfinals Set The draw for the quarterfinals of the Soccer Betting Champions League was held on Friday and Arsenal will face Liverpool while Manchester United will play AS Roma. Barcelona takes on Schalke and Che...

Soccer Betting Tips: FC Barcelona Gaining on Real Madrid A seemingly safe lead of nine points in the Spanish League has dwindled to five for Real Madrid. FC Barcelona is rolling over everyone and is looking like a serious threat. Madrid has 56 points in fir...

UEFA Champions League Betting Review: AS Roma vs. Real Madrid AS Roma vs. Real Madrid Bet on AS Roma! Italian Serie A club AS Roma have been quite formiddable in the UEFA Champions League, posting 3 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss during the group stages. In the...

More FootBall News

Soccer Betting 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs The Soccer Betting 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs are underway as three of the first four matches ended in draws. Kei Kamara scored late to give Houston a 1-1 draw with New York. In other first-leg matches it ...

English Premier League Betting Picks Liverpool FC maintained the top spot of the English Premier League for one week, and was looking to maintain the top spot with what would seem like an easy win against Tottenham Hotspur, who are ...

UEFA Champions League Betting Picks In the recent fixtures of the UEFA Champions League, Italian Serie A club Juventus managed to book a 2-1 home win against Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid. This time around, Real Madrid will be...

Latest Bodog Nation Sports News

Game Face: The Strip Sports News Blog