25-06-2014, 11:58 AM
North Road History:
![[Image: manchester-united-north-road.jpg]](http://www.soccermaniak.com/images/manchester-united-north-road.jpg)
North Road was the first football stadium used by Newton Heath Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Football Club from its foundation in 1878 until 1893. The employees of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) company's Carriage and Wagon Works asked for a pitch on which to play football and the Company found them somewhere suitable. The chosen site was owned by the Manchester Cathedral authorities, but although it was handily placed next to the wagon works, it was a "bumpy, stony patch in summer and a muddy, heavy swamp in the rainy months".
The railway company agreed to pay a nominal rent to the authorities and to lease the ground to the football club. As it was next to the railway line operated by the LYR, the ground was often clouded in a thick mist of steam from passing trains. Players had to get changed in The Three Crowns public house, a few hundred yards away on Oldham Road, as there were no facilities nearby.
Initially the ground consisted only of the pitch, around which an estimated 12,000 spectators could congregate. The addition of two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators increased the capacity to about 15,000, but financial woe was on the way, as Newton Heath used what little financial reserves they had to purchase them. This also put them at odds with the Company and they started to drift apart.
The first recorded matches at the ground took place in 1880, two years after the club's formation. Most of the matches were friendlies. The first competitive match held at North Road was a Lancashire Cup first round match against Blackburn Olympic's reserve team, played on 27 October 1883, which Newton Heath lost 7–2. Details of the attendance have been lost, but it is assumed that the ground must have been enclosed by then, as an entry fee of 3d (about £1 as of 2014) was charged for the match.
Football became a professional sport in England in 1885, and Newton Heath signed their first professional players in the summer of 1886. The club's income was insufficient to cover its wage bill, and so the 3d admission charge was extended to all matches played at North Road, later rising to 6d. Without the company's financial support, issues with the Manchester Cathedral Authorities, who didn’t agree with charging admissions, the club was unable to afford the rent on the ground and was evicted in June 1893. The club's management had been searching for a new stadium since a previous eviction attempt in May 1892, so they were able to move to a new ground on Bank Street, three miles away in Clayton. However, it proved impossible though to take the two grandstands to the new ground, and they were sold for £100.
North Road was the first football stadium used by Newton Heath Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Football Club from its foundation in 1878 until 1893. The employees of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) company's Carriage and Wagon Works asked for a pitch on which to play football and the Company found them somewhere suitable. The chosen site was owned by the Manchester Cathedral authorities, but although it was handily placed next to the wagon works, it was a "bumpy, stony patch in summer and a muddy, heavy swamp in the rainy months".
The railway company agreed to pay a nominal rent to the authorities and to lease the ground to the football club. As it was next to the railway line operated by the LYR, the ground was often clouded in a thick mist of steam from passing trains. Players had to get changed in The Three Crowns public house, a few hundred yards away on Oldham Road, as there were no facilities nearby.
Initially the ground consisted only of the pitch, around which an estimated 12,000 spectators could congregate. The addition of two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators increased the capacity to about 15,000, but financial woe was on the way, as Newton Heath used what little financial reserves they had to purchase them. This also put them at odds with the Company and they started to drift apart.
The first recorded matches at the ground took place in 1880, two years after the club's formation. Most of the matches were friendlies. The first competitive match held at North Road was a Lancashire Cup first round match against Blackburn Olympic's reserve team, played on 27 October 1883, which Newton Heath lost 7–2. Details of the attendance have been lost, but it is assumed that the ground must have been enclosed by then, as an entry fee of 3d (about £1 as of 2014) was charged for the match.
Football became a professional sport in England in 1885, and Newton Heath signed their first professional players in the summer of 1886. The club's income was insufficient to cover its wage bill, and so the 3d admission charge was extended to all matches played at North Road, later rising to 6d. Without the company's financial support, issues with the Manchester Cathedral Authorities, who didn’t agree with charging admissions, the club was unable to afford the rent on the ground and was evicted in June 1893. The club's management had been searching for a new stadium since a previous eviction attempt in May 1892, so they were able to move to a new ground on Bank Street, three miles away in Clayton. However, it proved impossible though to take the two grandstands to the new ground, and they were sold for £100.