5 English football ground names and their history
Have you ever wondered why Everton's stadium, home of the Toffees, is called Goodison Park? Do you know why Manchester United had to move out of Old Trafford and where they went to? Why does Newcastle United’s St James’ Park have a stand called the Gallowgate end?
In this feature, we list 5 of the most intriguing and famous ground names and their reasons behind them.
#1 Manchester United – Old Trafford, Capacity – 75,643
Old Trafford perhaps unsurprisingly, is named as such, as it is built in an area of the same name – Old Trafford in Greater Manchester, England.
United’s ground can hold 75,643 people. This makes it the second-largest football ground in the United Kingdom behind Wembley stadium. It is also only half a mile from Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire Cricket Club.
Archibald Leitch a well respected Football ground architect, who had also designed Stamford Bridge (Chelsea’s ground), Ibrox (Glasgow Rangers), Celtic Park (Glasgow Celtic) and Craven Cottage (Fulham FC) among others, was hired to design and build the stadium.
Before 1902, United were called Newton Heath and played at grounds in Clayton known as North Road and Bank Street. They were almost declared bankrupt but were saved by a man named John Henry Davies, who then renamed them Manchester United. Also, as chairman, he decided that they needed a ground more befitting of First Division and FA Cup winners and set about finding a site for a new stadium.
Once he’d found a patch of land near the Bridgewater canal in Old Trafford, he contributed money in order to build it. Construction was completed and it has been United’s home since 1910.
Did you know?
A little-known fact about Old Trafford is that it was actually Sir Bobby Charlton that nicknamed it “The Theatre of Dreams” a name synonymous with the stadium today.
Between 1941 and 1949 the club ground was shared with their fierce local rivals Manchester City at Maine Road, due to Old Trafford being damaged by bombs during the Second World War.