There are plenty of iconic football stadiums in the world, and a good chunk of them are right here in England, but one might just be the most iconic of them all: Manchester United's Old Trafford.
The home of the Red Devils has seen plenty of historic moments in its long history and still serves as one of the best places to watch the beautiful game anywhere in the world.
With that in mind, Football FanCast has everything you need to know about Old Trafford.
History
The construction of Old Trafford was completed 113 years ago in 1910, and despite several renovations, the stadium still stands on the same piece of ground all these years later.
The stadium came to be thanks to then-club chairman John Henry Davies and Scottish architect Archibald Leitch. Davies chose the plot of land in which the stadium would be built, fronted up the £60,000 cost and allowed Leitch to complete what would become one of the most iconic stadiums in the world.
Interestingly, the original plans would have seen the capacity reach 100,000, but costs meant that it had to be reduced to 80,000.
The first game played at the stadium took place in 1910 against Liverpool, but the visitors emerged 4-3 winners. Similarly, the first international game was played against Scotland, and once again, the visitors came out on top, this time winning 1-0.
Since its opening, Old Trafford has seen United lift 19 titles, two Second Division titles, 11 FA Cups, six League Cups, 21 Charity/Community Shields, three Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Europa League, one UEFA Super Cup, one FIFA Club World Cup, and one Intercontinental Cup – not bad going, really.
With all that success, it's not surprising that Sir Bobby Charlton called the place The Theatre of Dreams.
Old Trafford capacity
With Old Trafford housing arguably the biggest team in world football, it only makes sense for them to have the biggest stadium in the country.
Wembley Stadium is the only football stadium with a bigger capacity than the Theatre of Dreams. In fact, Old Trafford can fit over 10,000 more fans in than the next biggest stadium – the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Wembley Stadium
90,000
2007
Old Trafford
74,031
1910
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
62,850
2019
London Stadium
62,500
2012
Emirates Stadium
60,704
2006
How to get to Old Trafford by train
If you are travelling to Old Trafford from outside of Manchester, then getting the train into Manchester Piccadilly is your best option, and from there, you can get the tram to the Old Trafford tram stop and walk past the cricket ground. Alternatively, you can travel to Pomona, which is just a 15-minute walk from the stadium's entrance.
There are also frequent buses from Piccadilly Station to Chester Road, which will leave you with a five-minute walk to the entrance.
How to get to Old Trafford by car
Driving to Old Trafford from Manchester Airport will take around 20 minutes, while it will take approximately ten minutes from Manchester Piccadilly and around four hours from central London. However, these journeys will likely take far longer on matchdays, so you should look to leave far earlier than usual.
While you can park at the ground for free on non-matchdays, you'll need to book car parking tickets from here when the game is on.
If you cannot get tickets for the car park, then you can try Salford Quays Lowry Mall, which is just a ten-minute walk away from the stadium and should be much cheaper than street parking – if there is any available.
How to get away tickets at Old Trafford
If you're coming to Old Trafford to watch your team take on Manchester United, you'll have one of the 3,000 tickets allocated for away fans.
You'll be sat in the southeast corner of the stadium in the Lower South Stand and South East corners, which have very good views of the action with no seats being obstructed.
