Man City vs Man Utd: 5 Incidents Where Citizens Have Inadvertently Aided Their Rivals

4. Maine Road

Maine Road In 1945, the end of the Second World War signalled the return of the footballing calendar. Unfortunately for United, they were in dire straits financially and in need of a temporary home due to Old Trafford suffering from bomb damage in 1941. They had already been using Maine Road for the sporadic war-time fixtures since the damage occurred, and so continued on a more formal basis, renting the stadium for the token sum of £15,000 per year (around £175,000 today), plus a portion of the gate receipts, until when Old Trafford was functioning again in 1949. In the period that United spent at the stadium, Sir Matt Busby was beginning to assemble his €˜Babes€™ and they enjoyed some moderate success; winning the F.A. Cup, finishing second in the First Division three years in a row and actually recording their highest ever attendance, when in January 1948, 83,260 people turned up to watch them play Arsenal in the league. Surprisingly though, this isn€™t the record attendance at Maine Road, as 84,569 had turned up to see City entertain Stoke in a cup match 14 years earlier, which still remains the English record attendance for a football match outside of London. A final fact on the subject; United€™s record victory €“ a 10-0 thrashing of Anderlecht in a European Cup tie on 26th September 1956 €“ was also played at Maine Road, due to the fact that Old Trafford didn€™t boast floodlights at the time.
Contributor
Contributor

Originally from Manchester, I'm currently residing in Melbourne as part of a round the world trip that I embarked on in November 2011. I primarily write on football and I'm a lifelong Man City fan and current season ticket holder. I'll try to share my views from an unbiased perspective, but I can't promise anything.