When did Manchester try to build a 'Wembley of the North'?
In the late 1980s Manchester bid to host the 1996 Olympic Games, proposing an 80,000 seater stadium on a greenfield site in West Manchester. Those Olympics were awarded to Atlanta instead, with Manchester's focus shifting to the 2000 games when the location for the proposed stadium moved east to Eastlands, a derelict area ripe for regeneration.
By 1992, with new government legislation for urban renewal opening up funds to purchase the site, plans were well under way, but Sydney handed awarded the 2000 Olympics and Manchester turned its attention to the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
There was a proposal to the Millennium Commission for the stadium to become a Millennium Stadium but that was turned down. In 1995 Manchester won the right to host the Commonwealths at the Eastlands site.
So in 1996 Manchester bid for £150m of government funding for a national stadium at a time when the future of Wembley being discussed. Manchester proposed that the Commonwealth Gams stadium could be reconfigured into a national football stadium to rival or even replace Wembley.
That bid was rejected in 1997, with the final design for the stadium watered down to a 38,000-seater arena for the Commonwealth Games. Some aspects of the original Olympics design were retained with the now-iconic spires that wrap around the Etihad a key feature of the design that was shelved.
Former City chairman David Bernstein, writing in his new autobiography, explained: "there had been suggestions that Manchester should become the home of the new ‘National Stadium’ when the old Wembley was demolished in 2000. Unlike Birmingham, which became the main challenger to a redeveloped Wembley, Manchester would already have a stadium. However, this was a race Wembley would easily win."
The rebuild of Wembley cost more than £800m and encountered years of delays. Manchester built the City of Manchester Stadium for £110m and then converted it to a football ground. The original 80,000-seat design had been costed at £150m.
How did Man City get the City of Manchester Stadium?
Bernstein said that City were in the right place at the right time, taking advantage of the authorities' desire for the stadium to be in regular use after the games. City were looking to leave Maine Road, but didn't have to.
"I think we saw an opportunity with the Commonwealth Games and the fact the city of Manchester wanted a first-class stadium for the Commonwealth Games," he said. "We took a very strong negotiating position considering we had a very weak hand to play and said, look, yes, we would love to do it, but it's got to be blue, it's got to be a proper stadium with real supporters.
"It can't have an athletics track afterwards. And we could hold 34,000 people at Maine Road so we will only pay a rental on the attendances above 34,000. We got all those things and more."
In his new book, Bernstein reveals how the original designs for the football stadium after conversion were for a larger capacity.
He wrote: "In those early days of discussions, the stadium’s capacity was set at around 60,000. I suggested it should be nearer 70,000. I wrote:
‘This capacity might enable lower prices to be charged, thereby maximising the chances of filling the stadium for major non-MCFC events. A smaller capacity (say 50,000) could enhance the perception that the stadium is being built for MCFC as opposed to being “The Stadium of the North”.’"
Who paid for the City of Manchester Stadium?
Bernstein explained: "The council and Sport England paid the capital costs of the stadium and we paid for its fitting-out to become a football ground."
Comments from board member Alistair Mackintosh in the book note that City took a loan of £43m for the conversion. Reporting has since suggested that the council spent £22m of taxpayers money on removing the running track, converting the stadium to a football ground, and City took over the stadium in 2003 on a 250-year lease.
Why is City's situation different to Sir Jim Ratcliffe's proposal?
It is, and it isn't. Ratcliffe wants public money to fund a possible new stadium, which will cost significantly more than the Etihad did. It's true that City's stadium was built using some public funds but it is not truly comparable to Ratcliffe's plans until he outlines exactly how he intends to fund any new stadium. To be comparable to the Etihad, there would have to be significant reinvestment into the local area.
The Etihad was built using money from government grants, Sport England funding and from the council with City spending money to convert it to a football stadium. Money raised from City's rental agreement is directly paid back to supporting sports facilities in east Manchester and elsewhere in the city.
It is understood that this is part of a ‘waterfall’ arrangement where profits from sports facilities created for the Commonwealth Games in Manchester support and sustain any non-profit-making sports facilities.
Schemes created from this include the East Manchester Leisure Centre in Beswick, the Clayton Vale mountain bike trail, the BMX track at the National Cycling Centre and the National Basketball performance centre in Belle Vue.
So the council can justify their outlay on the stadium because it was not initially built for football, it has been in constant use since 2002, and the significant rent paid by City must be repaid into local schemes as part of the arrangement.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham discussed Ratcliffe's ambitions recently, and the comparison to the Etihad, saying: "I have supported City and the city region has supported Manchester City and they have put a lot of funding into East Manchester and that should be recognised.
As I stated previously, Westminster stiffed Manchester to protect the viability of Wembley. If the Trafford Tramp wants to rebuild Old Toilet, then fine. HOWEVER, with him being a Billionaire, & ManUre being a private enterprise, they can fuck right off with wanting public money to fund their new stadium.
The Government should tell Scruffy Jim to dig deep & fund the fucker himself! ¯\_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯
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