Largely forgotten now, but the club made an absolute balls up of the naming of the West Stand when we moved to this stadium. I rather fear that this time we'll get some dreadful gimmicky marketing-based nonsense cooked up based on online consultation with, primarily, people who've never been near east Manchester - instead of something meaningful in terms of the heritage of the club. (Yes, I'm in full 'grumpy old bastard' mode today).
As for the South Stand, I can understand why people are slightly dubious about naming stands after a person. After all, it rather encourages the kind of situation we've seen at Molineux, where, when the ground was rebuilt in the 1990s, they named all the stands after important Wolves figures - and they've since stripped two of them of the honour so that they can name those stands after other people!
Nonetheless, I'm firmly for The Bert Trautmann Stand. I don't look at it from the point of view purely of what he did for the club, either, but what he meant in the football world. He exemplifies what our owner and key stakeholders profess to want MCFC to be all about. He was recognised by contemporaries as easily the best player in his position in Britain for most of his career, and was known across Europe as a genuinely world class player - he was cited as such, for instance, by the goalkeeper often named the greatest ever to play the game, who made it clear he regarded Bert as an equal - and is arguably the only player we ever had before the ADUG era to gain that kind of recognition. He's associated with one of the most iconic episodes of English football's showpiece occasion.
However, his story transcends football. He was awarded the OBE for promoting Anglo-German understanding through football, and the way he achieved that in the face of the hostility he encountered after joining City was truly a remarkable feat. Indoctrinated as a kid by one of the most evil regimes the world has seen, he credited the people of the north west of England, and Manchester in particular, as "special people" who'd given him his "education", showing the affinity he developed for us and our City.
For me, the bottom line is that if we name that stand after Bert, we make a powerful statement about the values we aspire to have as a club. There's no one else about whom that can be said in both on-field and off-field terms.
I know when we moved to the new ground, the stands were originally given the bland, unimaginative names they currently bear because the intention was for the fans to name one and the other three to be named after sponsors paying for the privilege. However, I assume that's not in prospect now that the position with regard to stadium naming rights has changed. As far as I'm aware (though I stand to be corrected), most grounds that are referred to by a sponsor's name don't see naming rights to stands.
As an alternative to naming stands after people, I always liked the idea of the Gasworks End and the Colliery End for the two ends at our place in a nod to our industrial heritage. I fancied the Maine Stand for the West Stand as well, in a nod to our spiritual home.
I agree with what you say about Bert Trautmann,OBE. I also agree that a stand should be named after him and have suggested in a previous post that this should be the North Stand. I would also go further and suggest that each time we play a German side at home in the Champions League the club should organise a special fundraising effort on the day / night and that half the proceeds go to City in the Community and the other half to the Trautmann Foundation.
THE COLIN BELL STAND (West) has already been named.
These are suggestions for the other three, to be named when the time is right to maximise PR and positive exposure.
(1) THE ARDWICK END (South) - for the reasons below.
(2) THE KIPPAX (East) - self explanatory.
(3) THE TRAUTMANN END (North) - for the reasons you and others have set out.
Reasons for the THE ARDWICK END
* MANCHESTER CITY FC were formed in 1894 from Ardwick AFC (CITY evolved from St Mark`s but did not play in Gorton).
* the Headquarters of Manchester City FC, where the club was formed was the Hyde Road Hotel in Ardwick (not Gorton).
* MANCHESTER CITY`s first ground was formerly that of Ardwick`s, located off Hyde Road, Ardwick. CITY played in ARDWICK for longer than what they have played at the City of Manchester / Etihad Stadium.
* the site of CITY`s first ground can still be seen from a main railway line into Piccadilly Station and from Ardwick Railway Station; The Etihad can be seen from Ardwick Station; both City`s first ground site and current stadium can be seen from Ardwick Station.
* Ardwick, as an area, is south west of the South Stand ,walking distance from THE ETIHAD where thousands pass through to every home match, and can be seen from the new stand. The landmark of Nicholls Ardwick High School now the Nicholls Campus of Manchester College, can be seen from the current South Stand - the site of City`s first ground was not very far away.
* the name of ARDWICK resonates with CITY`s history; CITY moved from Ardwick (not Gorton) to Maine Road.
* the district of Ardwick is well known (Ardwick Green, Ardwick Apollo,Ardwick Lads` Club, Fort Ardwick (Coverdale Crescent) and will always exist in Manchester.
* The name easily lends itself to songs and chants.
* the 1894 Group will be going from strength to strength in the new end (they did not use the date of 1880 for St Mark`s but 1894 for Manchester City FC) - 1894 was when CITY were formed from ARDWICK.
* Manchester City FC as a club, team and legal entity (not any of its predecessors with different names) started and played in ARDWICK.
* ARDWICK links the past, present and the future and resonates more than any other South Stand alternative.
Incidentally, I am not from Ardwick though my father, as a boy, use to travel from Denton to watch City play at Hyde Road, Ardwick, with his older cousins until City moved to Maine Road in 1923. They use to watch the second half only as they could not afford the full price for 90 minutes.
