City's move to the Etihad

[Wilf Wild 1937]

I was all in favour of the move for the reasons others have outlined above, namely the size of Maine Road at the end due to it's
poor redevelopment and the fact that emotionally it had ceased to be Maine Road with the destruction of the old Kippax.

The one thing that made me really sad on the final day though was that we were saying goodbye to the home where we had
seen success in the past albeit a long time earlier. I remember watching Football Focus before going to the match and it said
"Today City say goodbye to Maine Road where they were twice champions of England" and thinking I bet we won't be able
to say that when we leave COMS in 80 years time. I bet we never win it there. We moved to Maine Road in 1923 and won the
FA Cup in 1934. So in 2003 in my own mind I set 2014 as the target date for our first trophy at the "new stadium".
I fully expected to be disappointed.

It's amazing how things have changed so quickly. As others have said we would never have been taken over if we had stayed at Maine Road.
I've supported City since I was a little kid in the Mercer-Allison era and have been going regularly since 1968-69 but I've got to say that
most of my positive memories of City have been at the Etihad. If I'm being honest Maine Road for me now looking back was really more
associated with failure and decline than success. For every LC semi-final win against Middlesborough in 1976 moment there were
two or three Luton 1983 moments. So do I miss Maine Road? I'd really like to stand on the Kippax one last time and see the
ground full with the old Platt Lane still in place but other than that no.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think we ever lifted the league trophy at Maine Road?

We won the League at St Andrews and at St James' didn't we?

You are right we never actually won the trophy at Maine Road but I think that they were referring to us playing there during the
seasons that we won it. I guess you could say we won the Cup Winners Cup whilst we were at Maine Road although the final was
in Vienna using similar logic but yes there were definitely no Aguero moments at Maine Road!

 

[kippaxkid74]

peoffrey made an interesting point in another thread that he can't remember any Blues really being deadset against the move, and I'm sort of similar. I can't remember any real widespread opposition to it rather small pockets here and there.

What were your thoughts on the move when you heard about it? Did they change after seeing the stadium built and we'd moved in? How long has it taken for you to think of it as "home"?

I was dead against the move, and pretty upset that it seemed no one else agreed with me! :(

I took leaving Maine Road very very very hard *cries*
(i blame my childhood myself!)

 

[Gary James]

I was all in favour of the move for the reasons others have outlined above, namely the size of Maine Road at the end due to it's
poor redevelopment and the fact that emotionally it had ceased to be Maine Road with the destruction of the old Kippax.

The one thing that made me really sad on the final day though was that we were saying goodbye to the home where we had
seen success in the past albeit a long time earlier. I remember watching Football Focus before going to the match and it said
"Today City say goodbye to Maine Road where they were twice champions of England" and thinking I bet we won't be able
to say that when we leave COMS in 80 years time. I bet we never win it there. We moved to Maine Road in 1923 and won the
FA Cup in 1934. So in 2003 in my own mind I set 2014 as the target date for our first trophy at the "new stadium".
I fully expected to be disappointed.

It's amazing how things have changed so quickly. As others have said we would never have been taken over if we had stayed at Maine Road.
I've supported City since I was a little kid in the Mercer-Allison era and have been going regularly since 1968-69 but I've got to say that
most of my positive memories of City have been at the Etihad. If I'm being honest Maine Road for me now looking back was really more
associated with failure and decline than success. For every LC semi-final win against Middlesborough in 1976 moment there were
two or three Luton 1983 moments. So do I miss Maine Road? I'd really like to stand on the Kippax one last time and see the
ground full with the old Platt Lane still in place but other than that no.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think we ever lifted the league trophy at Maine Road?

We won the League at St Andrews and at St James' didn't we?

You are right we never actually won the trophy at Maine Road but I think that they were referring to us playing there during the
seasons that we won it. I guess you could say we won the Cup Winners Cup whilst we were at Maine Road although the final was
in Vienna using similar logic but yes there were definitely no Aguero moments at Maine Road!

The 1936-37 League title was actually won at Maine Road with a 4-1 victory over Sheff Wed. It was followed by, of course., a pitch invasion and the manager & chairman made speeches on the pitch. The trophy wasn't presented until the League AGM (although the League had offered to present it at the final game, away to Birmingham, but City had said that that was not the appropriate/traditional way. Amazing how things change. In 1968 the trophy was presented at Maine Road at a friendly with Bury.

 

[Bill]

I couldn't wait for the move. its 5 mins from ours.

 

[Wilf Wild 1937]

I get what you're saying, but I don't think we ever lifted the league trophy at Maine Road?

We won the League at St Andrews and at St James' didn't we?

You are right we never actually won the trophy at Maine Road but I think that they were referring to us playing there during the
seasons that we won it. I guess you could say we won the Cup Winners Cup whilst we were at Maine Road although the final was
in Vienna using similar logic but yes there were definitely no Aguero moments at Maine Road!

The 1936-37 League title was actually won at Maine Road with a 4-1 victory over Sheff Wed. It was followed by, of course., a pitch invasion and the manager & chairman made speeches on the pitch. The trophy wasn't presented until the League AGM (although the League had offered to present it at the final game, away to Birmingham, but City had said that that was not the appropriate/traditional way. Amazing how things change. In 1968 the trophy was presented at Maine Road at a friendly with Bury.

I stand corrected! It seems a shame from a 21st century viewpoint that the trophy wasn't presented after the Sheff Wed game.
I'm sure that the supporters of the day would have loved it just as much as we did. Good to see that we are still following the
club's tradition of pitch invasions though.

 

[its a Barm]

miss maine road, miss the kippax even more, but dont regret the move it was the right thing to do.

 

[Innsbruckblue]

Had many great years on the kippax, but amazingly can't remember my last game at Maine Road. I was completely for moving to the new stadium as I felt we really needed it to move forwards. Was proven correct, eventually. Not been to COMS much due to moving abroad 2 days after the UEFA cup game against TNS, which was my first game there, but it still takes my breath away when I do visit.

 

[Allendintiers]

Was it ever documented the reasons why united turned it down? Surely the capacity was negotiable at the building or planning stage.

 

[IanBishopsHaircut]

My one regret about leaving Maine Rd was not taking a screwdriver for my seat at the Southampton game...tried brute force...failed miserably

 

[supercity88]

It was gutting to have to leave Maine Road but the chance to move to a brand new stadium was pretty exciting and the first season was great in terms of attendances. With the football on offer and the ever greying facade things seemed to get a bit souless on matchdays and I longed to be back at Maine Road. It's improved no end thanks to our owners putting in work to revamp and make the matchdays better. We've had amazing moments and memories there and the only thing left to acknowledge and resolve is the atmosphere which will hopefully improve when the cheaper tier of the south stand opens.