Does anyone wish we still played at Maine Road and why?

I miss Maine Road but it would have to be pre umbro stand. That was the start of the downsize for me. Things seemed to shrink from that point onwards. Even the expectations of the club. By the time it got to the Gene Kelly stand it was a badly thought out, silly, looking stadium. The saving grace was that the atmosphere was always there.
 
Gareth Barry Conlon said:
Cheap, cheap and cheap. Didn't link at the corners, apart from the temporary stand that was also shit. Just looked out of place as was nothinglike the rest of it. And at that point capacity was only 35k. People forget that it was so limited by the end.
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You used to get 35k in the Kippax (standing) and North Stand on a good day.
 
DD said:
Nostalgia is great. It allows you to default to the highlights reel and forget the rest of the game.

Much as I loved Maine Road and cherish the memories, times change, and the older I get, the more I appreciate better comfort and much better views.

It's a part of my history that I'd never change, but the Etihad is home now and has been for a very long time.

I'm happy with my proverbial detached house with a big garden and all it's given me. Despite the great times I had there, I don't miss my old terraced house with the outdoor shitter.
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Cant imagine many blues miss the Kippax bogs at the external walls.
One thing I do miss is the big space between turnstiles and Kippax stand. Much less cramped pre match or HT than concourses.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
Different times from the 60’s. How many walked there? How many caught public transport and how many came in their own vehicles. I doubt back in the 60’s even 5,000 came in their own vehicles. Now you’d be looking at 20,000 plus vehicles looking for somewhere to park.
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I used to catch the MAYNES coach from Mossley/Ashton.
Some windows got put in after a wet spam game.
 
Yes, but in an Evertonesque style new stadium, that captures the essence of the original, brought into the 21st Century. Borrow the CoMS whilst it was built, et voila.

Maine Road just felt so 'City'.
 
Eaststander1 said:
Some games at Maine Road produced an atmosphere to match that at any English ground ..... Boro League Cup ..... Everton FA cup .... a few derbies with United.... beating Liverpool 2-1, White both goals ....... but granted, it wasn't always like that .
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The 2-1 win against liverpool doesnt get talked about enough in terms of great maine road nights.

Balmy august evening. Home debut for the new record signing(ooh curley wurley) and a thrilling win against the perennial champions.

Theres a brilliant shot of whitey running away after the second goal with the full length kippax going mental behind him. Limbs and then some.

Obviously it was another false dawn but what a night.
 
A thousand times yes.
The Beehive
The Claremont
The Whitty
The Welcome
Not like the beer desert we have landed in now. The Boro semi final the best night watching City anywhere. Something died in me when we left Moss Side and I can't seem to get it back.
 
I was quite tall, so a combination of covered terrace all the way down one side meant you got a great view and a great atmosphere at a very cheap price.
It was pretty uncommon as most stadiums had terraces that were uncovered or at the ends and the sides were the more expensive seated areas.

As a geriatric I like my seat at the Etihad.
 
I used to love the Maine Road stadium as it was after the construction of the North Stand. However it all went downhill after that. I was not there to see it happen as I moved away from Manchester in 1977 and had a young family with limited funds to travel back then.

I hoped that the design of the North Stand would be continued all the way around. Instead we go the monstrosity of the Umbro Stand which had a lot of executive boxes but had fewer seats than the old Platt Lane Stand. The final insult was the new Kippax Stand that despite being guargantuan had a ridiculously low capacity but plenty of executive boxes. The top tier had TWO rows of seats!

This left a stadium of around 30,000 capacity which wasn't even big enough when City were in the third tier. They had to add an 'open air' quirky appendix to squeeze the nominal capacity up to 35,000. It was like a Frankenstein's monster of a stadium at the end with four stands all of a different design and concept.

Peter Swales must accept the blame for all this. I know that the Kippax development happened under Francis Lee but there was insufficient time for the redesign that Lee apparently wanted. The PL all-seater rule was coming in and there was no dispensation for extension going to be given.

From that point onwards, City were always going to leave Maine Road, preferably sooner rather than later. Fortunately the Commonwealth Games meant that it came sooner.
 
eastmanc said:
I'm 61 and was attending Maine Road from 1973 and the only success I can remember was the League Cup semi in 76 against Middlesbrough, great night though it was. Maine Road reminded me of relegation and the odd good win, although 77 was a good season when we were First Division runners up. I would much rather have what we've had since the takeover where I have witnessed some of the greatest achievements and the best football as well as seeing some fabulous footballers. Also you could smell the bogs from the Kippax and by the end the ground had become a patchwork quilt of a stadium.
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A lot of folk remarking how Maine Rd lost its soul after the Kippax was demolished and I would agree to an extent. Remember however the Wigan play off in 99 and the Birmingham game 12 months later, two of the greatest Maine Rd atmospheres I can ever remember.
 
Its going be a age thing ain't it really I expect,, I started going mid 82,,first season ticket 83-84,,,,i was 10 and I loved the place,,, me personally I'd go back there in a heart beat the standing kippax was the best memories of my life, we just have to accept it now and yer getting a totally different mix of fans,,, most folk who went marine Rd were basically skint,,, not the case at the Ethihad
 
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