Maine Road 100

[Gary James]

One surprising fact about Maine Road was in our Championship winning season in 1967/8, our average attendance was only just over 36,000, some games in the high twenties. This when we had the most exciting team in the league.

Lots of factors behind it. As a historian interested in the social history of Manchester one area I’ve looked at is on the slum clearance programme of the 60s in east Manchester which pushed City’s support from Gorton, Bradford etc and pushed it out to new estates in Hattersley, Gamesley and Haughton Green. Some simply could not afford the extra cost or time of travelling to Maine Rd.

Also, it was only a couple of years after a City director had actually gone to OT asking for a merger saying Manchester wasn’t big enough for two teams. A City director!