Maine Road or Etihad

Think many in here are missing their youth rather than just Maine Road.

The Etihad and it's infrastructure is absolutely better.

Younger blues going to the Etihad now will reminisce about it when they're older too.
 
Incidentally, Ali Benarbia was on French radio a few years ago, doing a commentary job (he works regularly for RMC, always worth listening to his analyses). He got on to talking about Maine Road and its atmosphere. He'd never known anything like it elsewhere. He specifically mentioned the Kippax, I believe. He clearly holds his City years in great affection.
 
I’m an oldish **** with and I love Maine Road, with every part of my body. The Etihad is superb, but watching us at Maine Road throughout the ups and downs, is something that will never ever be bettered. The area, the ground, the atmosphere was just amazing and something that I can’t put into words to describe. 3 things made me a city fan, my dad, my godfather and my first ever match at Maine Road.
 
I liken it to the mates you grow up with compared to mates in later life.

I talk to my mates now about all sorts of issues and seek advice. I've been on weekends away with them more than my growing up mates and would confide in them now before my old mates (I moved away from mcr at 21).

I'll always remember my old mates more fondly though because the first time I went to high school, the first time I kissed a girl, the first time I got drunk was all with them and some of those memories can never be replaced.

Nostalgia and longing means some people (including me) will never prefer the Etihad over Maine Road regardless of how many great days we have there.

I felt like Maine Road was mine somehow. I never worried that I wouldn't get in, never felt like I'd get in any trouble. The 5-1 derby is etched into my memory, the bananas, the Wigan play off game, the Birmingham Friday night match a year later, Liverpool at home when White scored twice, Niall Quinn's penalty save, sending Sunderland and their horde of fans down, the "Red Devils" parachute team being roundly booed off the pitch prior to the first ever Monday Night Football against QPR, the Kippax last stand against Chelsea, trying to get out of a Kippax tunnel after an FA Cup win against Barnsley and the noise echoing, deafening, Tottenham blitzing us in the quarter final when we thought it was our year, Oasis blowing the lid off on consecutive days, the feeling of despair a week later when we went down, the bloke who streaked against Bury and got one of the biggest cheers of the season, getting two buses straight there after being kicked out by my Dad and buying a ticket for an away match that I couldn't afford, the air of optimism after annihilating Blackpool on the first day in Division 2, going into the final season knowing the end was near, the last derby being one of the best atmospheres ever and then the weird feeling on the last day knowing when you walked out - you'd never walk back in.

If a genie gave me 3 wishes, I'd have the ability to pull whatever money I needed out of my pocket, eternal happiness for my family and then players such as Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Yaya, Zabaleta, KDB and Fernandinho to run out in front of a packed Kippax Street Stand to the roar of a terrace full of blues including yours truly.
 
Cellarite said:
I liken it to the mates you grow up with compared to mates in later life.

I talk to my mates now about all sorts of issues and seek advice. I've been on weekends away with them more than my growing up mates and would confide in them now before my old mates (I moved away from mcr at 21).

I'll always remember my old mates more fondly though because the first time I went to high school, the first time I kissed a girl, the first time I got drunk was all with them and some of those memories can never be replaced.

Nostalgia and longing means some people (including me) will never prefer the Etihad over Maine Road regardless of how many great days we have there.

I felt like Maine Road was mine somehow. I never worried that I wouldn't get in, never felt like I'd get in any trouble. The 5-1 derby is etched into my memory, the bananas, the Wigan play off game, the Birmingham Friday night match a year later, Liverpool at home when White scored twice, Niall Quinn's penalty save, sending Sunderland and their horde of fans down, the "Red Devils" parachute team being roundly booed off the pitch prior to the first ever Monday Night Football against QPR, the Kippax last stand against Chelsea, trying to get out of a Kippax tunnel after an FA Cup win against Barnsley and the noise echoing, deafening, Tottenham blitzing us in the quarter final when we thought it was our year, Oasis blowing the lid off on consecutive days, the feeling of despair a week later when we went down, the bloke who streaked against Bury and got one of the biggest cheers of the season, getting two buses straight there after being kicked out by my Dad and buying a ticket for an away match that I couldn't afford, the air of optimism after annihilating Blackpool on the first day in Division 2, going into the final season knowing the end was near, the last derby being one of the best atmospheres ever and then the weird feeling on the last day knowing when you walked out - you'd never walk back in.

If a genie gave me 3 wishes, I'd have the ability to pull whatever money I needed out of my pocket, eternal happiness for my family and then players such as Aguero, Silva, Kompany, Yaya, Zabaleta, KDB and Fernandinho to run out in front of a packed Kippax Street Stand to the roar of a terrace full of blues including yours truly.
Click to expand...

Great post mate !
 
red 2 hats said:
As a stadium the Etihad pisses all over Maine Road, but that is it.
Maine Road had everything else over the Etihad, great memories, nostalgia, 4 stands that didn't match up, it was unique, hostile environment ( sometimes ) the smell of burgers and booze, I'd get a tingle as I approached it on a match day, I was excited and nervous, the ginnels, so many pubs, the beehive, parkside, Sherwood, clarence, Albert, Claremont plus others, we even had a social club.
We didn't expect the club to put on a match day experience, we went for the match, we created our own memories, we had golden goal and we listened with interest for half time scores and a manual update of the scoreboard, checking who was game ABC etc, we collected tokens just in case we ever got to a semi or a final.
Maine Road was my youth and growing up years and I wouldn't swap them for anything, loved it and miss it in equal measures.
Click to expand...
Maine Road has great memories but the Etihad doesn't?
 
I have been to more games at the Etihad as I only got my seasonticket in 2007. I still miss Maine Road and some of the earliest memories of my life are from City games there. The roofless new Kippax match against Spurs was my first game and it was a 5-2 win. I wasn't at the last derby or the match against Southampton but I saw the last ever City goal there against Sunderland and was at the last night match against Fulham.
 
Nebuchadnezzar said:
I have been to more games at the Etihad as I only got my seasonticket in 2007. I still miss Maine Road and some of the earliest memories of my life are from City games there. The roofless new Kippax match against Spurs was my first game and it was a 5-2 win. I wasn't at the last derby or the match against Southampton but I saw the last ever City goal there against Sunderland and was at the last night match against Fulham.
Click to expand...
The Spurs 5-2. Wow. What a day that was.
 
I have an affinity for shit old grounds built in the middle of rows and rows of red brick terraced houses. They have a buzz around them that modern stadia will never replicate. But the fact is that if we still had such a ground we would be desperate to move as the world has moved on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.