A visit to Manchester is not complete without a tour Old Trafford, home of the
world-famous Manchester United football team, writes Lokman Mansor
“WELCOME to Old Trafford! We’re all Manche ster United fans here, yes?” asks Graham Simmonds at the start of the behindthe- scenes look at the biggest football ground in the English football league, currently seating over 75,500 fans.
With him is Dave Curry; both are two of the many able guides at the venue.
They regale the mixed crew of writers from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Australia, United Arab Emirates and India with their extensive knowledge of the stadium, the club, its history, and colourful anecdotes of the players and coaches, sprinkled with a healthy dose of English humour.
We are on a media visit organised by Qatar Airways and VisitBritain.
Also known as the Theatre of Dreams, the grand sporting venue is more than 100 years old.
Since construction began in 1910, the hallowed grounds and the club itself have both created and witnessed history.
Over the years, Manchester United has won 20 league titles, the most of any English club, a joint-record 11 FA Cups, four League Cups, and a record 20 FA Community Shields.
The club also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
In 1998-99, the club achieved a treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester United is the secondrichest football club in the world for the period 2013-14 in terms of revenue, with an annual revenue of ?518 million (RM2.6 billion) and the world’s third most valuable football club in 2014, valued at US$2.81 billion (RM12.4 billion).
It is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world.
A 2011 study by market research company Kantar, which polled nearly 54,000 adults in 39 countries, concluded that Manchester United has a global following of 659 million! Of this figure, roughly half live in the Asia Pacific region, 173 million in the Middle East and Africa, 90 million in Europe and 71 million in the Americas.
Old Trafford was badly damaged during World War II but, after a petition by fans to expedite rebuilding of the grounds was accepted, the Reds ran out on the field again on Aug 24, 1949 to face Bolton Wanderers.
The devils won 3-0.
As United surged from strength to strength during the 1960s, the stadium underwent a radical transformation.
The ground underwent a costly and fashionable facelift, and forged the luxurious stadium we see today.
Old Trafford featured the first private boxes in British football.
In 1967, after careful consideration, its directors invested £1,000 in a small wooden hut for use as a souvenir shop on Old Trafford’s forecourt.
Little did they know the huge impact that merchandising would one day have on the club’s finances.
Last year about 1.49 million Manchester United shirts were sold worldwide, earning £81.95 million (RM548 million) in revenue!
FAMILY OPEN DAY
The behind-the-scenes tour itself evolved from one of the popular innovations at Old Trafford: The family open day.
The trend continued with the opening of the United Visitors’ Centre.
The club als o introduced a family stand, a seated section to which adults were admitted only if accompanied by a child.
The stadium also houses the club museum, believed to be the first of its kind.
Opened in May 1986, the collection of memorabilia has grown and attracted United disciples everywhere.
CHANGING ROOM
One of the highlights for visitors during the guided tour is a visit to the players’ changing room where their jerseys hang on their respective seats.
The changing room has two whiteboards to discuss tactics, and a flatscreen TV to view match clips.
During match day the fridge will be full of drinks, on top of which will also have bananas, cakes and energy biscuits.
“The changing room is not soundproof.
The players can hear the crowd cheering upstairs as they get changed,” Dave points out.
The players’ shower area (off limits during the tour for safety reasons, apparently) comprise six individual showers, three normal size baths, and two toilets.
“One of the small changes that Louis van Gaal (Manchester United’s current manager) has made since he got here is that he made the players sit in numerical order, all 11 players and seven substitutes for every match.
The reason why van Gaal did that is because he didn’t want the English or Dutch or Spanish players sitting together,” Dave tells us.
In a moment of jest, he says one of the questions he gets asked the most is where Cristiano Ronaldo spent most of his time when he played at the club.
He points to a full length mirror in the corner: “We got it put in just for him”.
After a century of nips, tucks and occasional rebuilds, the home of Manchester United proves to be as it always has been, fit for a club that insists on being at the frontier of everything.