Old Trafford is an all-seater football stadium located in Greater Manchester, England. Old Trafford is the home ground of the English Premier League team Manchester United and has 76,212 seats. It is the second largest football stadium in England after Wembley Stadium. The stadium is also the third largest in the UK and the eleventh largest in Europe. Old Trafford is also one of the two UEFA five-star football stadiums in England, so it can host the finals of the UEFA Champions League and the European Football Championship. [3][4] The stadium is only 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) from Manchester Light Rail Station and Old Trafford Cricket Ground.

The stadium was nicknamed the "Dream Stage" by Bobby Charlton. Old Trafford has been the home stadium of Manchester United since 1910. It was attacked by German air raids during World War II and took eight years (1941 to 1949) to repair. As a result, Manchester United needed to move to the Maine Road Stadium of Manchester City, a club in the same city. The stadium underwent expansion projects in the 1990s and 2000s. The north, east and west stands have all been expanded to the second floor. In the future, there are plans to expand the south stand. The total capacity is expected to increase to 90,000 people. [5] The highest attendance for a football match at the stadium was set in 1939. Interestingly, this was not one of Manchester United's matches. It was an English FA Cup semi-final between Gansbee and Wolves. A total of 76,962 spectators attended the event. [1]

The stadium often hosted FA Cup semi-finals and England national football team matches before Wembley Stadium was rebuilt. Old Trafford has also hosted many major events such as the 1966 World Cup, the 1996 European Football Championship and the 2003 UEFA Champions League final. In addition to being a football stadium, the stadium has also hosted rugby matches such as the 2000 Rugby League World Cup final.

Table of Contents[Hide]

1 History

1.1 Construction and Early Years

1.2 World War II Air Raid

1.3 Complete the master plan

1.4 Transform all seats

1.5 Expansion in 2006

2 Structure and facilities

3 The future

4 Other purposes

5 Records

6 Transportation

7 Reference materials

8 External connections

[edit] History

[edit] Construction and early days

A statue of the team's former coach Matt Busby is placed in front of the East Stand. Before 1902, Manchester United's predecessor Newton Heath plays on North Road and Bank Street in Clayton, but the course is often affected by nearby factories and the quality of the grass deteriorates. [6] Therefore, as the team changed its name and faced bankruptcy, the club's new chairman John Davis said that Bank Street was not suitable as the home stadium of a team that had won the First Division and the FA Cup, so he decided to be interested in a new stadium. to meet the needs of the team. [7] After a round of inspections, Davis decided to use a piece of land in Trafford near the Bridgewater Canal as the team's new home ground. [8]

The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect with great experience in designing stadiums. The stadium was originally designed to accommodate 100,000 people. A large stadium, the south stand has a roof and feature chairs, while the other stands are open-air stands. [9] Including the land purchase price, the original estimated total construction cost of the stadium was 60,000 pounds. However, due to rising costs, the stadium needed an additional ￡30,000 to become a large stadium with a capacity of 100,000 people, so the club decided to reduce the capacity to 80,000 to avoid a significant increase in project costs. [10][11] However, the staggering cost of this stadium has caused Manchester United to be called the "Rich United".

[12] Due to the huge construction cost, the chief architect Archibald Leitch had to write to the Cheshire Route Committee, which has a train route passing by the stadium, in May 1908, hoping to get a sum of 10,000 from the committee. sterling loan and promised to return 2,000 pounds per year for the next five years or half of the annual ticket revenue in exchange for the committee funding the construction of the stadium. Despite guarantees in the name of the club and two other breweries, the committee never approved the plan. [13] In response to the completion of the new stadium, the committee built a new railway station here, Trafford Park Station, but passenger traffic was lower than expected. [8]

The construction of the stadium was supervised by Morrison Brammeld, [14] and was officially completed at the end of 1909. The opening match of the stadium was held on February 19, 1910, when Manchester United faced their old rival Liverpool at home. However, the home team failed to present a victory to the fans. The away team defeated Manchester United 4-3 to win the game. According to a reporter at the time, it was the largest, most beautiful, spacious and most comfortable stadium he had ever seen. At the time, this stadium was indeed unrivaled and brought honor to Manchester United, the home team of the stadium. [10]

Before Wembley Stadium was built in 1923, many stadiums, including Old Trafford, had hosted the English FA Cup final. [15] The first FA Cup final held at Old Trafford was in 1911. After a 120-minute fierce battle at Crystal Palace between Bradford and Newcastle with no score, a rematch was decided at Old Trafford. Bradford defeated their opponents 1–0 in front of 58,000 spectators to win their first and only FA Cup title. [16] The second FA Cup final was held four years later in 1915. Sheffield United defeated Chelsea 3–0 and won the championship. The game attracted 50,000 fans, most of whom were from the army, because the final was called "the Khaki Cup Final". [17] On December 27, 1920, Old Trafford held a game with the largest attendance of Manchester United in the league before World War II. The Red Devils lost 1–3 to the Albanians in front of 70,504 fans. East Villa. [18] On April 17, 1926, the first international match was held at Old Trafford. England lost 0–1 to the visiting Scotland in front of 49,429 fans. [19][20] Unfortunately, the attendance record held by Old Trafford did not include Manchester United. An FA Cup semi-final between Camsby and Wolves was held on March 25, 1939. It is currently the most attended game at Old Trafford, with a total of 76,962 spectators attending the game. [1]

[edit] Air raids in World War II

In 1936, Manchester United spent a maintenance fee of ?35,000 to add an 80-yard long roof to the North Stand for the first time. , [21] Two years later, a cover was added to the south stand. [22] When World War II broke out, Old Trafford was requisitioned by the British army as a military camp and supply depot. [23] Although it was requisitioned, football matches were still held at the stadium. Until December 22, 1940, the German army bombed nearby Old Trafford Park, causing some damage to the stadium. The damage order will see Manchester United's match against Stow Harbor moved to Stow Harbor's home ground on Christmas Day. [23] After the repairs were completed, the Old Trafford Stadium was finally able to host games again on March 8, 1941, but three days later it was again hit by another round of German air raids and suffered more serious damage. Manchester United needs to find another stadium to play the game. [23] Under pressure from James Gillon, the War Damage Commission promised to compensate Manchester United ￡4,800 for clearing the debris and ￡17,478 for rebuilding the stadium. [21] During the reconstruction, Manchester United decided to borrow 5,000 pounds per year and part of the ticket revenue to borrow the Maine Road Stadium, the home of the same city club Manchester City, as the team's acting home stadium. [24] At the time the club still had debts of approximately ￡15,000 and was apparently unable to support the loan of the Maine Road stadium. Some people have asked the government for increased compensation, but unfortunately they have received no request.

[21] In 1949, Old Trafford finally reopened its doors after being closed for nearly 10 years. [25] Manchester United finally returned to Old Trafford for a game on August 24, 1949, and defeated Bolton 3–0 in front of 41,748 people, giving Old Trafford the most beautiful moment. Open gifts. [26]

The Stretford section in the early 1990s

[edit] Completion of the masterplan

The original roof of the main stand was completed in 1951 After the restoration was completed, roofs were added to the remaining three stands. Finally, in 1959, after the roof of the west stand was installed, all stands were covered. [22] The Red Devils also invested ?40,000 to install floodlights to qualify for European competitions held at night, so they no longer need to use Maine Road for games. In order to avoid double shadows being cast on the pitch, the roofs of two sections of the main stand were forced to be removed. [21] The first game that Manchester United needed to use floodlights was a League One match against Bolton on March 25, 1957. [14]

However, although spectators can enjoy the game at Old Trafford in the evening, the spectators are still blocked by the pillars supporting the roof, preventing them from watching the game. In anticipation of the 1966 World Cup, Manchester United decided to redesign the North Stand and East Stand in 1965 and remove the columns supporting the roof and replace them with modern cantilever columns. This move allows all spectators to fully enjoy the game without obstructions, [22] and increases the capacity of the United Road Stand to 20,000 people (10,000 seats and 10,000 booths). bit), the total cost of this project is ?350,000. [27] The design company of the new stand, Mather and Nutt (now Afton Furna) [14], rebuilt the open space in front of the stand into a large open-air terraced stand, which was added to the stand for the first time in a British football stadium. Set up a wing room. After two stands were converted to cantilever columns, the club owner came up with a long-term plan to convert the remaining two stands to cantilever columns and turn the stadium into a bowl-shaped stadium. [5] The club hopes that this project can focus the fans' voices on the stadium as much as possible, so that the players in the stadium can better feel the atmosphere and momentum of the stadium. [28] During this period, the stadium once again hosted its third English FA Cup final, with 62,078 spectators attending the venue to watch the replay of the 1970 FA Cup final between Leeds United and Chelsea. In the end, Chelsea defeated the opponent 2-1 and became the champion of that session. In the 1970s, due to the sharp rise in the trend of British football hooligans[29] and Manchester United's relegation from the First Division in 1974, the club's hooligan organization "Red Army" became notorious. An incident in which a knife was thrown into the pitch led to the club installing the UK's first fence at Old Trafford to separate fans from the pitch. [27]

In 1973, when all the stands were changed to a covered design, the stadium replaced the old scoreboard and installed a new electronic scoreboard in the northeast corner. The scoreboard section was changed to seat 5,500. A ￡3 million expansion project began in 1975, adding a new box to the main stand. The wing can overlook the venue, but part of the view is still blocked by the columns supporting the upper cover. Therefore, the Union Road stand, the scoreboard section and the main stand were all changed to cantilever column designs. The wings and cantilevered column tops increase the overall length of the stand. This change allows the club offices to be moved from the southeast corner of Old Trafford to the main stand. After the club offices were relocated, their locations were converted into seats, leaving Old Trafford with a total of 25,686 seats (56,385 including standing seats). The cantilever column design also required new installation of the stadium's floodlights, which was reorganized in 1987.

[edit] Conversion of all seats

With each stadium improvement project, the stadium's capacity continues to decrease. In the 1980s, the stadium's capacity dropped from 80,000 to approximately 60,000. Until the 1990s, the government followed the recommendations of the Taylor Report and required all stadiums to be all-seater and eliminate standing seats.

This means that Manchester United will need between 3 and 5 million pounds to convert part of the open-air terraces adjacent to the stadium grass in Stretford into seats. [14] In addition, the other three terraces will be demolished. In addition to costing ￡10 million, the capacity of Old Trafford has been reduced to a record low, with only about 44,000 fans allowed in the stadium. [30] However, the government informed Manchester United that it could only receive approximately 1.4 million, with a maximum of 2 million pounds, from the compensation package of this policy. [31]

The reconstruction of the East Stand was completed from 2000 to 2001. The club's recovery in the early 1990s led the club to once again decide to redevelop Old Trafford. In 1995, the North Stand announced the construction of a new row of stands,[32] allowing Old Trafford to successfully host three group matches, one quarter-final and one semi-final of the 1996 European Football Championship. . The club announced in March 1995 that it would spend ￡9.2 million to purchase the approximately 20-acre Trafford Park Trading Village on the other side of United Road. The project started at the end of the 1994-95 season and was opened in time for the opening of the UEFA Euro 1996. The design of the new stand was once again handed over to the design company "Afton Furna", and a three-story north stand was built at a cost of 18.65 million pounds. The new stand provides 25,500 new seats, increasing the stadium's total capacity to 55,000. Its cantilever column also became the largest in Europe at the time, with a total length of 58.5 meters (192 feet) from the back wall of the stand to the edge of the roof. [33] As the team continues to achieve good results, Manchester United announced the expansion plan for Old Trafford. First, a third floor will be built in the East Stand, which was opened in January 2000. At the same time, the stadium can accommodate 61,000 spectators to watch the game at the same time. A second tier was subsequently built in the West Stand, adding 7,000 seats, and the total capacity increased to 68,217. [34] Old Trafford ushered in its first major European competition final three years later, hosting the 2003 UEFA Champions League final featuring Juventus and AC Milan.

Since 2001, due to the reconstruction project of Wembley Stadium, the English football team needs to play games in other stadiums. In the first few years, the team rotated matches at stadiums throughout the region, from Villa Park in Birmingham to St. James' Park in Newcastle. However, from 2003 to 2007, Old Trafford hosted 12 of the 23 England home matches, a higher number than other stadiums. The last international match held at Old Trafford was a 0–1 loss to Spain at home on February 7, 2007. [35] A total of 58,207 spectators attended the match. [36]

[edit] 2006 expansion

Old Trafford underwent its most recent expansion from July 2005 to May 2006, in the northeast corner and northwest corner of the stadium. A second level was added to the corner and provided 8,000 seats. [5] The newly built seats were opened in batches. The first batch was opened on March 26, 2006, and the game set a Premier League attendance record with 69,070 people. [37] The record continued to rise as new seats were added, until it reached its peak on March 31, 2007. There were 76,098 fans in attendance to witness Manchester United defeat Blackburn Rovers 4–1. [38]

[edit] Structure and facilities

The structure of the stands at Old Trafford. The shaded part is the away fan area. The grass of the Old Trafford stadium consists of four full The seats are surrounded by stands, officially known as the East Stand, South Stand, West Stand and North Stand. Except for the South Stand, which faces expansion difficulties, each stand has at least two floors. [39] The stands on the lower floors are also divided into high seats and low seats. The low seats were rebuilt from the open-air terrace stands in the 1990s.

The North Stand, formerly known as the United Road Stand, has encroached on United Road after expansion. The grandstand is three stories high and can accommodate approximately 26,000 spectators, the largest of the four grandstands. The North Stand also provides some wings for fans.

The current North Stand was opened in 1996, replacing the previous one-story stand. As the main stand of the stadium, the North Stand contains a large number of stadium facilities, including a Manchester United-themed coffee shop and the Manchester United Museum. The Manchester United Museum opened in 1986 and was the world's first museum based on the club's history. [40] The original Manchester United Museum was located in the southeast corner of Old Trafford. It was not moved to the North Stand in 1998 until the reconstruction of the North Stand was completed. At that time, the club even invited football king Billy to preside over the museum's relocation ceremony on April 11, 1998. According to Manchester United's official website, the museum can attract 200,000 visitors every year. [41]

Opposite the North Stand is the South Stand, which was the main stand of the former Old Trafford Stadium. Although there is only one level of stands, it has the most rooms in the entire stadium. [42] All VIPs who come to Old Trafford to watch the game will be arranged to watch it in the South Stand. All media reporters will sit in the center of the south stand, giving them a good and clear angle to watch the game. The TV cameras are all located in the South Stand, so the view on TV is the view of the South Stand. [22] The commentator's box is also located in the south stand, the box of Manchester United's official television station MUTV is located in the east, and the boxes of other such as the BBC and Sky TV are in the west. [43]

The reserve seats are located in front of the center of the south stand, where the height is higher than the grass, allowing the head coach and coaches to have a broader view of the game. Located inside the two reserve benches is Old Trafford's old player tunnel, which was discontinued in 1993. This passage is the only remaining part of the original Old Trafford stadium in 1910, the rest has been destroyed by the bombs of World War II. [44] On February 6, 2008, the passage was renamed Munich Passage to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Munich air disaster. [45] The currently used player tunnel is located in the southwest corner of the stadium, and the entrance has been enlarged to prevent emergencies. For events that require large machines to access the lawn, the seats above the entrance can be raised to a height of 25 feet (7.6 m),[46] allowing them to pass through. The player tunnel connects the players' locker rooms and includes TV interviews and player relaxation areas.

The West Stand, the common name of the stand is shown in the form of a mosaic. Old Trafford is most famous for its West Stand, also known as the Stretford section. Traditionally, this is the base of die-hard Manchester United fans and is also the noisiest place in the entire stadium. [47] The West Stand was originally designed to accommodate 20,000 spectators. It was also the last stand to have a roof added and the last to remove the open-air terrace. The West Stand's reconstruction plan was launched in the 1992-93 season and was led by the construction company Alfred McAlpine. [48] ??When the second floor of the West Stand was completed in 2000, a large number of fans who had previously gathered in the "K Stand" gathered there instead, making that place filled with slogans and flags, where the authentic Manchester United can best be preserved. culture. Manchester United star Denis Rowe is known as the "Part King of Stretford", and his bronze statue is now placed on the top of the West Stand to commemorate this king. [49]

Manchester United's official boutique has left its footprints in six places. First, the boutique is located next to the railway and far away from the stadium. Later, the boutique was stationed in the South Stand, initially opposite where visiting fans entered. The store later moved to what would later serve as the team's promotional offices. Due to the popularity of the team in the early 1990s, the store moved to the forecourt of the West Stand and expanded from a small shop into a large boutique, which was opened by Sir Alex Ferguson on December 3, 1994. ceremony. [50] The most recent relocation took place in the late 1990s, as the west stand needed to be rebuilt and the boutique needed to find another home. After the East Stand was rebuilt in 2000, the boutique moved to a local 17,000 sq. ft. store to continue operations. [51] The boutique channel is currently operated by Nike, Manchester United's jersey manufacturer.

The East Stand is the second stand in Old Trafford to be converted into an open-air terrace, after the North Stand. The East Stand is also known as the Scoreboard Stand because the scoreboard of the stadium is located in this stand. The East Stand can currently accommodate 12,000 fans, [5] and is a disabled area and away fan area. The disabled area provides 170 seats, and free seats are provided for accompanying caregivers. In the past, seats in each section of Old Trafford were assigned by letters, and the East Stand was the former "K Stand" where fans liked to cheer the club with songs. [52] However, due to the reconstruction of the stadium, fans in the "K Stand" have now moved to the second floor of the West Stand, but they will still cheer for Manchester United with songs. The East Stand is also the location of the club's administrative center, where Manchester United's staff, staff of the Manchester United Journal, staff of Manchester United's official website and other administrative staff work. The Advertising and Image Department often promotes in front of the East Stand, most often to promote Nike's new products, and has also displayed some Busby Baby exhibitions there to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich Air Disaster. Above the boutique is a bronze statue of Sir Mike Bisby, who has coached the team for the longest time so far. A commemorative plaque commemorating the Munich Air Disaster is also hung in the East Stand, and the Munich Air Disaster Clock is also located at the connection point between the East Stand and the South Stand. [14] On May 29, 2008, to celebrate Manchester United’s first UEFA Champions League championship, the bronze statues of the “Manchester United Three Swordsmen”, including George Bess, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, were unveiled. The bus was unveiled across the road. Opposite the bronze statue of the Three Swordsmen is the bronze statue of Sir Bisby, who led Manchester United to win their first European championship. [53][54]

The three swordsmen of Manchester United, George Bess, Dennis Rowe and Bobby Charlton, have a grass area of ??106 meters (116 yards) long and 69 meters (75 yard) wide, with several meters on each side for run-up. The center of the court is 9 inches higher than the edges, allowing rainwater on the surface of the court to flow to the side when it rains. Like other modern golf courses, there is an underground heating system under 10 inches (25 centimeters) of grass, hiding 23 miles (37 kilometers) of rubber conduits. [55] The team's head coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, often requested that the grass be replaced, [56] [57] most notably in the 1998-99 season when the team won the Triple Crown. The golf course grass is also regularly sprinkled with water, but less water is sprinkled during the rainy season than during the dry season. From April to November, water is sprinkled three times a week. From November to March, water will only be sprinkled once a week [55]

In the mid-1980s, Manchester United Football Club also had a basketball department and planned to build a basketball club in the current E1 parking lot that can accommodate 9,000-seat indoor sports arena. However, due to the team's lack of funds at the time, the basketball business was sold. [58]

[edit] Future

After the completion of the expansion in 2006, Manchester United actively continued to expand the Old Trafford Stadium, and the next plan was to rebuild the South Stand. The South Stand does not have two tiers like other stands, but still only has one level of seating. If the South Stand can be expanded like the North Stand, the total capacity of Old Trafford will exceed 95,000, surpassing Wembley Stadium to become the largest football stadium in England. [59] However, there are also many difficulties in expanding the South Stand. Since the South Stand is adjacent to the railway, the train station and tracks need to be relocated. In addition, Manchester United also needs to acquire about 50 residential houses near the train tracks, with the total project cost reaching one million pounds. [5] However, Manchester United’s property manager stated that the expansion plan is inevitable and is an extremely important plan for the Old Trafford Stadium. [60] However, the expansion project also brings other problems. The increase in the height of the south stand will reduce the lighting of the stadium. Other large stadiums such as Wembley Stadium, Bennaby Stadium and St. West Road also face this problem. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson also said that the reconstruction of the North Stand at Old Trafford has already caused problems to arise. [61]

Therefore, some people have suggested that Old Trafford should become another home stadium for the England national football team besides Wembley Stadium, thinking that it can attract fans from the north to support England.

As well as hosting the FA Cup semi-finals to re-establish the prestige of Old Trafford. [62]

[edit] Other uses

In addition to being used for football matches, Old Trafford also hosts a variety of different sports. When the stadium was not yet built, the location where it was located was used as a place for sinning, a traditional Scottish highland activity. [63] During World War I, the stadium was also used by the US military for baseball games. In 1981, a cricket tournament called the Limbaugh Butler Cup was also held here. [64]

Old Trafford also often hosts rugby matches, including rugby league and rugby league. However, rugby league is played more often than rugby union. Since 1998, the annual Rugby Football League final has been held at Old Trafford. [65] However, the first rugby league match was held as early as 1924-25, with the Lancashire team playing a friendly match against the New Zealand team. [19] The first rugby league match was held in November 1958, with Salford City Reds and Leeds Rhinos competing under floodlights. There were 8,000 spectators in attendance. An appreciation event. [64] The first rugby union international match held at Old Trafford was in 1986, when the visiting Australian team defeated the British team 38-16 in front of 50,583 spectators. [66][67] The 1989 World Club Challenge was also held at Old Trafford, when the Widnes Norse defeated the Canberra Raiders from Australia 30-18 in front of 30,768 spectators. [68] The 2000 Rugby League World Cup, jointly organized by the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, decided to use Old Trafford as the final venue for the World Cup. There were 44,329 spectators in attendance that day, witnessing the Australian team defeating the New Zealand team 40-12 and becoming world champions. [69] The first international rugby match at Old Trafford was in 1997 when the England team faced the New Zealand team, but was defeated by the visiting team 25-8. The second game will not be held until June 6, 2009. [70] This time England defeated the visiting Argentina team. [71] In 1993, 40,000 people watched the World Super Middleweight Professional Boxing Championship match between Keith Aback and Nigel Bing. [72]

In addition to sports activities, Old Trafford has also hosted many concerts. For example, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Genesis, Rockefeller Stewart and Just the Reds have all held solo concerts at Old Trafford. Old Trafford Stadium is also often rented out to host private parties such as weddings, Christmas parties and some work meetings. [73] The stadium was loaned out for the first time in February 1996 to hold the first wedding held at Old Trafford. [74]

[edit] Records

Manchester United’s average number of spectators per season from 1949 to 2008. The highest attendance at Old Trafford was on March 25, 1939. In the semi-finals of the English FA Cup, Wolves played against Gansby, with a total of 76,962 fans in attendance. [1] However, the stadium at this time was not full-seat, so the stadium could accommodate more fans. The all-seater record for Old Trafford is 76,098, which was set on March 31, 2007 during a Premier League home game against Blackburn Rovers. [1] This is also the highest attendance record in the Premier League. [75] The official game attendance record at Old Trafford was set in the pre-season warm-up match against Inter Milan on August 1, 2007, with 73,738 fans attending the game. [76] The lowest attendance record at Old Trafford after World War II was 11,968 people set on April 29, 1950, when Manchester United defeated Fulham 3–0. [77] However, the minimum attendance at the stadium was actually a Second Division match on May 7, 1921. Interestingly, Manchester United was not involved again. There were only a staggering 13 players in this match between Stow Harbor and Leicester City.

And these 13 people were only 13 of the 10,000 people who watched Manchester United play Derby County earlier. [78]

The highest season average attendance record was in 2006–07, with an average of 75,826 fans attending each game. [79] The highest attendance at Old Trafford in the entire season was two seasons later in 2008–09, with a total of 2,197,429 people attending to witness Manchester United's third consecutive Premier League title, the English League Cup and the Reached the European Champions Cup final. [80] Old Trafford's lowest average attendance in the entire season was from 1930 to 1931, with an average of only 11,685 people per game. [81]

[edit] Transportation

Manchester United Football Club Station is located next to the Old Trafford South Stand and is the closest train station to the Old Trafford Stadium. The station is on the southern line of the Liverpool to Manchester line, between Duddingsgate and Trafford Park stations. The station will only be open on match days, and trains will only pass through without stopping at other times. [82] The stadium is also connected to the city by the Altrincham Line and Eccles Line of the Manchester Light Railway. It takes less than 5 minutes to walk from the light rail station to the stadium, which is very convenient. [83] In addition, you can take bus lines 17, 114, 236, 250 and 252-257 from Manchester Piccadilly Station to the stadium. [84]