Manchester City – City of Manchester Stadium
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The City of Manchester Stadium is a magnificent looking all-seater stadium, with a capacity of 48,000.
It was originally built for the city to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games at a cost of £110 million with the intention of it becoming a new home for Manchester City, who were looking to vacate their Maine Road ground.
Subsequently, the club spent in excess of £20 million in removing the running track and extending the stands closer to the playing surface. Away fans are located in one side of the South Stand at one end of the ground, in both the upper and lower tiers. It has also been used for rock and pop concerts.
How to get to the City of Manchester Stadium
By Road:
The City of Manchester Stadium is situated at SportCity, Rowsley St, Manchester M11 3FF. Away fans driving from the North should follow the M60 as far as junction 23, exiting right onto Ashton New Road (A662). The ground is located on the right after the junction with Alan Turing Way (A6010). Visitors driving from the South should follow the M56 for City Centre, which becomes Princess Road (A5103). Continue towards the city centre, taking a right turn onto the elevated A57(M). Follow the A57(M) through 2 sets of traffic lights, turning right into Every Street. At the end, turn right into Ashton New Road (A662) and the ground is located on the left.
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By Rail:
Manchester Piccadilly is the closest main line station and is about a 20-30 minute walk or short taxi ride from the City of Manchester Stadium. The closest train station is Ashburys which is a 5 minute train journey from Manchester Piccadilly. The stadium is about a 15 minute walk away from Ashburys station. On exiting the station, turn left and the stadium is located on the left. Click here to check the current train timetables
By Air:
Manchester Airport is within 13 miles, with frequent train connections to Manchester Piccadilly Station. Click here to check the current flight times
Where to Park?
Limited on-site parking is available at the stadium, at reasonable rates. The East Car Park is nearest to the away section. The stadium site itself has 2,000 parking spaces, with another 8,000 spaces in the surrounding area provided by local businesses and schools working in partnership with the football club. A residents’ only parking scheme operates near to the ground, so those relying on on-street parking may be faced with a considerable walk to the ground. Unofficial off-street car parks have emerged, but although these charge reasonable rates, supervision is pretty much non-existent.
City of Manchester Stadium Tours
Away Friendly Pubs near the City of Manchester Stadium
There are few pubs near the ground and none can be described as “away friendly.” The Bradford Inn, on Bradford Road is about a 10 minute walk from the ground and is recommended, though very busy on match days. Several visiting fans have recommended the city centre as the best place to drink. The Printworks, near Victoria Station offers numerous bars and an excellent choice of food. Although a 20 minute walk from the ground, it is only a 5 minute cab ride. Apparently, the Queen Victoria, at the bottom of Grey Mare Lane, should be avoided at all costs.
Hotels near the City of Manchester Stadium
The Holiday Inn Manchester Central Park, 888 Oldham Road, Manchester, M40 2AG, which opened in June 2005, offers modern facilities, air-conditioned Restaurant and Bar with free resident parking. It has received consistently good reviews and is close to the city centre, Manchester City FC and various other attractions.
City Inn Manchester, Piccadilly Place, Manchester, M1 3DG was built in early 2007 and offers excellent modern facilities at value for money rates. It connects directly with Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, with easy connections to the airport and city centre.
What have other Away Fans said about their trip to the City of Manchester Stadium?
The main complaint from visiting fans has been the lack of space between home and away fans, which consists only of a few rows of seats and a row of stewards. Many away fans have reported unpleasant, intimidating “baiting” taking place between the rival sets of supporters which spoilt their enjoyment. Additionally, several fans have noted that there are may exchanges of unpleasant abuse outside the ground.
However, the stadium itself has received excellent reviews from visiting supporters. Several have described the stadium as “stunning” in the looks department. Most have reported that the view of play is excellent, though legroom in the South Stand is only just adequate. Visitors have also been impressed by the facilities on offer, noting spacious, modern concourses, flat screen TVs and a good selection of reasonably priced food and drink on offer.
I actually went to the CIty of Manchester Stadium for an Oasis gig in 2005.
We stayed at the Atrium by Bridge Street Apartments in the city centre and grabbed a taxi to the stadium, which cost around £15. It wasn’t that far however, and we walked back to the hotel after the gig, which took around 25 minutes.
The stadium is huge, and the concourses are really, really wide. There’s also plenty of food and drink outlets, meaning it’s easy to congregate and chat with mates over a pint inside the ground – obviously we were paying “gig” prices for our beer, but I’ve heard it’s pretty reasonable on matchdays.
The view from our seat was fantastic, and I can’t wait to return for a football match – hopefully with Argyle in the premiership!
Make sure you go to the bars before half time inside the ground, shocking service, and slow taps/pumps.
When I visited the Stadium (and what a Stadium) i was impressed by the set up of the ground with many Official car parks so you feel safe leaving your car and all of them with in a easy walk to to the ground and when you arive there is clear indication of where to enter and there is many a burger van so its easy to get refreshment. When you get inside there is plenty of space to sit down and have a drink and watch the TV if there is a game on.
When you get to your seat you are met by a wonderful no matter where you sit in the stadium and when the singing gets going to the sound echos all the way around the stadium due to the shape of it. On this day Forest where doing very well and people where singing, chanting and jumping up and down which made the stewards warn us but never did they stop us having fun which was brilliant and a credit to them.
After the game Fans on the coaches where lead safely to the coaches where as people in cars had to go down dark backstreets which is a little scary in strange place considering theres only two of you and your teams just won 3-0 away from home against all odds!
But all in all an amazing ground and i would love to go again