Manchester City Football Club, Maine Road, Moss Side

Manchester City Football Club’s original home was at Hyde Road in east Manchester but as the club grew this ground became inadequate. Manchester City investigated possible new venues nearby but none were considered suitable and much to the disappointment of many fans, the club bought the Maine Road site in south Manchester for £5500 freehold. Here they planned a state-of-the art stadium. Charles Swain, a sometime director of the club was appointed architect and his original scheme proposed a 120,000 capacity ground based on the design of Hampden Park. These proposals were later scaled back to give a capacity of approximately 85,000; 10,000 in a covered grandstand and a further 70,000-75,000 on raised terraces around the ground. It was still an immense capacity for a club whose average crowd was 40,000 and at the time was the second largest in the country, after Wembley Stadium, leading to the ground being named the "Wembley of the North." Nonetheless Manchester City were hoping to have the finest equipped ground of any club in the country. The site, was admirably situated as regards tram routes, and covered 16¼ acres. Charles Swain's plans were said to embrace all the salient features and improvements which have suggested themselves to him from a tour of the principal grounds in England and Scotland.

Sir Robert MacAlpine, the builders of the Wembley stadium secured the building contract and construction commenced late in 1922. The ground opened for the 1923 season, Manchester City playing their first game on the new pitch against Sheffield United on 25th August 1923 in front of a crowd of 58,000. The attendance record of 84,569 was set on 3^rd March 1934, when Manchester City played Stoke.

Reference  :  Manchester Guardian 29 July 1922 page 2
Reference  :  The Athletic News, 24 July 1922