Rare Images of City's Hyde Road ground in 1905

[gary james]

Interesting stuff, please let us know how the 1926 derby article goes too, if you can.

I've written 3 separate articles so far - one will appear (if all goes to plan) in tomorrow's Manchester Evening News. The other 2 will be closer to this year's semi final.

Thanks.

[Dameerto]

Interesting stuff, please let us know how the 1926 derby article goes too, if you can.

I've written 3 separate articles so far - one will appear (if all goes to plan) in tomorrow's Manchester Evening News. The other 2 will be closer to this year's semi final.

Thanks.

Thanks for the info Gary.

[john68]

Thanks again Gary,
I have spent time within the confines of those places...(you can access almost anywhere with a taxi and a grin) but never managed to work out the angle of the ground or exactly where the pitch was. That sorts that out for me.
There have been references to various stands, the Maine Stand (Grandstand?), the Stone Yard End, Galloway End, with its multi span roof? (similar to the one at Molineux). Was the Boys' Stand the smaller stand offset in the corner, with the railway track running in front of it? Would it be possible to name those areas please?

Also, are there any copies of, or have you had sight of, the feature film "The Ball Of Fortune" from the 1920s that had images of the great Billy Meredith?

Cheers Gary.

[ant london]

What was it like being at Hyde Road on matchdays John?



*chortle*

[gary james]

Thanks again Gary,
I have spent time within the confines of those places...(you can access almost anywhere with a taxi and a grin) but never managed to work out the angle of the ground or exactly where the pitch was. That sorts that out for me.
There have been references to various stands, the Maine Stand (Grandstand?), the Stone Yard End, Galloway End, with its multi span roof? (similar to the one at Molineux). Was the Boys' Stand the smaller stand offset in the corner, with the railway track running in front of it? Would it be possible to name those areas please?

Also, are there any copies of, or have you had sight of, the feature film "The Ball Of Fortune" from the 1920s that had images of the great Billy Meredith?

Cheers Gary.

Where to start....

"Ball Of Fortune" - only a short piece of film survives and I've seen it (and used it in "History of Football" the Channel M series I wrote and produced). It shows Meredith running with the ball (all staged - he passes the same player twice).

Meredith's last ever game was filmed (1924 FAC semi).

At Hyde Rd - this might help (from 1st edition of "Manchester The Greatest City") http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 15&theater

The names varied but in general were known as (I'm including the Maine Rd equivalent names in brackets to give you a feel of the layout):

Main Stand - obvious, sometimes called The Grand Stand and sometimes just The Stand
Stone Yard Stand/Hotel End (Platt Lane)
Popular Side (Popular Side/Kippax)
Galloway End (North Stand)
The Boys Stand (in corner behind railway loop; equivalent to Main Stand/North Stand corner) also sometimes called The Lads Stand or enclosure.

The multispan roofs covered 2 stands when they were built in 1910 - all but the Main Stand (and presumably not the Boys stand but no photo seen that proves it). On the above photo link you can see an image of the Popular Side with its multispan.

At the top of this page is the Stone Yard stand roofed in Sept 1910 (that's the first photo of the completed roof):
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 15&theater

The metalwork for one of the multispan roofs is still at a football ground today but now forms a traditional roof - it's at the Shay (Halifax) and was sold to the club when City left Hyde Rd.

[Dameerto]

Thanks again Gary,
I have spent time within the confines of those places...(you can access almost anywhere with a taxi and a grin) but never managed to work out the angle of the ground or exactly where the pitch was. That sorts that out for me.
There have been references to various stands, the Maine Stand (Grandstand?), the Stone Yard End, Galloway End, with its multi span roof? (similar to the one at Molineux). Was the Boys' Stand the smaller stand offset in the corner, with the railway track running in front of it? Would it be possible to name those areas please?

Also, are there any copies of, or have you had sight of, the feature film "The Ball Of Fortune" from the 1920s that had images of the great Billy Meredith?

Cheers Gary.

Bearing in mind the source is Wikipedia, there's a description about the layout at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Road :



The main grandstand (the "Main Stand") was situated at the north of the ground. Built in 1889 for £1,500, this structure replaced the original 1,000 capacity grandstand which had been built in 1888. The new grandstand comprised an upper tier of seating and a lower paddock. Most contemporary sources listed the capacity as 4,000, though it is unclear whether this refers to the seating capacity or the total capacity.[21] The wooden stand was gutted by fire in 1920, causing the loss of both the stand and the club records, which were stored within.[2]

The north-eastern end of the ground was known as the "Galloway End". It was intersected by a railway loop leading to the Galloway boilerworks. One part of the terracing was known as the "Boys Stand". This was a separate structure, slightly removed from the rest of the ground and positioned behind the railway loop line which transported boilers from Galloways Boiler Works.[22] The opposing end, known as the "Stone Yard Stand" or "Hotel End", was another part of the ground with an irregular shape. It consisted of a mixture of seats and terracing, and became the most important seating area in the period following the Main Stand fire.[21] The fourth side was a simple terrace, with a roof covering three-quarters of its length. It had a larger capacity than the other parts of the ground, and was therefore known as "The Popular Side".[11] Part of the terrace stood back-to-back with a row of houses on Bennett Street; though the ground was named Hyde Road, its proximity to Bennett Street meant that for some supporters the names Hyde Road and Bennett Street were synonymous.

[john68]

Thanks for that info gents. I have been on that Wiki site previously but became confused (not difficult these days) when reading that the City ground was used for bus training and also inthe past learning that the ground was used as a skid pan for motorists' skills training. Bith of these latter areas are both known to me and were located on the other side of the railway tracks.
That confusion has been sorted now.

@ Doomie...I will gladly admit to being that Gary James bible basher mate. Though only because you assured me of your love for the missionary position...:-)
@ Ant, Your request comes just below Grob's wish for a personal account of the 1904 Cup Final. Wait yer turn.

[TheGOAT]

But i thought we had no History?? wtf

[gary james]

Bearing in mind the source is Wikipedia, there's a description about the layout at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Road :

That's all pretty much originally sourced from my books "Farewell To Maine Road" and "Manchester The Greatest City" - both are well out of print now, but if anyone really does want to learn about City's full history and the stories of the grounds then these are the 2 books to get (obviously I would say that but as they're out of print it doesn't make any financial difference to me at the moment). They rarely appear for sale, but if you live in the UK get your local library to order them in. It's worth it!

[john68]

I am looking forward to the 1926 Semi final report in the MuEN tomorrow Gary. I do hope that you have included the diving and cheating of the rags defender Barson....and the least said about our 1st goal, maybe the better!

Quite a season...1926...sorry i missed it.

[Chinners]

Quite a season...1926...sorry i missed it.

Were you still having to climb up chimneys that year?

[Beefymcfc]

Great to see you on here Gary and really enjoy your books (even though they do send me to sleep sometimes), but why is it always you? You would think the club'd get Time Team in to sort all these things out.

[Lee_R]

We should purchase the old stand back and museum it!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shay_ ... alifax.jpg

(The left part)

[Twobob]

Thanks GAry,m some cracking pic's, how come they look older than 1993 when football was first invented ? ;-)

[DoomMerchant]

@ Doomie...I will gladly admit to being that Gary James bible basher mate. Though only because you assured me of your love for the missionary position...:-)
@ Ant, Your request comes just below Grob's wish for a personal account of the 1904 Cup Final. Wait yer turn.

Honestly John, Ant's request wasn't very amusing. I thought he could have done much better with the material that was laid out on a plate. I didn't want to one-up him later because it seemed tacky.

Back on topic, John. Which of those stands at Hyde Rd did you have your season ticket in again? Thanks in advance.

cheers

[dazby]

Was there a stand that was only for children?

[john68]

@ Dazzler,
Considering the stand name, social attitudes, personal experience and what I have been told, I reckon that the small stand, laid back behind the smaller rail track would have been for younger men or boys unaccompanied by adults.
I hesitate to use the word children, it conveys an atmosphere of innocence, which I doubt was the reality. I suspect the age limit around 14 years and judging by the conditions of that period, many of the older boys would have been working for a couple of years. I would hazard that the Boys Stand could have been quite a brutal place. The rougher kids, would have ensured they had control.

I know that it was common social policy to try and protect young people from the bad language, and poor behaviour of drunken adults, and we know that the ground was a lucrative sales utley for chester Brewery, to the extent that at one point they took control of the ground lease and paid off the club's debts, in order to safeguard their profits.
I know from persoanl experience that some grounds charged the full adult price for everyone, irrespective of age, except in the boys Stands (or Boys Corner at Maine Road), where a junior concession price was charged. The Boys Corner at Maine Road was situated between the Platt lane End and the Maine Stand. (where the standing level was considerably higher than the neighbouring stands).

From my personal experience, Anfield still had a Boys corner in 1965-65, in the corner between the Kop and their main Stand and I can vouch that young City fans were charged 2/- (10p) to stand at Goodison Park as late as 1968-69. It was the full adult price. When we complained that we were under 14 years (we were all around 18/19 years old), we were referred to the Boys Corner, which was like a bear pit, for only 1/- (5p). The boys corners were rough tough and uncompromising places. The Boys Stand at Hyde Road would have been a lively place...alive with nits, lice, mumps, whooping cough, polio, diptheria, tuberculosis and other infections and exotic diseases. If that lot didn't harm you, the rough kids would have given you a run for your money.

[john68]

@ Doomie...I will gladly admit to being that Gary James bible basher mate. Though only because you assured me of your love for the missionary position...:-)
@ Ant, Your request comes just below Grob's wish for a personal account of the 1904 Cup Final. Wait yer turn.

Honestly John, Ant's request wasn't very amusing. I thought he could have done much better with the material that was laid out on a plate. I didn't want to one-up him later because it seemed tacky.

Back on topic, John. Which of those stands at Hyde Rd did you have your season ticket in again? Thanks in advance.

cheers

You see Ant, you have obviously much to learn...grasshopper...and the generous Doomie is offering his teaching expertise. Can you turn it down?
As one of the rougher, uncultured kids, I have never had a season ticket. We would simply turn up at the turnstile, pay your money (if you had any) or jump through...there were several strategies...then run like fuck into the crowd and ignominity...Like a fan of the invisible man...NOT REALLY HERE...or there!!!

[bluej]

@ Dazzler,
Considering the stand name, social attitudes, personal experience and what I have been told, I reckon that the small stand, laid back behind the smaller rail track would have been for younger men or boys unaccompanied by adults.
I hesitate to use the word children, it conveys an atmosphere of innocence, which I doubt was the reality. I suspect the age limit around 14 years and judging by the conditions of that period, many of the older boys would have been working for a couple of years. I would hazard that the Boys Stand could have been quite a brutal place. The rougher kids, would have ensured they had control.

I know that it was common social policy to try and protect young people from the bad language, and poor behaviour of drunken adults, and we know that the ground was a lucrative sales utley for chester Brewery, to the extent that at one point they took control of the ground lease and paid off the club's debts, in order to safeguard their profits.
I know from persoanl experience that some grounds charged the full adult price for everyone, irrespective of age, except in the boys Stands (or Boys Corner at Maine Road), where a junior concession price was charged. The Boys Corner at Maine Road was situated between the Platt lane End and the Maine Stand. (where the standing level was considerably higher than the neighbouring stands).

From my personal experience, Anfield still had a Boys corner in 1965-65, in the corner between the Kop and their main Stand and I can vouch that young City fans were charged 2/- (10p) to stand at Goodison Park as late as 1968-69. It was the full adult price. When we complained that we were under 14 years (we were all around 18/19 years old), we were referred to the Boys Corner, which was like a bear pit, for only 1/- (5p). The boys corners were rough tough and uncompromising places. [highlight]The Boys Stand at Hyde Road would have been a lively place...alive with nits, lice, mumps, whooping cough, polio, diptheria, tuberculosis and other infections and exotic diseases. If that lot didn't harm you, the rough kids would have given you a run for your money.[/highlight]

Ahhh memories eh John ;-)

[dazby]

What about women? Would there have been a women's area?