Football Travel: Manchester United

A trip to the “Theatre of Dreams” is on many groundhoppers’ bucket lists. But what can you expect from a visit to Old Trafford and how can you get tickets? We made our third trip to the stadium recently and this is our viewpoint on visiting Manchester United.

Manchester United is England’s most successful club in domestic competition and second most-

successful in continental trophies after Liverpool. The Red Devils are also one of the biggest and most recognised brands in world football with a rich history stretching back to its days as Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club in 1878. The club was relaunched as Manchester United Football Club in 1902 and moved into the Old Trafford area of Manchester in 1910.

The original stadium was designed by renowned football stadium designer Archibald Leitch. The Scottish architect also designed Ibrox Park in Glasgow, Fulham’s Craven Cottage, Liverpool’s Anfield, Bramall Lane in Sheffield, Arsenal’s former Highbury ground and many more.

Old Trafford has seen its fair share of legends over the years, many of whom are immortalised at the ground. There’s a monument to the ‘Busby Babes’ who died in the Munich air disaster in 1958, a statue of Sir Matt Busby himself, as well as Sir Alex Ferguson – United’s most successful manager, and ‘The United Trinity’ of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton.

Take time to wander around Old Trafford pre-match to take in the sheer scale of the club and its status in the footballing world. The stadium holds nearly 75,000 spectators, making it the biggest club stadium in the UK and the eleventh-largest in Europe.

But does that volume of fans translate into a pumping atmosphere?

The atmosphere at Old Trafford

The famous Stretford End used to be one of the more lively and vocal stands in English football, but all-seater stadia put paid to that. The atmosphere at Old Trafford nowadays is notoriously muted. This is partly due to the amount of neutral football tourists – identifiable by the half-and-half scarves, plus plenty of corporate attendees, often referred to as the ‘prawn sandwich brigade’ after comments by Roy Keane in 2000.

I went to a home game versus Everton, which is hardly a key fixture for United fans, but aside from occasional sporadic songs don’t expect an electric atmosphere.

How to buy tickets for Manchester United matches

Buying tickets to United matches requires planning if you’ve never been before. To buy a ticket, you need to become a member and buy online via Manchester United’s eticketing provider. You can buy membership along with a match ticket. You will receive a membership card in the post for that season and your match ticket will be placed on that card to tap in.

If like me, you made a spontaneous decision to go and haven’t had enough time for the post to arrive with your card, then you will need to queue up and get a ticket from the ticket office by the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand at Old Trafford.

You can pick your own seat online and prices vary according to the tournament, opponent and availability. I paid £60 for a membership and match ticket combo when I saw the Everton game.

How to get to Old Trafford 

Old Trafford is around 4km from the centre of Manchester and is a 10-15-minute taxi or Uber ride. The stadium is served bus number 53 or trains on matchday to the Manchester United Football Ground stop.

I walked to avoid traffic and it took about an hour.

While in Manchester, be sure to visit the National Football Museum in the city centre, which tells the story of the game and contains some incredible memorabilia.