Old Trafford

The massive stadium of Old Trafford has a seating capacity of 76,000 and is located in the area of Great Manchester. The construction work of Manchester City started in 1909 and the estimated cost of the project was 60,000 pounds. As the project continued, the cost of construction increased and 30,000 pounds had to be injected into the project to fully fund it.

The construction plan for Old Trafford was an ambitious one as it was planned that the huge stadium will be built with a seating capacity of 100,000 people. However, thanks to the respectable suggestion of J.J. Bentley, the final capacity of the stadium was revised to a more practical target of 80,000. The stadium was completed and officially opened on 19th February, 1910.

The stadium went through a tough ordeal in the World War II when bombing by the Germans caused significant damage to the stadium. As a result of this, the stadium had to go through major repairs and consequently, had a major uplift. The club was granted an amount of 4,800 pounds for the repair by the War Damage Commission and this served as a somewhat alleviating factor for the club. The total cost of repair for the stadium was 23,000 pounds and it took considerable time for the stadium to be bought in a working condition. The stadium was able to host its first game after the World War II in August, 1949.

Many improvements were made to the stadium after the Second World War. However, every improvement that was made to the ground meant that the overall seating capacity of the stadium steadily declined as a result of it. The original capacity of 80,000 had declined to around 60,000 by 1980 and continued to drop as more improvements were made to the ground.

In the year 1990, the club was forced to convert a portion of the stadium to all-seaters because of the recommendations of Taylor Report and demands of the local government. This meant that the club had to drastically alter their plan, costing three to five million pounds, of replacing a stand and to install cantilever roof. These forced development increased the cost of the overall plan to an estimated ten million pounds. Furthermore, it resulted in the seating capacity to drop to an all time low of 44,000.

The success of the club and the resulting popularity in the 1990s meant that the club was losing out on a lot of revenue in terms of the Manchester United Tickets because of the reduced capacity of the stadium. Furthermore, the stadium was to host games of the Euro 96 and this led the club to quickly work on increasing the capacity of the stadium.

The club continued to increase the seating capacity of the stadium until it reached 68,217 to become the biggest club stadium of not only England but UK, at that time. The club intends to further increase the capacity of the club to an estimated ninety five thousand in the future. This would enable the club to significantly increase their revenue from the Manchester United Tickets sale.

Liverpool FC Player Profile - Steven Gerrard

Steven Gerrard is probably one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, after signing his professional contract with the club in 1997 and making his first team debut a year later he has never looked back. Viewed by many as the most complete footballer of the modern game, his speed, skill, goal scoring attributes and his commitment to the cause have been rewarded with nearly every football medal available, apart from an elusive Premier league winners medal.

By the beginning of the 1999-00 season Gerrard has established himself in Liverpool's first team and his form was so impressive he won his first full England cap in May 2000. Gerrard played an instrumental part in the Reds treble winning success of 2001, wining the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup and he was also voted as the Young Player of the Year, a prestigious award.

During the 2003-04 season Steve Gerrard had become the Liverpool captain when he took over the role from Sami Hyypia, a role which he still assumes today. The pinnacle of Gerrard's career would have to be lifting the European Cup in May, 2005 which was the club's fifth European Cup success, the captain inspiring his team to the greatest of all comebacks, trailing 3-0 to Milan at half time to draw the match 3-3 and win the trophy on a penalty shoot out.

Following the epic final, speculation of a move to rivals Chelsea was rife, but Gerrard finally ended the speculation by signing a new four year contract with the Reds. The following season Gerrard went onto score 23 goals from 53 appearances, the season ended with a dramatic FA Cup final victory against West Ham, with the Reds captain scoring two of the goals in a 3-3 draw, the final goal with literally the last kick of the game to send the match into extra time and then a penalty shoot out which Liverpool won, the goal was voted as the best of the season and Steve Gerrard was also awarded the prestigious professional footballers player of the year award for his outstanding performances during the season. In 2006 Gerrard was awarded the MBE for his services to sport, which was presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in December of that year.

The beautiful game hasn't always been glorious for the Reds captain, Liverpool reached the Champions League Final again in 2007 only to be defeated 2-1 by AC Milan and later that year Gerrard captained his country as they lost 3-2 against Croatia and failed to qualify for the European Championships and despite scoring 21 goals during the season the Reds finished without a trophy.

The 2008-09 saw Gerrard score 24 goals during the season and pass his 100 goal mark for the club, but the elusive Premier League title was a step too far as Manchester United piped them to the title. Captain marvel made his 500th appearance during 2009 but the team finished a disappointing 7th place in the league.

Injuries have beset the Reds captain during the last twelve months which have limited his appearances but he is now well on his way to recovery and is back to inspire his team once more as they search for more silverware and the success to which the club have become accustomed.