Old trafford is one of the finest football grounds in Europe. It�s very impressing and there are many full-time employees, who have different missions from cleaning to guide tours around at Old Trafford.

The capacity of Old Trafford is about 55,300. It�s almost always sold out when United plays at home, so it�s very difficult to get tickets for a match. Old Trafford is usually sold out 6 weeks before the game, if not earlier.

The New 3-tier North Stand
On the 17th of March, 1995, United�s Chairman announced "the biggest, the most costly and the most ambitious development ever undertaken by Manchester United". He was talking about the new 3-tier North Stand, designed to accommodate 25,110 spectators and costing �19 million. The new stand was officially opened in early 1996 by the Swedish UEFA boss Lennart Johansson. The stand increased the capacity of Old Trafford from 44,000 to 55,300, making it the biggest club stadium in Britain.

The number of spectators could be around 80,000 if there were capacity for so many, because there are so many that want a ticket for every game. Due to this I asked our guide at Old Trafford when I was there, if they were going to rebuild every stand, like the North Stand, sometime in the future. He said that they already had discussed that and that they maybe would rebuild every stand sometime in the future. The capacity would then rise to about 80,000. The atmosphere nowadays is wonderful and with 80,000 in the stands the atmosphere would be enormous, I�m really looking forward to that day, if it comes.

Safety
Old Trafford is one of the safest grounds in England. With 55,000 spectators, safety and security are paramount. The control room houses 27 screens linked to sophisticated cameras inside and outside the ground. The cameras are all linked to video recorders and can zoom in and pick out any individual in the crowd if necessary. There is also a full medical team on hand for emergencies, and three detention cells if required.

Players� Tunnel
The new Players� tunnel is designed very cleverly, the roof of the tunnel can be hydraulically lifted up 9 meters to allow ambulances, fire engines or heavy maintenance machinery into the ground. This makes the ground even safer.

The Pitch
Old Trafford has a superb grass playing surface. The grass is ideally suited for surfaces with many football matches and it requires little sunlight to grow - often a problem in football grounds. To "kill" that problem at Old Trafford, United has installed transparent panels in the roof of the Stretford End (West Stand) and the South Stand (that you can see up left on the picture placed up right on this site).

The pitch has an excellent drainage system, with the centre being 9 inches higher than the wings. That makes it lot easier for the water to drain off the pitch. All the water is recycled and contained in a 55,000 gallon tank installed under the East Stand. There is also a sprinkler sys-tem under the surface that always keeps the pitch well watered, even in a drought. In case of frost, there are 23 miles of heating pipes that defrost the pitch. The system can be so hot that it can melt snow if necessary.

The quality of the Old Trafford pitch was acknowledged in 1995 when the head groundsman and his team were rewarded the "Premier League Groundsman of the year" award.

Dressing Room
The dressing room is big enough to accommodate 22 players. The facilities are impressive, a spa pool, two small baths, six showers and toilets. There is also an adjoining warm-up room. Nearby the dressing room is the player�s lounge where the players can relax before and after the game with their families.

Merchandise
Near the ground is the big souvenir shop called "Megastore", where you can bye many different souvenirs. The "Megastore" is one of the biggest Merchandise shops in England. Except the "Megastore" there are two more souvenir shops around the stadium.