The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 8 Home Stadium Completed

"Build a stadium worthy of the club that is Manchester United."

--Inscription

The Red Devils won their first top league title since the team was founded, and the entire club was ecstatic. As the club chairman, Davis was the happiest and proudest person.

The Red Devils fans gathered in Manchester to celebrate and paraded throughout the city. The City Hall also held a series of celebrations and awarded the Red Devils a large bonus. When the entire Red Devils team appeared on the streets of the city in a carriage, the Red Devils fans swarmed out of the streets and alleys, turning the entire city into a boiling ocean.

The Red Devils then participated in the first Charity Shield as league champions and drew with Queens Park Rangers. In the replay, the Red Devils team cheered up and quickly gained the upper hand. Jimmy Turnbull scored a hat trick to help the Red Devils win 4-0 and win the Charity Shield.

The Red Devils continue to achieve success in competition, and club chairman Davis is planning a grand goal.

Build a stadium for the team as a permanent home, so that fans can have a greater sense of belonging and support the team's better development.

"We will be a great team and will definitely become a giant in English football. We must have a stadium that is worthy of our dignity!" This is how Mr. Davis introduced it to all the Red Devils fans.

The Red Devils rented the Bank Street Stadium as their home ground, which was located in the suburbs of Manchester and belonged to the Bradford and Carleton Athletic Company. This stadium became the "successor" of the previous North Road Stadium from June 1893. The Bank Street Stadium was very simple at the beginning, with no stands and fans could only stand to watch the game. After the start of the 6-1893 season, the Red Devils funded the construction of two stands, but the other facilities were still very simple. In the 94-1894 season, the Walsall Town Swifts were very dissatisfied with the conditions of the field before coming to the game, complained to the referee, and refused to play. The Football League finally ruled in favor of the Swifts, and the game was arranged to be re-played at another location.

This incident was undoubtedly a great humiliation for the Red Devils, but due to the ownership of the stadium, they were helpless.

It was not until 1898 that the former vice chairman of the Red Devils, Crompton, funded the purchase of the stadium and the expansion and renovation work officially began. However, the expansion work has been very slow and there is no way to meet the needs of the Red Devils fans to watch the game comfortably.

After Davis took over the club's board of directors, the Red Devils, with his support, put out another 5000 pounds to build a 1000-seat stand, with four sides of the stand, which could accommodate 5 people. At that time, the stadium only had less than 5000 seats, and the rest were standing seats.

Chairman Davies began to consider building a new stadium, and as the Red Devils club prospered, his plan was soon put into action.

Not enough funds?

Davis paid out of his own pocket to buy a piece of land in the Old Trafford area near the Bridgeford Canal in the name of Manchester Liquor Company, and then used it as a share in the Red Devils Club. This operation was equivalent to Davis giving the Red Devils this piece of land almost for free.

Not only that, Mr. Davis was so generous that he announced that he would bear the entire construction costs of the stadium!

The design and construction of the stadium began in 1908, and Davis found the famous architect Archibald Leitch to be in charge. Archibald Leitch is good at the design and construction of large buildings such as sports stadiums, and has always been a master renowned in Britain and continental Europe. Ambitious Davis set the capacity of the stadium at 10 people from the beginning, which also allowed Archibald Leitch's design talent to be perfectly displayed. The Scottish architect was ingenious and designed a special form, a strong industrial style, which perfectly combined the origins of the team and the railway system and related elements.

The construction of the stadium was not smooth sailing and encountered many difficulties. The biggest problem was insufficient funds. Davis used his own property to guarantee financing to ensure that the construction of the stadium went on schedule until it was successfully completed.

The huge budget and grand plan of this stadium have made the Red Devils famous and even called them the "Rich Man's Team", which has attracted more fans.

On February 1910, 2, the new stadium was officially completed.

The Red Devils Club's ambition was revealed to everyone. A magnificent and huge football stadium, the largest in the British Isles in terms of both scale and momentum. The stadium area reached 7140 square meters (68 meters x 105 meters), which was the largest professional stadium in England at the time, far exceeding the scale of the rivals in the same city and the various teams in the capital.

The opening of Old Trafford coincided with the match between the Red Devils and Liverpool.

DERBY, NW England - Two former league champions unveiled their new stadium.

The new stadium has an initial capacity of 10 people and was built for 8 people, providing seats. This game filled the stadium and made people realize the powerful charm of the Red Devils for the first time. Just two days before this game, an accident occurred at the Bank Street Stadium and the old wooden stands were blown down by strong winds. It was destined that the Red Devils would be more suitable for their new home.

The Red Devils lost 3-4 in the opening match of their new home, but the defeat did not affect the celebration of the stadium's completion.

Old Trafford attracted tens of thousands of fans, and the team felt extremely proud to witness the historic moment of its new opening.

Old Trafford is brand new, like a powerful steel giant, standing by the canal and dominating the railway, looking at every visitor who comes with a serious attitude, making people feel solemn and extremely excited.

The new stadium has adopted many unique designs, including steel cantilevered stands, lawns that can be irrigated and drained at any time, and multiple composite structures that are conducive to future expansion. These designs make the stadium full of futuristic and powerful feelings, giving the Red Devils fans a sense of accomplishment.

Under the setting sun, the grand stadium is even more exciting. The afterglow of the setting sun cut by the steel beams merges with the entire stadium, like an extremely huge prehistoric beast, majestically sitting by the water. This unparalleled stadium has complete facilities, extremely majestic momentum, and solemn magnificence, which makes every fan who comes to the stadium amazed.

The British Sports Chronicle enthusiastically praised Old Trafford as "the most handsome, spacious and eye-catching stadium. No football stadium in the world can be compared with Old Trafford. This is the honor of Manchester and the achievement of the Red Devils. This great stadium will give the Red Devils players endless motivation."

Football critics unanimously agreed that "the completion and commissioning of this great stadium is a great achievement in the history of English football, marking that the Red Devils have officially become a giant in English football."

A Red Devils fan wrote a message aptly, "This stadium only appeared in your dreams before, only this stadium will make your soul tremble. Only this stadium will make you love the team without regrets and hope to follow their footsteps in every game."

The construction of the magnificent stadium also inspired the club to keep moving forward. The Red Devils subsequently played wonderful games here, winning the league championship, FA Cup championship, Charity Shield championship and League Cup championship, and celebrated here many times. This stadium also made special contributions to the Red Devils winning the Champions League championship, European Cup Winners' Cup championship and other honors. In the stadium's dazzling honor room, countless championship trophies add luster to the team.

As time goes by, Old Trafford has become the famous "Theatre of Dreams" and a holy place in the hearts of Red Devils fans.

But for the visiting teams, this stadium is more like a devil's castle. They often get scared before the battle and lose some confidence as soon as they arrive here.

Another unusual feature of this stadium is that it was designed with space for expansion and renovation, so it can be continuously upgraded. The Red Devils club has now expanded the stadium into the largest club stadium in England, and will expand it further in the future.

After the construction of Old Trafford, the Red Devils have been using it as their home ground until today. Over the years, this great stadium has been through war, safety assessments and reconstruction, and has been continuously expanded. The number of spectators has gradually reached its current super-large scale, and it is expected to continue to increase in the future, eventually reaching the originally designed capacity of 10, making it one of the largest stadiums in England and even the world.

Thanks to the foresight of the designers, the capacity and traffic issues of Old Trafford were taken into consideration when the land was first purchased and designed, as well as the impact on the surrounding environment. This also ensured that the stadium has not had any problems after multiple expansions and renovations and multiple safety assessments. It will not be forced to relocate due to the development of the team, nor will it need to be demolished and rebuilt.

The Red Devils built Old Trafford, showing their unparalleled ambition. The construction and completion of Old Trafford also made the Red Devils truly a top team.

老特拉福德球场开始建设之际，红魔也进入了1908至1909赛季的征战。红魔打出了一波6胜1平的战绩开局，积分一度领跑群雄。但红魔第8轮被阿斯顿维拉队3比1击败，之后遭遇了4轮不胜。当桑德兰队以6比1大败红魔时，红魔已经被拉落了积分榜首位置。到了1909年1月红魔被利物浦3比1狙击，整个球队因为伤病等原因突然崩盘。红魔在最后15轮比赛中仅仅赢下一场，却输掉了其中的10场。赛季结束时红魔滑落到联赛第13名，冠军被纽卡斯尔联队夺走。

With no hope of defending the league title, Mangnall could only lead the team to the FA Cup. The Red Devils successively eliminated Brighton, Everton, Blackburn, Burnley and Newcastle, and finally faced Bristol City in the final. In the final, the Red Devils were also hit by injuries, but Sandy Turnbull overcame the injuries with his iron will and scored the only goal of the game in the 22nd minute, helping the Red Devils win the first FA Cup in history!

From the league championship, Charity Shield championship to the FA Cup championship, the Red Devils have maintained the face of a strong team.

红魔到了1909-1910赛季状态起伏，球队在联赛最终仅仅排名第5。足总杯比赛则在第一轮就被伯恩利队爆冷2比0击败，卫冕征程戛然而止。

Under great pressure, Mangnall worked hard in the summer of 1910, successively introduced a number of strong stars, and led the team to a comeback in the 1910-1911 season.

Before leaving for the game, Mangnall encouraged the team, "I always believe that we are a championship team and you will realize your dream. We have experienced some setbacks and now we must fight desperately for the championship. We need to be more united, selfless and make fearless sacrifices."

The Red Devils set out on the journey full of fighting spirit, kicking off the new season's championship race.

The Red Devils had a good start in the league with 7 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, but were defeated by Middlesbrough in the 10th round and their unbeaten streak was stopped. The Red Devils' main rival this season is Villa, who have been chasing closely since the 3rd round, and the standings are very close.

The Red Devils won in the 11th round and then went on a 9-game unbeaten run, continuing their hot form. At the same time, Villa also played very well, and they and the Red Devils alternated in the lead in the standings until the last stage of the season.

Until the penultimate round, Villa beat the Red Devils 4-2 at home, but the Red Devils still topped the standings.

The suspense of the championship remained until the last game. The Red Devils' last game was against Sunderland. If they defeated their opponent, they would be on the top of the championship. The entire Red Devils team was full of confidence in this crucial battle. The soldiers fought hard, the forward attack group was brilliant, Harold House scored two goals, and finally they defeated their opponent 5-1, beating Villa by 1 point and winning the championship!

The Red Devils forged ahead all the way, overcame numerous difficulties, and won the league championship convincingly!

After winning the championship, the Red Devils won the Charity Shield with a score of 8 to 4 over Swindon Town. The team's star player, Hawes, was extremely arrogant and scored 6 goals in the game alone, becoming the biggest contributor to the championship!

The Red Devils reached their first peak in history. Mangnall's team won two league titles, one FA Cup and two Charity Shield titles in five years, far surpassing the English giants.