The Red Army and Old Trafford


Buying home game Manchester United tickets does not just provide an opportunity to see the Red Devils play live, it also provides the chance to soak in the atmosphere at Old Trafford, sometimes known as the Field of Dreams, and the home of the Red Army.

Manchester United tickets have been sold for home games at Old Trafford since 1910, apart from the 8 years it took to rebuild after it was bombed in WWII.

The name Field of Dreams was bestowed upon the stadium by Bobby Charlton, one of the Club’s best known players.  

Best known for his midfield attacks Sir Robert “Bobby” Charlton also had a deadly long-range shot which helped him win the World Cup and get names the European Footballer of the Year in 1966.

Able to seat over 76,000 Manchester United ticket buying supporters, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadiums in England and it is one of the two stadia in England to have been given a  “UEFA elite stadium” five-star rating by UEFA.

Old Trafford has hosted many FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue and a few “English national football team” England international fixtures.

It has also hosted matches during the “1966 FIFA World Cup”  and  “UEFA Euro 1996″  and the “2003 UEFA Champions League Final”.

The Old Trafford pitch is surrounded by four stands, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands.

Each stand has at least two tiers, with the exception of the South Stand, which only has one tier because of construction restrictions.

The lower tier of each stand is split into Lower and Upper sections, the Lower sections having been converted from standing room only terraces in the early 1990s.

The West Stand at Old Trafford is the most famous, and is known as the  Stretford End.

Originally designed to hold 20,000 fans, the Stretford End was the last stand to be covered and also the last remaining all-terraced stand at the ground before the forced upgrade to seating in the early 1990s.

Stretford End is where Manchester United’s most die-hard supporters, known as The Red Army are located.

Most of the noise and atmosphere at Old Trafford emanates from Stretford End, and once the roar from the Red Army there was measured as louder than that of a jumbo jet lifting off.

Unless you’ve been subscribing to your season Manchester United ticket for many years  it is impossible to get a seat in the Stretford End, even for the most die-hard fan.

Manchester United’s Red Army was once the biggest and most infamous group of followers British football has ever seen.

When the Red Army followed Manchester United to an away game, the town would fall into chaos: large numbers of fhe Red Army would travel en-mass by train, coach, car or even by foot if necessary, doing whatever it took to get to the game.  

In  “1974–75 in English football” the mid-seventies when Manchester United had been sent down from the top flight of English football and played a single season in the  “Football League Second Division” Second Division, the Red Army caused so much trouble  at football grounds around the country visiting other team’s stadiums and often outnumbering  home fans, it led to the introduction of home and away fan segregation and fencing at football grounds throughout England.

The Red Army is now nothing like it was in the 1970’s & 80’s.

This Manchester United supporters club, now has a fan base of over 300 million fans across the world.

The sheer number of Manchester United fans, all of whom would like to get to Old Trafford, both to see the game and to experience the atmosphere there, result in it almost always being difficult to buy Manchester United Tickets.

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