Opening up its turnstiles to the public for the first time in 1893, the notorious Newton Heath’s new home ground was considered by many as its secret weapon - If the Heathens were leading with a few minutes on the clock (…& they often were…), the Albion Chemical works, just over the road, would crank up their boilers, allowing “…large plumes of acrid smoke…” to waft across the pitch, disorientating & debilitating their opponents-Well, hopefully…

The Notorious Newton Heath 1893

Come 1910 & the notorious ones (..who in 1902 had seen fit to sneakily changed their moniker to Manchester United…) had decided to leave their beloved “…toxic waste dump…” of a ground behind them, moving to a brand new, custom built stadium at Old Trafford - & the rest, of course, will be history…

The ‘Heathens’ “…Glorious Dump…”

Crank up those boilers, boys !

… It’s a bloody indoor BMX arena, now, just around the corner from Manchester City’s current home ground-How tragic is that !