Maine Road

Maine Road FC is a non-league football club based in the south Manchester suburb of Whalley Range. The club were originally formed under the name of City Supporters Rusholme FC by a group of Manchester City fans in 1955.

'Road' started out playing Sunday League football. In the 1960's they moved to new headquarters at the Maine Road Social Club at the famous old stadium while changing their name to their current title. In 1972 they made the move to Saturday football, joining the Manchester League under the leadership of Ronnie Meredith.

 

The club moved into their Brantingham Road home in 1980, which would form a secure base from where four consecutive league titles followed from 1982-83 through to 1985-86 under Meredith’s control. The side were thwarted from making it five in a row when they finished as Manchester League runners-up in 1986-87 after Derek Barber had been appointed as manager.

The success led to the club being accepted into Division Two of the North West Counties League from the start of the 1987-88 campaign after their ground was upgraded. A runners-up place in 1988-89 was followed by the Division Two title in 1989-90 under manager Chris Simms.

The 1994-95 season saw the team involved in a fine FA Vase run which was ended in the fourth round by St Andrews of Leicester. Maine Road were relegated from Division One in 2001-02 prior to regaining their higher status when winning promotion in 2003-04.

Ian Walker became manager from 2006 before Division One became the Premier Division after league restructuring in the summer of 2008. The managerial partnership of John Morrey and Chris Thomas throughout the 2012-13 season saw a battle for the championship with Padiham who eventually went on to claim the title and promotion.

Road finished fourth the following campaign, before a lower finish in 2014-15 with Chris Hirst in charge of the team. Matt Barnes had taken over when the inexperienced team was relegated in 2017-18 to Division One South.

Calum Sykes had a spell in charge of the team before he was replaced by Ray Barnett, who led his charges to sixth place in 2021-22. Rees Welsh was next to take the position, prior to being succeeded by Guy Heffernan from June 2023.

Maine Road FC will play in the North West Counties League Division One South in the 2024-25 season.

My visits

Wednesday 21st July 2010

I had been in Manchester for a few days of socialising and groundhopping. On my final day after going around Bury and surrounding towns I had time for one last ground to visit. I took the bus from Piccadilly Gardens and got off near Brantingham Road after an interesting ride through several suburbs.

On arrival I was disappointed that access to the ground was locked, and with it being located down an open drive I couldn't take any decent photos. I tried to find a way in from the southern end on Wilbraham Road to no avail.

I had to console myself with a look on Whitworth Street and see the new block of flats where The Hacienda once stood and have a couple of pints before my train. Well there was a sort of tenuous link - Maine Road, Oasis, Hacienda.

Thursday 2nd February 2012

I was back in Manchester after spending the night in a Travelodge by Salford Quays after attending the Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal game the previous evening. Again I had a couple of hours to kill, so I found myself on a bus from Piccadilly.

I got off a stop early to have a walk as my fitness campaign was in full swing. Again the gate was padlocked and I thought I was once again to be thwarted. However, I'm nothing if not determined and I saw the gate to the St Bede's School Playing Fields, which adjoins the ground was open. I walked across the frozen perimeter of the ground so I didn't attract attention and got to the fence alongside Road's home.

It had once been the headquarters of the Manchester FA, and although local finals were still played at the ground, they vacated administratively to the newly built Salford Sports Village a few years previously. It was quite a basic venue, but it ticked all the boxes required to stage Step 5 football. 

There was a long low cover on the far side with a mixture of standing spaces and bench seating, with another smaller stand on the near side by the dug outs. The rest of the ground consisted of flat open hard standing and grass. The changing rooms and facilities were in a separate block near the entrance accessed from Brantingham Road.

I wasn't quite done yet. Back in the late 90's my good friend Steve Walker took me through to Manchester to visit his girlfriend Sarah. I hadn't realised at the time but the student house she lived in on Manley Road was just around the corner. 

I had a walk and went by to relive a few happy memories before carrying on for another twenty minutes or so to see what happened to the old Maine Road stadium in Moss Side. It had been a very cold and clear morning, but my walk warmed me up and I left with a smile.