Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 19, 2014

North Road was a football stadium and cricket field in Newton Heath, Manchester, England. It was the first home of Manchester United Football Club, then known as Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club. The club was formed in 1878 at the request of the railway company's employees at its carriage and wagon works, and the ground (which was owned by Manchester Cathedral) adjoined the works. Initially the ground consisted only of the pitch, around which an estimated 12,000 spectators could congregate, and it was often clouded by steam from passing trains. Players had to get changed at a nearby public house. The addition of stands in 1891 increased the capacity to about 15,000. The football club signed its first professional players in 1886 and began to break from its sponsoring railway company, but without the company's financial support it was unable to afford the rent on the ground and was evicted. In 1893, the club moved to a new ground at Bank Street, Clayton. The North Road site is now part of the North Manchester Business Park, having previously been used as playing fields and as the site of a school. (Full article...)

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