The OT Story: 1910-1930

The history of United has been a story of big names, but in the 100-year existence of Old Trafford there are just two.

You might not have heard of them, but without Leitch and Davies, the largest stadium in British club football would never have been built, and United would be playing in a 50,000-capacity stadium next door to a chemical factory.

The story starts with John Henry Davies. When he became involved with the club in 1902, it was at the lowest point in its history. Rooted to the bottom of the Second Division and playing at a ground in Bank Street, Clayton that was more village hall than Theatre of Dreams, Newton Heath (as United were then known) were close to bankruptcy.

Even Bank Street had been an improvement on the club’s first ground in North Road, Monsall. The pitch there was cloaked in smog from a nearby chemical plant and was described as “hard flint” at one end and “a mudheap” at the other. The changing rooms were in the local pub, which enabled the club to set new standards in matchday hospitality, but were half a