page_title: Maine Road
section_title: Modernisation
hierarchical_section_title: Maine Road / History / Modernisation
caption_attribution_description: PIC00082
context_page_description: Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, Charity Shield matches, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road holds the record for the highest attendance for a club in their normal home stadium in English club football, set in 1934 at an FA Cup sixth round match between Manchester City and Stoke City.
  By Manchester City's last season at Maine Road in 2002–03, it was an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 35,150 and of haphazard design with stands of varying heights due to the ground being renovated several times over its 80-year history. The following season Manchester City moved to the City of Manchester Stadium in East Manchester, a mile from the city centre and near Ardwick where the club originally formed in 1880.
context_section_description: By 1990, some areas of the ground were becoming outdated, and there was the need for the stadium to become all-seater following the outcome of the Taylor Report in January that year, and the Platt Lane stand was demolished in 1992. Its place was taken by the all-seater Umbro Stand that also incorporated executive boxes, and was opened in March 1993. The name reverted to the Platt Lane Stand in the late 1990s.
  The era of standing accommodation at Maine Road came to an end in May 1994 as the stadium became all-seater to comply with the requirements of the Taylor Report, with the demolition of the Kippax Street Terrace, which unusually for an all-standing area was located at the side of the pitch instead of behind the goals. The final match with standing permitted took place on 30 April 1994, against Chelsea for a 2–2 draw. Immediately prior to demolition the capacity of the Kippax terrace was 18,300. A three-tier stand was built in its place, holding nearly 14,000 spectators, and on its completion in October 1995 it was the tallest stand in the country, built at a cost of £16million, four times the turnover of the club according to then-chairman Francis Lee. The revamp of the Kippax was the second phase of a five-part development plan that would have cost £40million and increased the stadium's capacity to 45,024. However the club abandoned these plans as City were relegated from the Premier League in 1996 and from Division One two years later.
  The new stand was an impressive modern facility, but it also emphasised the haphazard nature in which the ground had been redeveloped, as all four sides were of differing heights and construction styles. There were further plans for expansion which would have taken the stadium's capacity to 45,000, but these were put on hold following City's relegation from the Premier League in 1996.
caption: The temporary "Gene Kelly Stand" in the corner of the ground
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