Maine Road 100 – Day 4

The fourth of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today it’s a couple of odd design features that lasted until the end…

Most City fans will know of the semi-circular mosaics that featured above the exit gates (I’ll discuss them and another one later in the year) but these didn’t quite make it to the last game, being removed in the build up to it. There were a few other design features that did and, although these don’t look particularly impressive or significant, they do give clues to the style architect Charles Swain tried to use throughout his planning for the venue.

Below you can see the rectangles and carved edges of these wooden posts. These were typical of the style Swain adopted throughout the ground. Most of the woodwork and large scale stonework (such as the pitch side pillar also seen) used similar patterning when first constructed.

The carved edge style is also seen here on this stone post marking the entrance to the pitch for the players. Originally there were two impressive stone posts, one either side of the tunnel entrance. But by 2003 these had been remodelled extensively to match the rest of the white perimeter wall. However, this carved corners still showed an element of the styling used throughout the stadium at the time of construction.

It was said that architect Charles Swain adopted an Art deco style, but if he did his planning was at the cutting edge of design as Art Deco didn’t become prominent until after 1926. He certainly used styling he’d have been familiar with from his days as a theatre architect.

If you’d like to read more on the history of Maine Road, take a look at Farewell To Maine Road, which can be downloaded from this page:

Farewell To Maine Road – Part One

You can find lots of material on Maine Road throughout this website. Some of it is only available to subscribers but there’s also a lot of free stuff on here.