Maine Road 100 – Day 12

Day 12 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game. Today is a simple photo of something that became lost after decades of proudly stating the club’s name – the central mosaic.

Created in 1923 for the new stadium the central mosaic was one of three created to proudly spell out the club’s name at their new home. I’ve written a lot about these and you can read more in the second chapter of Farewell To Maine Road (I talk about the people who made the mosaics there):

Farewell To Maine Road – Part Two

The central mosaic was proudly visible to all from 1923 through to the late 1970s when it was covered up by an advertising hoarding. I was told while researching the book that a refurbishment of the Main Stand saw an air conditioning unit get smashed through it, damaging it forever. You can see the advertising board in this photo:

I do know that during Maine Road’s demolition in 2004 part of the mosaic became visible briefly one day. How I wish we’d have been able to salvage it! If I get chance I’ll post that here, along with other demolition images, later in this series.

This image of it is from 1968 and for those unfamiliar with Maine Road he specific location of the mosaic was above the main entrance of the Main Stand (the Main Stand is number 1 on this image) facing Maine Road itself.

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

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