Maine Road
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Maine Road was a football stadium that was home to Manchester City, before their move to the City of Manchester Stadium.
History
It was shared by Manchester United for a period after the Second World War, since Manchester United's Old Trafford ground had been partially destroyed during the Manchester Blitz. The highest attendance at an English football game played outside of Wembley was at Maine Road on the March 3, 1934, when Manchester City played Stoke City in front of 84,569 fans in the 6th round of the FA cup.
Maine Road hosted two England internationals, November 13 1946 a 3-0 defeat of Wales and November 16, 1949 a 9-2 win over Northern Ireland in a 1950 World Cup qualifier.
Set amongst streets of terraced houses now seldom seen outside episodes of Coronation Street, the stadium was about 20 years past its "sell-by date" when it was demolished in 2004.
The ground was used for several scenes in the 1948 motion picture Cup-tie Honeymoon
The gypsy's curse
The stadium was reputedly cursed by a gypsy when Manchester City evicted a gypsy camp from the area. The history of Manchester City certainly suggests that there might be something in this story. A group of Manchester United fans "helpfully" arranged for a gypsy to transfer the curse to the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003.
However, the gypsy curse seems to be an urban myth, endemic to a large percentage of football league grounds.