Fashionista's Travels: Old Trafford, Manchester

This is a post I'm sure Manchester United fans would love and this is definitely a photo-blog =).

Post Paris, we arrived in St. Pancras at almost 11 pm and rested for the night at Somerset Hotel, Dorset Square (not far from Baker Street). Woke up the next morning to a slight drizzle but that didn't deter us from making a 4-hour drive to Manchester.

4 hours later from London, we've arrived to Manchester! Located at Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford is 15 to 20 minutes drive further from the city center.

Hubs at Old Trafford. His favorite team since God knows when. He's certainly happy to be here =).

Apparently my parents are also happy to be here. Aha!

The United Trinity. It's a statue of Manchester United's three great players, George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. To read more on The United Trinity, read [here]. 

There are many ways to visit Old Trafford, you can just come in and walk around the compound, choose to only visit the museum, visit the Red Cafe, or choose both stadium and museum tour. I had booked early for a Museum and Tour of Old Trafford prior to arriving in UK. Our tickets cost about GBP15 (last I checked, the tickets are currently priced at GBP16 per adult) for a tour of the stadium and the museum. You have to print your tickets (confirmation of purchase) separately (i.e. there's four of us so that means there's four printouts) and show it to the officials at the entrance of the museum and tour centre. 

In return, they'll give you the entrance ticket to the stadium, a souvenir guide book and a lanyard for you to keep. 

The front entrance is for entrance for watching the football game so we had to walk a bit to the right for  the entrance to the Museum and Tour Centre. 

Huge ball and a pair of boots greeted us. As can be seen, hubs is faithfully wearing is lanyard and the ticket is inserted into the transparent plastic card holder. Printed on the lanyard are the words "Manchester United Museum and Tour" and the Manchester United logo. Certainly, you won't find this lanyard being sold anywhere else =).

We opted for the museum visit first prior to our stadium tour. If you feel like booking a ticket for a tour of the stadium, bear in mind that you have to select not only the date of your visit (unlike Disneyland where your ticket is valid for a visit at any date for a year) and also the exact time of your visit. There's a few time slots that you can choose from so don't worry, if you can't catch the 10 am tour, you can opt for the next one. Each tour can only fit about 20 people so if you're traveling in a group, be prepared to book in advance. Oh, I almost forgot, there's no tours arranged during match dates. 

Among the trophies that Manchester United have won over the years. A bit boastful, aren't they?

A lil' bit of history on their Scottish coach, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Among the trophies that's won by Sir Alex.

Dad's got the pose just right. Haha!

Hubs imitating Sir Alex. 

A lil' bit of info on Manchester United's current players.

From the museum, we had to walk a bit to the stadium tour meeting point.

Met with our guide at the meeting point. Oh, do take note that if you're late for your tour, they'll just leave you behind (meaning that there's a real possibility of you wasting the ticket that you've paid for).

So this is how it feels to be among the crowd at Old Trafford...

As can be seen, hubs is grinning from ear to ear throughout the tour. Even though the stadium itself is huge (it can fit about 75,000 spectators) a tour will only take about an hour.

Old Trafford, theatre of dreams =). And if you're wondering about the spotlight on the grass, it's actually a heating tool to make sure the grass doesn't freeze up during winter.

See how huge the stadium is?

Sir Alex Ferguson stand. Unveiled during his 25th anniversary as manager last year.

A photo of me in front of Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

The stadium's interior. Squeaky clean I must say. Oh, the tour is also available for people in wheelchairs.

And this is the wheelchair entrance.

Us in front of the Munich tunnel, a remembrance of the tragedy in Munich where Manchester United lost eight of their players.

Off to the dressing room!

Players' lounge. The board in front of us is the International Honours Board where Manchester United players who has represented their country are listed.

A buffet line for the players. But we're told normally the players wouldn't be the one enjoying the food. 

And this is the players' dressing room. 

The jerseys are listed according where they actually sit before a game.

Us, sitting at where the players would be and our guide, standing where Sir Alex would be, and the two white boards are used to discuss the strategy of their game prior to any football match. 

One of the members of our tour group is a toddler. I guess there's no age limit for Manchester United fans.

Hubs with one of his favorite players' jersey.

Apparently my mum is also a fan of Manchester United. Haha!! This is certainly something that I don't know. 

Went out the tunnel as the players would right before a match at Old Trafford.

This is where the visiting team would be sitting and right next to it is the home teams' seats.

Dad managed a snapshot with our guide. 

Us. 

It's a trip that I'm sure hubs would never want to forget. The best part is, it's his dream come true. I'm just happy to be a part of making that dream come true. The only drawback to this trip was missing a live Manchester United game that weekend because tickets were all sold out. Maybe next time =).


xoxo Mrs Fashoinista