Grounds I Actually Rate

Gareth Oduya

@gaz_onvinyl

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Twelve places across this city where the ball bounces, the tram rattles and the pies are questionable. Been to most of these more sober than you'd think, drunker than I'd admit. Ranked on atmosphere, not trophy count, so United fans can relax. Each one gets the verdict it deserves.

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Grounds I Actually Rate — 4 items
Name	Venue	Sport	Address	City	Verdict
1Old Trafford	Old Trafford	Football	Sir Matt Busby Way, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0RA	Manchester	Theatre of Dreams, nightmare of the away end queue. Still gives me goosebumps walking down Busby Way. Four stars, docked one for the parking.
2Etihad Stadium	Etihad Stadium	Football	Ashton New Road, Etihad Campus, Manchester, M11 3FF	Manchester	Slick as a new tram line and about as soulful. Brilliant football though, can't argue with that. Solid night out either way.
3National Cycling Centre	National Cycling Centre	Cycling	Stuart Street, Manchester, M11 4DQ	Manchester	The velodrome hums louder than most gigs I've been to. Watching track cycling here feels like watching a washing machine fight a hurricane, in a good way.
4Heaton Park Athletics Track	Heaton Park Athletics Track	Athletics	Middleton Road, Manchester, M25 2SW	Manchester	Sunday morning runs here cure most hangovers, not all. Parkrun crowd is sound, the hill at the end is not.