30-March-2026
Today we begin the stadium tours. Starting off with Old Trafford, Manchester United!
Note – This is a part of a 12 Day Blog relating to my friend group’s trip around Europe and primarily the UK. See here
We got the tickets and went for the tour. Manchester United’s tours are guided tours, meaning we have to follow the guide where they explain to us the history, achievements of the club as we walked along. In summary we enjoyed the guided tour as there’s someone explaining to us the stuff instead of us wandering around aimlessly (We’ll cover more on this as we move to other stadiums).
As I’ve failing memory, what impress me for Man U is its trophy room, show casing most/all of the trophies they have won since inception. Let the photos do the talking.
We were then guided throughout the stadium before walking through the tunnel and onto the pitch side (no you cant step on the pitch!). We also went into the player’s dressing room thereafter.
We ended the tour by going to the Red Café situated at Sir Alex Ferguson stand which is open to public. There we had our lunch as well as beers! By now it’s SOP that every day by 11am we need to have our first round of beers. 😂
Next up, we proceeded to Etihad Stadium, Manchester City! Orite, so none of us are really fans of Man City but I want to visit and get some stuff for Gerald (which he’s an avid supporter) so why not and since it’s within the city of Manchester.
When we first reach the parking area, it was really impressive as the place seems HUGE as compared to Man U! You first need to purchase the stadium tour tickets in the block where their City Store was.
We got the tickets and proceeded to locate the entrance. Strangely enough, the place looks quite deserted even though it seems very large, and we had some challenge on locating the entrance. We were told to wait at a cafe area as it’s a guided tour, so need to wait for the timing to start. The cafe also seems quite empty, not sure if there’re other cafes around.
Now the guides came and lead us around the stadium, first we have to walk through the stands where we first catch a glimpse of Etihad Stadium.
We thought CK almost fought with the guide as after he found out CK is an Arsenal supporter, they keep mocking each other on their club’s achievements. 😆😆
Understood from the guide there’s no trophy room to view (under renovation or something) but they have a single smaller trophy on display (Disappointed). We were then led into the dressing room, which is very impressive as I think it’s the largest among all the stadiums we visited.
The emphasis during the tour is on Pep Guardiola and his astute managerial style.
We were led through the tunnel onto the pitch for more photos. We ended the tour by going back to the City Store where I bought some stuffs for Gerald.
After two stadium tours we were done for the day, we went to a shopping mall for the main highlight of the Europe trip, buying gloves. 😁😁
Anyway, we had very nice and cheap Korean food here after the tremendous glove purchase, damm realized I didnt take any photos of the food.
After dinner we found a nice pub near where we stay and went there for drinks. The place is named Matchstick Man which we liked it alot, cosy place for food and drinks.
JX got free tasting from all the taps here also, kudos!
After our infinite round of beers, we headed back to rest because next day is to Anfield: Liverpool!
