Sports
Stretford has been the home of Manchester United Football Club since 1910, when the club moved to its present Old Trafford ground, the western end of which is still unofficially called the Stretford End.
Old Trafford was originally the home of Manchester Cricket Club, but became the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club in 1864 upon that club's formation. The ground is on Talbot Road, Stretford, where it has been since 1856. Similar to its counterpart, one end of the Old Trafford cricket ground is called the Stretford End. It has been a test venue since 1884 and has hosted three World Cup semi-finals. After the 2005 Ashes Test, when more than 20,000 fans had to be turned away, the decision was made to increase the ground's capacity from 20,000 to 25,000. Initial plans included building a new stadium on the site of Trafford Town Hall, opposite the present ground. However, Trafford Council voted against the demolition of the town hall and instead, in 2007, signed an agreement jointly with Lancashire County Cricket Club, Ask Developments, and Tesco, to redevelop the ground on its present site.
The new cricket ground will be at the heart of a 750,000 square feet (69,677 m2) development that will also include business space, residential, retail, hotel and leisure facilities. More than £25 million is expected to be invested in the redevelopments at Old Trafford.
Stretford Stadium, adjoining Longford Park, is the home of Trafford Athletic Club. Trafford is one of the UK's top athletic clubs, with more than 100 members having competed at international level.
The Stretford Sports Village run by Trafford Community Leisure Trust comprises two main centres: the original Stretford Leisure Centre, now called the Chester Centre, and the facility at Stretford High School called the Talbot Centre. The Stretford Sports Village is located in one of the UK's sporting hot spots, sandwiched between Manchester United Football Club's Old Trafford Stadium and Lancashire County Cricket Club's Old Trafford Ground. The centre's have a 25-metre pool, a 20-metre children's pool, four gyms, a squash court, twelve badminton courts, two 5-a-side courts, a spinning studio, practice hall, training rooms, community room, a cafe, outdoor full-size floodlight 4G artificial pitch, full-size grass pitch and a public library. Trafford Water Sports Centre lies just across Stretford's southern border with Sale, about one mile (1.6 km) from Stretford town centre.
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