Manchester was the host city of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the event that transformed the east of the city from the industrial wasteland of the Bradford Colliery into the Etihad Campus (the stadium, the velodrome, the National Squash Centre, and the sense of a city that built the future on the foundation of the sport), and the Manchester of the Olympics is the city that has hosted the football of the London 2012, the Rugby World Cup, the Ashes Test cricket at the Old Trafford (the cricket ground, the 1864, and the best cricket ground in the north of England), and the sporting events that have drawn the visitors from around the world to a city that defines the British relationship with the sport: the passionate, the knowledgeable, and the slightly obsessed. Manchester will never host an Olympic Games, the size of the city, the lack of the Olympic-scale infrastructure, and the shadow of London, and the sporting Manchester of the 21st century is the Commonwealth city, the football city, and the city that has rebuilt itself through the sport. Here is your guide.

Olympics in Manchester, Sporting Guide

• The Commonwealth Games legacy, the Etihad Campus: The 2002 Commonwealth Games were the largest multi-sport event hosted by the UK before the London 2012, the 3,863 athletes from the 72 Commonwealth nations, the 17 sports, and the construction of the venues that became the Etihad Campus: the City of Manchester Stadium (now the Etihad Stadium, the home of the Manchester City FC, the 55,097 capacity, and the Premier League football every other the weekend. The tour of the stadium, ~£25, the dressing room, the tunnel, and the best football stadium tour in the UK), the Manchester Velodrome (the National Cycling Centre, the track that produced the Sir Chris Hoy, the Laura Trott, and the Sir Bradley Wiggins, the most successful British Olympic sport of the last two decades. The taster sessions, the track bike, the banking, and the essential Manchester experience. ~£15 for the 1-hour taster session), and the Manchester Aquatics Centre (the university pool, the public swimming, and the best swimming in the city centre. ~£5 for the lane swimming). The Etihad Campus is the essential sporting visit in Manchester, and the Metrolink tram from the city centre (the Piccadilly to the Etihad Campus, the 10 minutes, the £2 fare) makes the Campus the most accessible sporting destination in the city. More UK →
• The football, the two cathedrals: The Old Trafford (Manchester United): the Theatre of Dreams, the 74,310 capacity, the history (the Busby Babes, the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, the Sir Alex Ferguson era, the 13 Premier League titles, the 2 Champions Leagues, and the most successful club in the history of the English football), and the tour (~£28 for the adult, the museum, the dressing room, the tunnel, the manager’s dugout, and the best football tour in the UK. The essential strategy: the match ticket, the Premier League tickets are the hardest to obtain in the world, the waiting list, the hospitality packages from the ~£200, and the essential alternative: the Europa League or the cup match, the easier to obtain and the cheaper). The Etihad Stadium (Manchester City): the champions of the 2023–24 season, the 55,097 capacity, the tour (~£25), and the best museum in the English football, the history of the club from the 1880 St Mark’s to the Pep Guardiola era. The essential football experience: the National Football Museum (the Urbis building in the city centre, the largest football museum in the world, the exhibits, the FIFA World Cup trophy, the Pele shirt, the Maradona Hand of God ball, and the best museum in Manchester. Free, and the essential 2 hours for any football fan)
• The Old Trafford (cricket), the Ashes: The Old Trafford cricket ground, the 1864, the home of the Lancashire County Cricket Club, and the Test match venue that has hosted the most famous Ashes moments: the Jim Laker 19 for the 90 in the 1956 (the best bowling figures in the history of the Test cricket), the Shane Warne’s “Ball of the Century” to the Mike Gatting in the 1993, and the 2019 Ashes Test, the Ben Stokes 135 not out, the greatest innings in the history of the Ashes. The tour (~£15 for the adult, the pavilion, the dressing room, and the best cricket ground tour in the UK), and the match day (the Test match ticket from the ~£50 for the day, the international T20 from the ~£25, and the Lancashire county cricket from the ~£15, the best value day out in Manchester)