Manchester Victoria then and now

[Starmill]

Yep. Dont know if its moved since.

https://twitter.com/RailbusMemories/status/1438996248313442305?s=20

View attachment 135366

Thank you for this. I've been given permission to share this photograph of the unit's cab in situ:

 

[Cloud Strife]

Maybe if the new Coop arena at Eastlands sees off the Victoria arena, we can start again and design something fit for purpose?

It won't. The Manchester Arena is hugely in demand, because the transport connections there are second to none. That's why the owners of the Coop Arena are gambling that they'll be able to attract some things that can't get dates at the Manchester Arena, although it's always going to be a poor second because of where it's located.

The funny part about the Manchester Arena, of course, is that it wasn't originally designed to be an event/concert arena. It was meant to be for sports, and some of the attendance figures from the mid 1990s are ridiculous for niche sports. The Manchester Giants (basketball) were attracting huge numbers for British basketball with one game getting over 14,000 people, and the Manchester Storm (ice hockey) were even more popular. At one point, the Storm managed to get over 17,000 people to a normal season game, and they were routinely getting between 8000-12000 a night.

It's hard to explain just how popular the Storm were in 1990s Manchester. The ISL (Ice Hockey Superleague) between 1996-1999 was just ridiculous, as at the time, UK tax law allowed for businesses to write off expenses relating to team ownership/sponsorship. The end result was a ridiculous wage cap of £500,000 (even today, the wage cap of the top tier league, the EIHL, is around £400,000), so the standard was incredibly high by UK standards. The teams were almost all made up of import players as well, so you ended up having pretty decent North American players coming over to play here. The ISL also really improved the match night presentation, while football was only in the infancy of becoming a family friendly sport.

So, while the Manchester Arena today is a bit 'ick' from a design and functionality point of view, it was exactly what 1990s Manchester needed to come down from being a rather run-down mess known mostly for rave culture and the Hacienda. I don't think you can underestimate the importance of the Manchester Arena to the revitalisation of Manchester, and for making Manchester city centre a place that people actually wanted to go to for something other than shopping.

 

[Starmill]

It won't. The Manchester Arena is hugely in demand, because the transport connections there are second to none. That's why the owners of the Coop Arena are gambling that they'll be able to attract some things that can't get dates at the Manchester Arena, although it's always going to be a poor second because of where it's located.

Most concert guests who can't simply walk to the arena use a private car or taxi though. Access for these will be slightly better at Coop Live than the AO Arena. It's no different to when a staidium tour plays at the Ethihad, across the road from where Coop Live is being built. The mediocre frequency and capacity of the tram and bus services isn't really an issue.