Every September, crowds of nervous freshers – many feasting their eyes on Fallowfield for the first time – can be seen lugging boxes of pots and pans into Owens Park, nodding nervously at their potential new flatmates in the corridors.
This ageing student accommodation block has been a staple of Manchester University since the sixties.
During that time, it’s housed thousands of students. But it’s also been the site of one of the city’s notorious competitions: The Tower Challenge.
Within days, or maybe even, hours, of moving into Owens Park, many students decide to enrol in the infamous contest, which involves scampering from floor to floor as fast you can whilst gulping down a shot of alcohol on each level (16 in total).
The outcome is never pretty. But Fallowfield is used to that. This patch of land was hosting chaotic competitions long before the students moved in.
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Over 100 years ago, Fallowfield had its very own stadium – and in 1893 it was chosen as the venue for the FA Cup Final.
On paper, hosting such an occasion is a proud feat for the Manchester suburb. But in reality, FA Cup football at Fallowfield Stadium was much like the Tower Challenge – wrong-headed, dangerous and pretty disastrous all round.
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Fallowfield Stadium / Credit: Wikipedia
Fallowfield Stadium was constructed in 1892 – built with terraces, a pavilion and a single stand, with a running track around the outskirts.
According to historian Simon Inglis – the author of the excellent ‘Played In Manchester’ – it could fit about 15,000 fans “at most.”
Opened by Manchester Athletic Club, Fallowfield Stadium quickly settled into its role as a major sports venue – and within a year the FA had selected the ground as the site for football’s biggest game: The FA Cup final.
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Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers arrived in Manchester to compete for the prestigious trophy on 25 March 1893. And so did tens of thousands of others.
The official attendance that day – 45,000 – put the crowd at three times the stadium’s capacity. Although other reports suggest there might have been as many as 60,000 in the ground on the day.
The overcrowding, unsurprisingly, created problems right from the off – with the sheer volume of spectators leading to a kick-off delay.
Given the largely flat structure at Fallowfield, many struggled to get a good view of the game, stirring a restlessness that saw the crowd spill over onto the playing surface.
The teams had to restrict football to the middle of the pitch for fear of tumbling over spectators’ feet, and when the final whistle went to signal a 1-0 victory for Wolves, Everton angrily declared the environment was not fit for a competitive match.
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They had a strong argument, but their demand for a rematch fell on deaf ears.
Despite the trouble that day, Wolves have fonder memories of Fallowfield Stadium.
Over at their own ground, Molineux, the Midlands club have a corporate hospitality suite named the ‘Fallowfield Lounge’ – paying testament to the location in which they lifted the FA Cup for the first time.
Fallowfield Stadium continued to host high-level competitive sport after Wolves’ big win, too.
An England vs Scotland rugby game took place at the ground in 1897, along with two Northern Union Challenge Cup rugby league finals in 1899 and 1900.
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In fact, the British football body decided to give the ground another big fixture in 1899 – the FA Cup Semi-Final between Sheffield United and Liverpool.
The pair came into the tie deadlocked, having drawn 2-2 in their first game and 4-4 in the replay.
A second replay was scheduled at Fallowfield Stadium, and following two enthralling encounters, demand to see the Semi was high.
But no lessons had been learned.
The crowd on this occasion was so big a crush ensued, leading to the game being abandoned with Liverpool up 1-0 at the time.
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Student match at Fallowfield Stadium in 1985; with the Owens Park tower block looming above in the distance / Credit: Wikipedia
The second replay was instead moved to Derby County’s Baseball Ground, where Sheff Utd won 1-0 – and then went on to thump Derby themselves 4-1 in the final at Crystal Palace two weeks later.
It is unconfirmed as to whether there were any major injuries in the failed Semi-Final in Manchester, but the debacle put an end to elite football in Fallowfield regardless.
Instead, the stadium found its niche as a spot for athletics and cycling – used regularly by The Manchester Wheelers.
Student footballers also toughed it out on the turf, but as the surroundings began to deteriorate, the university gobbled up the ground.
Pro cycling ended in 1974, and after a few more years of amateur use, Fallowfield Stadium was demolished in 1994.
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In its place, a brand new set of student halls was built: Richmond Park.
Today, the area is ripe for a fresh burst of development.
The rumours are that close neighbour Owens Park – and its Tower Challenge – will also be gone forever in due course (although plans for renovation have been plagued by postponements).
Still, with Fallowfield’s fascinatingly bizarre history as a contest venue, you can’t help but wonder what sort of topsy-turvy tournament might come next…
Learn more about the history of Manchester stadia by reading Simon Inglis’ Played In Manchester – It’s available online here.
Featured Image – Wikimedia Commons
Sport
Manchester City plotting spending spree ‘before’ Club World Cup
Danny Jones
Manchester City are set to embark on somewhat of a spending spree this summer transfer window as the club’s higher-ups are looking to get business done before the 2025 Club World Cup.
With FIFA’s intercontinental club competition set to get underway in mid-June, the Blues don’t have too long to welcome in new players, but Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has reiterated their urgency regarding recruitment.
Despite having brought in four new acquisitions in a very short space of time last season, the 50-year-old argued that he wasn’t completely happy with the extent and speed of their business.
Giving a lengthy interview this week, CFG‘s founding chairman has imposed an internal deadline ahead of the lucrative knockout competition.
Speaking with club media, Khaldoon recognised that while there were incomings in January of this year, he believes they “should have been more aggressive in some of the changes we needed to do, adding that he believes it “cost [them].”
“I can tell you today, we have clearly identified who exactly [the targets are], in what positions, and we have our clear number one option, our clear number two option”, he continues.
More importantly, he goes on to add: “We’ll go about our business, and it will be very clear, very swift. Our objective is to try to be ready with the new squad for the Club World Cup.”
He also suggested the flurry of activity this past January was not just atypical of the administration, but felt the squad fell into a crisis state with the number of injuries, insisting they “had to act.”
City have already been linked with a hugely talented and highly-rated European target in the wake of Kevin De Bruyne‘s departure and a lack of strength in depth in midfield.
An initial bid is said to have been received already and will likely be the first of many City summer signings.
He also insisted that the players who joined last season weren’t scattershot, emergency transfers (perhaps barring the resigning of İlkay Gündoğan) but were the start of the rebuild and “gives [fans] an idea of what’s coming this summer.”
Another player linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium is Lyon star Rayan Cherki, who scored in big moments during their Europa League run this year, registering 32 goal contributions across all competitions throughout the 24/25 campaign.
Who would you like to see added to Pep Guardiola’s side this summer, then, Man City fans?
You can watch Khaldoon Al Mubarak’s interview in full down below:
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Manchester City (press shots)
Sport
Ruben Amorim reacts as Manchester United are booed off after Malaysia friendly
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has delivered a fairly brutal response after his club were booed off by supporters during a friendly in Malaysia.
The Red Devils recently embarked on a post-season tour following a calamitous 2024/25 campaign, both domestically and continentally, with that limp loss in the Europa League final, but have already resumed what has become alarmingly normal service with yet another defeat.
Finding themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline against ASEAN All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur – a squad comprised of various talents from around the region who had never played together before and were only founded as an actual team back in 2014 – it was all far from clean slates and fresh starts.
In the wake of the shock result, Man United were booed off by the Malaysian and other international fans inside the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which saw more than 70,000 in attendance.
It’s the end and that’s it. Man United got boo’ed by the fans after the final whistle.
They got beaten by non-full team Asean All-Star who just trained together as a group few days before the match. pic.twitter.com/fBxnMiZPN8
For context, the ASEAN All-Stars had only trained together for the first time just days before the game itself, but the de facto exhibition outfit still managed to break the deadlock in the 71st minute against a United side that rarely looked like scoring.
All that being said, Amorim had some choice words for his own players in his post-match duties after their first post-season tour fixture, insisting that while he always remains accountable, those out on the pitch perhaps received somewhat of a deserved reckoning too.
He began by stating, “I’m always guilty of the performance of the team, no matter what. [I have been responsible] since the first day”, but went on to argue: “The boos from the fans, I think it something that we need, maybe.”
Citing that the Old Trafford faithful and die-hard away fans have always been loyal and supportive despite frustration in the league, he suggested that “maybe they will change the way they behave” following this latest reality check.
Despite adding that he has seen reasons for optimism in performances against Man City and Liverpool, for instance, where he felt he saw “belief” and seeds of what’s to come, he’s made very few excuses for the poor displays up to now.
United face the Hong Kong national team in their next friendly on Friday, 29 May, and it’s fair to say anything less than a win would be beyond bad for the predictably unpredictable Premier League club.
You can see his full post-match press conference down below.
The Manc -
4th January 2022 
