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
‘Nothing is eternal’: Is Pep Guardiola hinting at the end of Manchester City’s supremacy?
Danny Jones
Pep Guardiola looks to have suggested that more than a decade of Manchester City’s supremacy and Premier League dominance at the very least might be coming to an end.
Speaking in his post-match press interviews after City were knocked out of the Champions League by serial European Cup winners Real Madrid, Guardiola cut a somewhat more deflated figure than usual following the 3-1 defeat.
A Kylian Mbappe hattrick which was closed out within an hour of play was enough to stretch the aggregate score to 6-3 over the two legs and Madrid doubling their lead across the tie proved yet again why, not unlike City domestically over the last decade, they’re the kings of the continental competition.
In contrast, however, Pep seemed to accept the loss much more easily than perhaps we’ve seen in the past and rather than appearing familiarly frustrated or defiant in the press conference; instead, he seemed rather reflective, responding to one reporter: “Nothing is eternal”.
🗣️ "Nothing is eternal" – Pep Guardiola.
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Insisting that they have to decide whether a significant rebuild is needed to keep competing at the very top level consistently as they have done since the 54-year-old arrived back in 2016, he argued that it is only with that they’ll be able to determine what comes next.
As for the result itself, he made no bones about Carlo Ancelotti’s side having “deserved it”, stating simply that “the best team won” and that fans and players alike have to “accept the reality: they were better.”
Having been a familiar foe for Pep long before he arrived in Manchester, both at Barcelona and Bayern Munich – not to mention City having faced Los Blancos a dozen times before Tuesday night since 2012 – there have been less surprising outcomes for supporters to come to terms with.
“With time, the club and everyone is going to accept what it is but for now we have 30/40 games for the Premier League next season to try and be here [in the Champions League] and to improve. Nothing is eternal”, said the Catalan coaching genius.
On the other hand, he also went on to add that it was merely a reflection on the night itself and not what his team have achieved in recent years.
He went on to remark that “when we were playing outstanding it hurt more” to be knocked out of the UCL when he felt they deserved to stay in it, but still insisted: “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.” Tonight just wasn’t the night.
Who knows? Perhaps it was just some more melodrama from a manager with an undeniable flare for pageantry and playing into/in the face of narratives when he doesn’t come out on top – which hasn’t happened all that often until their dip in form this season.
Plus, there’s certainly still plenty for him and the fans to be positive about; not only has the arrival of their ‘Egyptian Prince’ and the media’s Mo Salah successor, Omar Marmoush, got plenty of people excited – especially after that first-half hattrick against Newcastle – but so too have the other January signings.
In fact, for all of his downplaying in this particular presser (which you can hear in full HERE), it felt like there were only upsides after their victory over Newcastle, even going so far as to dub new signing Nico Gonzalez a ‘mini-Rodri‘.
You can watch the highlights from the game down below:
Pep is right, nothing is eternal – but sometimes you just come up against talents like Mbappe and there’s very little anyone can do about it.
Sale Sharks sign highly-rated Harlequins hooker, Nathan Jibulu
Danny Jones
Sale Sharks are investing in youth with their latest bit of transfer business after signing one of the Harlequins’ hottest prospects, Nathan Jibulu.
The highly-rated hooker, who has already nine appearances this season, including more than half a dozen in the Gallagher Premiership, has been exciting plenty of scouts throughout rugby union and is already firmly in national team plans.
Having already been part of the England Under-20 and A squads, not to mention impressing at club level in a relatively short space of time, it’s a big coup for Sale.
From the Quins academy to the right side of Shark-infested waters.
Jibulu joined the Twickenham-based outfit back in 2022 just a year after they won their second English championship (a full decade since their first) after previously attending Seaford College and representing nearby Wimbledon Warriors.
However, now the six-foot and seriously strong forward will be swapping the life near the capital for the North and Greater Manchester, specifically.
Set to join Sale Sharks for the 2025/26 season – scheduled to kick off in September – he’s looking like a really strong addition to their front row and a future squads to come.
Speaking to the club in an official statement, he said: “When I was younger, whenever someone asked me, ‘what team would you want to play for?’ I’d always say Sale…
“I’ve scrummed a lot with Asher [Opoku-Fordjour] and I got to know him pretty well. I always tell him how special and different he is, and I can’t wait to play with him.
“The way the club has developed him and nurtured him to become an established Premiership and England player speaks volumes about the coaching and the support that he’s getting at Sale.
“The entire front row is in the England squad, with the Curry boys too, so that tells you that someone at the club is doing something right. I looked at that and I said, ‘why would you not want to be there?’”
Still just 22 years old and having made just as many appearances for his soon-to-be former club, Sale weren’t the only ones chasing his signature.
Jibulu went on to add: “I love those games where you go toe-to-toe physically, so all of that attracted me straight away, and then speaking to people who are there already, they said all the stuff that I really like so it was a no brainer when the opportunity came about.”
As for his impending coach, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Nathan is really driven, he understands what he wants from his life and his career, and he knows how he’s going to get it.
“He’s a young lad but he’s incredibly mature and he’s got the game and the physical attributes to match. I’ve got no doubt he’ll play for England in the future and we’re really excited to bring him to the club.”
Currently sat seventh in the table after another at times promising but somewhat frustrating start to the year, the summer can’t come soon enough for Sale.
The Manc -
4th January 2022 
