After a 80 year stint at Maine Road, the club moved to the new City Of Manchester Stadium at the start of the 2003 football season.
As with many other stadiums built around this time, the stadium is a bowl design and is totally enclosed. The ground was originally built for the Commonwealth games but has since had 10,000 extra seats added to the space occupied by the athletics track.
In common with stadiums like the Ricoh, Perspex forms part of the roofing allowing light to reach the pitch. Although subjective - we liked what we saw, the ground is not as bland as some of it's contemporaries.
As an away fan you'll find yourself accommodated in the South Stand at one end of the ground where you are treated to great views of the action. The ticket allocation is typically 3,000 with an extra 1,500 for cup games.
The facilities are excellent, they are provided within a spacious concourse. There is a good choice of hot half time snacks as well as the opportunity to grab a pint. You can also watch the game on Plasma TV's.
We enjoyed our visit to the ground, but not the result as we were soundly beaten on the day. Hopefully next time we can enjoy the result as much as the facilities!