Hotels for Manchester United v Brentford

Saturday afternoon fixtures like this one still follow the old rhythms: pubs filling from midday, scarves going on outside the ground, a slow walk down streets that fill with red and white long before kick-off. A three o'clock start means an early lunch and a proper build-up rather than a rushed dash from work.

Brentford have made a habit of turning up to bigger grounds and being awkward, and that history tends to sharpen the mood among the home support. Expect the usual weekend crowd of families, regulars and travelling fans mixing outside the turnstiles well before the teams appear.

Manchester United began in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR, a team formed by railway workers at the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Newton Heath depot, and only became Manchester United, in red, in 1902 — the change behind today's Red Devils nickname. The club's history holds both tragedy and triumph: eight players died in the 1958 Munich air disaster, and manager Matt Busby, badly injured himself, rebuilt the team into European champions a decade later, in 1968.

United have since added two more European Cups, under Alex Ferguson in 1999 and 2008, and hold the English record of 20 league titles, a mark shared with Liverpool.

Manchester United's 'Theatre of Dreams' is one of the most famous football grounds on earth and England's largest club stadium, staging Premier League and European nights in the Trafford district southwest of the city centre. The immediate area is more industrial than picturesque, but Salford Quays and MediaCity, with their bars and waterfront restaurants, sit close by.

Metrolink trams and nearby rail link straight into central Manchester. An overnight stay lets you savour the occasion and dodge the matchday transport crush.