Shears Hotel, Oldham Road

Shears Hotel, Oldham Road, Newton Heath. (c) Samantha-Jayne Oldfield & D. Day [1].

The Shears Hotel was on the south side of Oldham Street on the corner of Shears Street in Newton Heath.  When it was originally known as the Shears Inn, the Copenhagen Grounds were created behind it in 1857.  These sports grounds lasted until 1869 and housed 4,000 spectators including 1,000 in a grandstand, who watched pedestrians (athletics), wresting, rabbit coursing and pigeon shooting.  After closure, Thomas Hayes the landlord moved to the Haymarket in Manchester, while the Shears went on to host Newton Heath FC (later to become Man United) [1], and the Copenhagen had been named.  The Shears Hotel is shown here in 1970 but it was lost to redevelopment along with Shears Street, and was replaced by the Troydale Estate.

Copenhagen Grounds, Newton Heath. (c) Samantha-Jayne Oldfield, Dave Day [1].

1. Manchester's Sporting Past: Nineteenth Century Athletic Grounds, Samantha-Jayne Oldfield & Dave Day, Manchester Metropolitan University.