The Imperial Hotel was a fantastically styled old building sadly demolished in 1997 for the new Hotel Malmaison development. A original Wilsons house popular with train passengers both arriving and departing and occasionally football fans returning from away matches. It had a time as the New Mancunian in the '70s as seen here, and later the Young Pretender, then back to the Imperial. It was once next to the once famed and freaky Manchester Dolls Hospital which went the same way at the same time due the rebuilding work. You can just about see the Waldorf behind the Imperial which these days is a popular match day boozer for both City and United fans.
New Mancunian, Piccadilly. (c) Manchester Pub Surveys [1].
Blues and reds supping the same boozer? Well in 1907 City legend Billy Meredith and United's Charlie Roberts convened the first meeting of the Association of Football Players' and Trainer's Union (the Player's Union) in the Imperial Hotel. This group was formed in response to the maximum wage of the day which the Football League had set at a miserly £4 a week in 1901. Today it still campaigns for its members as the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), and fittingly two of its current Executives are former blue Richard Jobson and ex-red Martin Buchan.
1. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres, Manchester Pub Surveys (1975).
