Celebrating 100 years of football at Old Trafford

If Manchester United were making their debut in a new stadium today it would undoubtedly be major news. Yet that was far from the case when Old Trafford first threw open its turnstiles a century ago for the first of many thrilling matches against arch-rivals Liverpool - which the away side won 4-3 after being 2-0 down at half-time in a Division One fixture.

Much more important for fans that weekend were the matches between the last 16 of the then biggest competition in the world - the FA Cup, with ties that included Barnsley, the eventual finalists, against West Bromwich Albion, and Newcastle, eventual winners for the first time, against Blackburn Rovers.

This wasn't the only difference when it came to football in 1910. Firstly there were no substitutes, so if a player got injured he was usually required to limp out the match on the left wing.

There was no advertising on strips and numbering on shirts was 30 years away. Boots were different, players having to hammer their studs into the soles.

The ball used was rock hard and when wet became very heavy. Many players would have a headache after 90 minutes. Some may even have died early deaths from the constant heading of the ball.

Without adequate drainage systems, pitches bore no similarity to the fabulous billiard-table surfaces of the Premier League today and had little grass on them, especially in the winter.

Heavy rain brought puddles and the middle of the pitch could quickly turn into a mud bath. This made it essential for teams to get the ball out to their wingers to attack the full-backs.

In 1910 Manchester United had one of the finest wingers ever seen in this country in Billy Meredith.

The Welshman was signed, with three others, in 1906 from Manchester City, after United's rivals had been found guilty of paying players more than the agreed maximum wage of £4 a week.

The following year it was Meredith who was instrumental in establishing the players union that 50 years later finally broke through the pay barrier and led the way towards the fabulous rewards top players can expect today.

The downside of which, of course, has been that the best players end up at the clubs with the most money. This wasn't the case back in 1910 when talent was more evenly spread around the clubs in the north.

Hence Blackburn Rovers had the inimitable Robert Crompton, described by the Arsenal, Sunderland and England legend Charlie Buchan as the "the finest footballer in the world before World War One."

Although solidly built he was not typical of the bruising defenders of his time and was a master tactician and superb passer of the ball. Crompton was to be capped 41 times by England, 22 as captain - a record for a long time. Considering there were only three regular international games per season the modern day equivalent would be well over 100 caps.

Crompton won two league winners medals, in 1911-12 and 1913-14, and later managed Rovers as they won the FA Cup for a then record-equalling sixth time by beating Huddersfield 3-1 in 1928. Many of his caps, medals and memorabilia are now on display at the National Football Museum in Preston. Liverpool had the best keeper though, Sam Hardy, who featured on the opening day at Old Trafford. The Derbyshire man gained 21 caps for England and made over 600 appearances.

According to Buchan, Hardy was "the finest goalkeeper I played against. By uncanny anticipation and wonderful positional sense he seemed to act like a magnet to the ball."

Bradford City, were also represented in the England side in 1910 by outside-right Dicky Bond, as were Bury in the shape of Billy Hibbert and Sheffield United by Harold Hardinge.

The type of football that was played had altered radically since it took off in public schools in the mid-19th century, when team formations had been entirely attacking, with just two defenders and eight forwards. The aim was to rush forward with the ball, with individualism the key.

Scottish side Queens Park are said to be the first to have recognised the value of "letting the ball do the work," but it is Preston North End, as winners of the first two Division One championships in 1889 and 1890, who are credited with inventing the passing game.

This brought with it the need to adopt formations for both attack and defence, leading to the 2-3-5 set-up of two full-backs, three half-backs and five forwards then in place in 1910.

The key player was the centre-half who would be expected to surge forward in support of his forwards. Most sides played their most creative player in this position.

At the start of the 1909-10 season Newcastle United were the league champions while Manchester United were the FA Cup holders. Manchester City were in Division Two, although they and Oldham Athletic were to gain promotion at the season's end.

With Villa running away with the Division One title there was even more attention than usual paid to the FA Cup. This meant that in Barnsley there was unprecedented enthusiasm for the quarter-final with QPR.

A record crowd of 24,000, with many more locked out, were cock-a-hoop after a single Wilf Bartrop goal took them to a semi-final spot. In this the Tykes beat Everton 3-0, after a replay, at Old Trafford before a record crowd of 55,000.

Football, even by 1910, had become the number one spectator sport, which may just be the only thing not to have changed in the game in the hundred years since.

The 1960 FA Cup by Mark Metcalf is due out on April 8. (£7.99, Sportsbooks)

Barnsley 1910-1912 by David Wood and Mark Metcalf is due out in October. (£14.99, Pen and Sword)