Manchester City Centre

Known by many names, the Manchester Arena opened 30 years ago in July 1995

If you’re one of those people who still call Manchester Arena ‘The Nynex’, it’s likely you’ll remember its grand opening 30 years ago this month.

Now known as the AO Arena, in its three decades, it has hosted incredible sporting events and brought the biggest stars in music to the city. However, the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017 would be the tragic reason it would become so well remembered around the world.

Officially opened on July 15, 1995, Manchester Arena was constructed as part of the city’s unsuccessful bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics. Costing an eye-watering £60 million, it was built as an American-style sports arena with 360-degree seating.

At the time, it was Europe’s biggest multi-purpose indoor entertainment and sports arena; however, it has become mostly renowned for hosting large music events in recent years.

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A glass tower was initially planned for the arena but never built. A seven-screen multiplex cinema opened as part of the complex in 1996 but closed four years later.

Built partly above Victoria Station, its construction resulted in four new platforms being created to serve the arena and the city.

On Saturday, July 15, 1995, the opening night, 15,000 people attended to watch Olympic ice-skating icons Torvill and Dean perform routines from their farewell tour. Although the performance itself was said to have been flawless, the experiences many reportedly had on opening night were not.

On July 17, 1995, the Manchester Evening News reported that the new arena suffered an “agonising catalogue of problems” on opening night. These included massive queues at the bars during the interval, blocked toilets, a two-hour wait to leave the arena’s car park, and “sickness and dizziness” due to the sheer angle and elevation of the seating.

Many people were said to have left Torvill and Dean’s performance early because they felt “dizzy and unsafe” on the steeply tiered seats. One man who didn’t stay for the duration of the performance was Keith Cracknell, 61, and his wife Sheila, 58, who left halfway through.

Their seats were near the back of the 72-foot-high auditorium. “It was alright going up,” Keith said.

“But when you had to come down it was a different matter. There were not enough handrails and my wife felt she could not tackle all those steep steps if there were other people around. It was a long way down to the ice-rink and we felt very unhappy.”

Another unhappy opening night attendee was Penny Miller from Bramhall. She had paid £22.50 for a seat nine rows from the top of the arena.

“When we got to the top, we couldn’t believe the severity of the angle,” She said. “As you looked down, everything just dropped away dramatically. It would only take one person to tumble on the stairs for a disaster to happen.”

In response, the arena bosses said they would look into the complaints. A spokesperson said the slope of the seats was comparable to modern football stadia under construction worldwide but steeper than older, more traditional venues like Manchester G-Mex or Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena.

Complaints also came about the arena’s parking situation. Fireman Bill Crompton from Shaw said: “The queues at the car park pay stations were horrendous. It was taking half an hour just to get an exit ticket.

“Then when we did get back to the car on the ninth floor, nothing was moving. It took another hour-and-a-half to get out. It’s ridiculous to have just one exit at a car park like that when everyone is trying to get out of it at the same time.”

Nynex Arena bosses vowed to tackle the teething problems that marred the opening night. Meetings were reportedly held on improvements (including alleviating traffic problems and installing more handrails near the seating).

This prompted the arena’s executive director, Lee Ecskilsen, to say: “Any new building, especially one this size, will undoubtedly generate some customer concerns.”

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Over the years, the name of Manchester Arena has changed several times. From being sponsored by US telecoms company Nynex and known initially as the Nynex Arena, it was renamed the Manchester Evening News Arena, or more commonly, the M.E.N Arena from the late ’90s until 2011.

It reverted to its original name, Manchester Arena, until it found a new sponsor in July 2013 and was renamed Phones 4u Arena. However, this ended in January 2015 when Phones 4u went bust, and the name reverted back to Manchester Arena.

In 2019, the arena was temporarily renamed after pop group Take That, during a five-concert Manchester leg of their tour, to honour their career. At the time, the band held the record for the most performances at the arena with 46.

It wasn’t until September 20 that the arena was rebranded as the AO Arena as part of a sponsorship deal with electrical retailer AO. In its 30-year existence, Manchester Arena has hosted some truly spectacular sporting, music and comedy events.

The arena’s first stand-up comedy performance was Peter Kay’s final night of his Mum Wants A Bungalow Tour in July 2003. Fittingly, the comedian had worked at the arena when it first opened in 1995. His performance was filmed for a DVD release as Peter Kay at the Manchester Arena.

Over the years, the arena has also hosted the biggest music acts in the world. In its first year of opening, David Bowie and the Italian opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti wowed the crowds there.

Sport has also played a huge part of the arena’s history, having been home to Manchester Storm and Manchester Phoenix ice hockey teams, and the Manchester Giants basketball team.

It also hosted events when the Commonwealth Games came to the city in 2002, as well as world class boxing matches featuring Amir Khan, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, Mike Tyson, and David Haye.

Of course, the one terrible chapter in the arena’s history was the terrorist attack on May 22, 2017. 22 people died, including several children, who had come to see an Ariana Grande concert.

An explosion tore through the venue, with more than 800 others receiving physical or psychological injuries in the blast. Terrorist Salman Abedi was named as the suicide bomber who carried out the attack.

The arena re-opened later the same year with a benefit concert featuring acts associated with the region, including headliners Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, indie bands The Courteeners and Blossoms, and 1980s pop star Rick Astley.

In January 2024, the venue unveiled its £50 million redevelopment, encompassing VIP entrances and a members-only restaurant and bar. With a capacity of 21,000, the AO Arena was the biggest indoor arena in the country, but Co-op Live, situated just two miles away next to Etihad Stadium, now takes the title with a maximum capacity of 23,500.

To mark the redevelopment, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was in attendance, making a speech to attendees and ushered in a ‘new era’ of the venue. “For so many reasons, it will always be at the heart of the Greater Manchester story,” he reflected. “But it is going into a new era with this major redevelopment.”

Chris Bray, Executive Vice President for Europe at ASM, the venue operator for the AO Arena, said: “I think we’re really well prepared, we’re a power house. It’s the music capital of the world and there’s enough content to be delivered in two arenas here.”

Happy birthday Manchester Arena. Here’s to many more decades hosting world class gigs and events.