It was 11 May 2003 and we’d just lost 1-0 to Southampton as our iconic old ground said its last goodbye.
There was a party atmosphere before the game as we looked to bid a fond farewell - and mixed emotions on the final whistle as the magnitude of the occasion, rather than the result, hit home.
Paul had the strongest of bonds with Maine Road.
His dad is now retired Peter Fletcher, the last safety officer at Maine Road and first at the Etihad Stadium.
Paul had been a ball boy from 1983 to 1989 and a press steward from 1994 to this final hurrah against the Saints.
After finishing his post-match duties that sad day, he made a point of heading out into the stadium one final time to stir up memories of the heroes that had graced the pitch for over 80 memorable years.
It was a highly-charged, emotional moment.
“Maine Road is home. I still class it as home. It will always be home,” said Fletcher as part of our ‘Maine Road 100’ campaign.
“That final day, I sat in the stand just looking at the pitch for ages after the game.
“I should have been on my way home, but I just sat there looking at the stadium and thinking: ‘I’m never going to come back here again’.
“Yes, there was mixed emotions. Excitement at where we were going - a new state-of-the-art stadium. But Maine Road was home. It’s all I ever knew. There were tears.
“I’ve got some grass from the pitch in a pot in the back garden. I’ve got part of the bench from the Platt Lane end in the garden too.
“I drove past the stadium as they were pulling it down. It was heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking to watch.
“I vowed that I’d never go back again when the new housing estate went up.
“I had to go back eventually because I wanted to see the centre circle because there’s a special plaque there remembering Maine Road.
“I took my son. He was eight-years-old at the time. He’d asked about the old ground, so I thought it was important to let him see where it had been.
“Looking back now, I don’t think fans from other clubs understand the emotions you go through saying goodbye to your stadium until it happens to them. The likes of Aston Villa and Villa Park. Chelsea and Stamford Bridge. Fulham and Craven Cottage. They don’t know what it feels like.
“Until they leave an old stadium and move to a new one, they won’t know how it affects you.”
As you can see, Maine Road meant so much to Paul Fletcher - and no surprise as he reminisces about some of the memorable moments he remembers at our historic former home.
How about the time he took goalkeeper Mike Stowell through his pre-match warm-up during the keeper’s loan spell in 1988?
NEW BOOK | 100 YEARS: FROM MAINE ROAD TO THE ETIHAD
“I was a ball boy, and we were walking around the pitch like we always did, taking in the atmosphere about an hour before kick-off.
“Mike was warming up with a couple of players. They ran off and went back down the tunnel.
“He just shouted over to me and my brother, who was also a ball boy, and bellowed ‘you two come here’.
“My brother carried on walking, but I decided to go for it and headed out on to the pitch and said: ‘What’s up?’
“He said: ‘Can you do the warm-up with me?’
“So, there I was, taking him through his warm-up, kicking the ball at him.
“I was thinking: ‘I better not kick it too hard because I don’t want to show him up.’
“I was just tapping it to him really and he said: ‘Come on, put your foot through it’. So, I started kicking it harder and harder. At the end, he just thanked me and headed back in. It was totally surreal.”
How about the day one of his favourite players, Mark Lillis, threw him a keepsake?
“I was a big fan of Mark Lillis. One game we were getting beaten and I remember shouting at him from the Kippax: ‘Come on Mark, we can still do this.’
“He took his shinpad off and threw it to me. I’ve still got that shinpad. And I still wear it!
“As a kid growing up, I wore it under my other shin pads, thinking it’d make me a better player.
“In reality, it’s just a small, plastic, cheap thing. But, to me, one of my heroes Mark Lillis threw it to me at Maine Road. For me, growing up, I thought it had magical powers.”
Then there was the time he watched legendary Forest boss, Brian Clough, call on the services of a group of young sky blue supporters to give his pre-match team talk.
“Again, I was a ball boy and Cloughie came storming out of the dressing room at Maine Road and headed down the tunnel. We were coming back in and we watched him pick four kids out of the crowd and escort them back to the dressing room.
“He said to them: ‘I’m retiring from football, you lads can give the team talk’. He walked them in and then walked straight out. I look back now and just think ‘Classic Cloughie!’
He remembers his time as a ball boy with much affection – the time former City boss Billy McNeill offered him advice and the time he earned an assist from the touchline.
“Billy used to come in and see us ball boys and say: ‘Look if we’re winning 1-0 and there’s a minute to go, make sure you take your time - do not get that ball in quick’.
“He’d encourage us to let the ball go through our legs or just gently roll it back to the players to waste that bit more time. But, quick as a flash, he’d tell you: ‘If we’re losing, you get that ball as quick as you can’.
“My dad also tells me, because he ran the ball boys, there was a game when Paul Power was running down the wing, the ball went out of play and I just ran, threw it to him, he took a quick throw in, we crossed it and we scored. My dad is adamant I got an assist that day!”
His most treasured memory though is the time he took to the pitch at Maine Road – and scored!
In fact, Paul has found the net at Maine Road, Etihad Stadium and Old Trafford.
Not many players can say they’ve succeeded on that hat-trick of stadiums but it’s a quirky fact that Paul is immensely proud of.
“One of my goals at Maine Road came in a charity game. I got invited to play by former City winger, Peter Barnes.
“I was in the dressing room with music stars, TV stars, former players. It was amazing.
“It was brilliant to play there. But to score too? Beyond my wildest dreams. I remember I scored past Eric Nixon. And I remember being through on goal and I had Steve Redmond next to me. I put it away and he swore at me because I didn’t pass to him.
“With hindsight, I find it hilarious that I didn’t pass to Steve, one of City’s finest defenders of the 1980s and 1990s. But I had one thing on my mind – scoring at my beloved Maine Road.
“Then I also scored at Old Trafford, too. I played in a tournament called the Budweiser Cup. City v United fans. It was two legs, Old Trafford and Maine Road.
“We’d played in a tournament – and all the best players were invited back to train at Platt Lane.
“My brother and I were both selected. We couldn’t believe it.
“Unfortunately, my brother broke his toe in his first training session and so he missed out.
“It was an amazing experience. We were trained by Steve Eyre, and his assistant Mark, Paul Power took one of the training sessions. We were treated like professionals. Steve Eyre, David White and Alex Williams gave the team talks before each game.
“We got beat 3-1 at Old Trafford but I scored. We got beat in the return leg, 3-2 at Maine Road, and I scored in that one too.
“I also scored in a press v staff game at the Etihad. I played for the press. We got beat 6-1 – but again I scored. It was held after the famous Sergio Aguero game in 2012.”
While his past is very much linked with Maine Road, Paul’s present and future belong to the Etihad, a place he loves working at.
After five years as a ball boy and eight years as a press steward at our former home, he continued his media role as we moved to the City of Manchester Stadium, soon to become the Etihad, from 2003 to now.
We’ve enjoyed so much success in that 20 years since but the 3-2 win over QPR – that famous Aguero game - to win our first Premier League title will live long in the memory for Paul.
“I was working, obviously, but as soon as we equalised I was jumping up and down.
“I actually turned to some of the lads in front of me, who sit there week in week out, and I said to them: ‘This is Gillingham all over again, we’re going to win this’.
“And then Aguero did what he did – and it was bedlam.
“After the game, Vincent Kompany and Roberto Mancini came into the press room to do their media briefing. I usually introduced them into the room. But, on this occasion, all I could get out was ‘Thank you’.
“To think of where we’d come from and what we’d achieved that day. It was hard to believe. We were dead and buried at one point and we knew the score at Sunderland, and it felt like typical City all over again at one point. But we managed to come through and do it.
“To win the title at their (United’s) expense, that was some feeling.
“But there have been so many fabulous moments I’ve witnessed – playing in the Champions League, Aguero’s hat tricks, Joe Hart’s saves against Messi, beating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid on our way to the Treble.
“You sometimes struggle to believe we’ve got someone of Pep Guardiola’s ilk in charge. The trophies we’re winning. The football we’re playing. It’s breathtaking. It really is.
“It is dreamland. And I hope I never wake up.”
