The Etihad is one of the easiest away days in the Premier League and one of the hardest. Easy, because the ground sits a short tram ride from the city centre with a station on its doorstep and a concourse built for crowds. Hard, because the team you are watching has won the league six times in seven seasons and has a habit of scoring four before the pies have cooled. This guide covers the practical side of a trip to east Manchester, what the 2026/27 Manchester City kit looks like from the away end, and how to make a day of it.
The ground
The City of Manchester Stadium, known as the Etihad since 2011, was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and converted for football when City left Maine Road in 2003. The pitch was lowered, the running track removed and a tier added, and the club has expanded it twice since, most recently with a North Stand development that has been under construction through recent seasons. It holds a little over 53,000 in its standard configuration. The bowl is steep, the acoustics are better than the ground’s reputation suggests, and the sightlines are excellent from every seat, including the away section.
Where away fans sit
Visiting supporters are housed in the south-east corner, split across the lower and upper tiers depending on the allocation. The Premier League’s £30 cap on away tickets applies, and City’s allocation is usually around 3,000 for league games. The away concourse has its own bars and food outlets, with prices that are Premier League standard, which is to say not cheap. The corner position means you are close to the pitch at one end and a long way from it at the other; if you have a choice, the lower tier nearer the goal is the better view.
Getting there
The simplest route is the Metrolink tram from Piccadilly, which stops at Etihad Campus directly outside the ground in about eight minutes. Trams are packed on match days, so leave the city centre an hour before kick-off or walk: it is 25 minutes from Piccadilly station along Great Ancoats Street and Ashton New Road, flat and well signposted. Driving is not recommended; parking near the ground is restricted and the surrounding roads are closed after the final whistle.
Before and after
The area around the stadium has been redeveloped but still has few pubs, and most of those are home-only on match days. Away supporters drink in the city centre, around Piccadilly, the Northern Quarter and Ancoats, all of which are on the walk or the tram route. Ancoats in particular, ten minutes on foot from the ground, has become one of the best areas in the city for food and has bars that are relaxed about colours. After the game, the tram queues are long; the walk back to Piccadilly is usually quicker.
The kit you will be looking at
City’s 2026/27 home shirt is the most distinctive the club has worn in a generation. Puma have produced a sky blue that runs as a gradient, darker across the shoulders and lightening towards the hem, with the crest and Etihad logo in a metallic monochrome and the phrase “Not Your Typical City” inside the collar. It is worn with white shorts and socks. From the away end the effect is striking: the shirts read as a lighter blue than usual, almost white at the waist under floodlights, and the contrast with a dark away kit is sharp. The change shirt is black and yellow with a bee pattern, a nod to the symbol of Manchester, and will be seen when City travel.
The team you will be watching
Pep Guardiola’s eleventh season at the club follows one in which City lost the league title to Arsenal by four points but won both domestic cups. They beat Arsenal 2-0 in the League Cup final and Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup final, and Erling Haaland remains the most prolific forward in the country. Expect City to have the ball for seventy per cent of the match; the away end’s job is to enjoy the other thirty.
Practical notes
Bags are searched and large ones refused, so travel light. The stadium is cashless. Phone signal is poor at full time, so arrange a meeting point before the match. If you are staying over, hotels near Piccadilly are the sensible base, and the city is one of the best in the country for a Saturday night regardless of the result. Kick-off times move for television more than at most grounds, so check the fixture in the week of the match rather than the week before.
The Etihad Campus
The stadium sits inside a much larger development. Across the footbridge is the City Football Academy, the training ground and academy complex opened in 2014, and next door is Co-op Live, the largest indoor arena in the country, which opened in 2024 and means that on some Saturdays the tram carries concert-goers as well as supporters. The club has also built a fan zone on the approach to the ground with food, bars and a big screen, open to all supporters before kick-off, which is the best option for a pre-match drink within sight of the stadium.
Food and drink
Ancoats is the answer. Ten minutes on foot from the ground, it has become the best area in Manchester for eating, with bakeries, pizza places and small restaurants that fill early on match days but welcome supporters in colours. The Northern Quarter, a little further towards Piccadilly, is the traditional pre-match area for away fans and has more pubs per street than anywhere else in the city. Inside the ground, the away concourse has the standard Premier League range at the standard Premier League prices.
European nights
City are in the Champions League again in 2026/27, and the Etihad on a European night is a different proposition: later kick-offs, a smaller away allocation, and a home crowd that, whatever its reputation, has produced some of the noisiest occasions in the ground’s history. For domestic supporters, the practical difference is the transport: late trains from Piccadilly are fewer, and a hotel becomes sensible.
Is it a good away day?
Honestly, yes, with one caveat. The ground, the transport and the city are all excellent, and the walk from Ancoats to the Etihad with a few thousand others in your colours is a proper away-day experience. The caveat is the football. City at home lose perhaps three league games a season, and the away end at the Etihad has seen more 4-0s than most. Go for the day, hope for the point, and take the tram back in either case. For more ground guides, travel tips and the kits you will see along the way, explore Away Day Planner.