art of the legacy of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Etihad Stadium was the "first brick in the wall," according to Stemp.
Ever since, City plots its expansion in terms of "building blocks of eureka moments," from the transformation of blighted lands with the construction of the training complex, to the development of commercial opportunities around the East Manchester site.
Within a stone's throw of the Etihad, remnants of Manchester's industrial past are still very much visible -- disused gas holders dot the landscape while a canal runs side-by-side with the city's new tram network.