As the Making Manchester series builds towards a close, we feature the city’s sports infrastructure in a two-part special called Theatres of Dreams: The civil engineering behind a great sporting city.

Part 1, first broadcast on 19 September 2016, features an extended interview with Simon Inglis, a leading historian of sports architecture and a former member of both the Football Licensing Authority and the Football Stadia Advisory Design Council, covering the remarkable development of Old Trafford Football Ground from 1910, and how its development has helped shape English football as a business, and of Manchester United FC as a global brand.

Part 2, first broadcast on 26 September 2016 and based on insider interviews, looks at three more of the city’s key stadiums: Emirates Old Trafford, home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1864 and in recent years a classic example of business diversification around a sports club; the Manchester Velodrome, home of British Cycling since 1994, and one of the keys to the acsendancy of Britain’s world-leading cycling team in recent years; and finally the Etihad Stadium, originally built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and now the home of Manchester City FC.

There’s also a taster video, and both programmes can be accessed on Mixcloud.