Plans to build Maine Road were first announced in May 1922. It came after a decision by Manchester City F.C. to leave their Hyde Road ground. Hyde Road did not have room for expansion and had been damaged by fire in 1920. Two sites in Belle Vue, East Manchester were suggested, but neither was considered good enough. To many City fans east Manchester was thought of as City's home. Many were disappointed when a site in south Manchester was chosen. A City director, John Ayrton, resigned from the Board later in the decade and helped to form an alternative MCFC, Manchester Central F.C., playing at Belle Vue.