With just over 24 hours to go until the start of Netball Manchester Live 2023, we wanted to give you the run down of everything you need to know, from getting in to the venue to what’s going on:
Arrival
The AO Arena is located within the Victoria Station complex in the city centre, on the corner of Trinity Way, Hunts Bank and Great Ducie Street.
If you are driving, the postcode is M3 1AR. Official parking partners of the Arena CitiPark operate the on-site car park and has a capacity of 958 spaces, including accessible bays which can be prebooked by visiting their website. On show nights, the car park is manned by an events team who work to ensure that parking at the venue is as simple and easy as possible. They conduct regular patrols of the car park and the car park also has the Park Mark award for safety. If you’re travelling from further afield, then why not avoid the city centre traffic and drop your car at one of several free Park and Ride sites.
Metrolink services operate frequently throughout the day and many services continue to run after events have finished and tams run directly to Victoria Station from Rochdale, Bury, Altrincham, East Didsbury and the Airport. For other destinations, please change at St Peter’s Square.
If you’re taking the bus, Shudehill bus station is only a five-minute walk from the Arena and Piccadilly bus station just 10 minutes away. Manchester’s free city centre FreeBus service also links Victoria station with other areas of the centre, including Piccadilly station.
AO Arena Bag Policy
Please keep personal belongings to a minimum. One small bag per person is permitted, note that shopping bags, backpacks, travel cases, laptop bags and large tote bags are not permitted inside the arena.
There are no storage facilities at the venue and the venue is not responsible for late admission or non-admission due to failure to comply.
Search and Screening
AO Arena security teams are there for your safety. Please cooperate fully with all security checks and support these vital team members of our team as they carry out important work to keep us all safe.
Security screening is a condition of entry to protect your safety and that of others. They have partnered with EVOLV TECHNOLOGY a state of the art security screening system that uses AI to scan people in real time.
This new system scans the contents of bags without you having to remove any personal belongings. It is safe for guests with medical conditions and pacemakers.
They have a number of additional security measures in place throughout the arena which help them to improve guest experience and keep you safe so please don’t be alarmed if you notice additional resource supporting them at the arena.
Prohibited Items
For your safety and enjoyment, the AO Arena carefully manage the items that can brought into the venue for an event. The list below includes examples of prohibited items, please note that this list in not exhaustive and other items may be refused at the point of entry.
- Food and drinks
- Glass, cans, aluminium bottles or thermoses of any kind including liquid products which can be consumed
- Alcoholic beverages
- Flammable liquids in any container
- Laser pens/pointers
- Video cameras, recording devices and professional cameras
- Laptop computers, tablet devices, Go Pro’s or tablets with filming and recording capabilities
- Large/golf/metal tipped umbrellas
- Knives or weapons of any kind
- Illegal drugs or substances
- Signs, banners or flags on poles, staffs or selfie sticks
- Animals (except ADUK registered service dogs)
- Air horns, whistles, cowbells or other noise-making distractions
- Projectiles (frisbees, beach balls, footballs etc)
- Aerosol cans (hairspray, deodorant etc)
- Fireworks, confetti, glitter bombs or flares
- Balloons
- Use of wheeled footwear, skateboards
- Helmets and full face masks
- Large studs and chains
Behaviour
The Arena prides itself on being a fun and safe environment for everyone. And we ask that you act responsibly and with consideration to other visitors, giving them time and space where possible to move around the venue.
Anti-social behaviour towards other guests and staff is not tolerated and any problems should be reported immediately to one of the uniformed stewards. They will either be able to rectify the situation straight away or refer the problem to Customer Services, located at the Hunts Banks entrance on the concourse.
If you encounter an issue which is making your experience less enjoyable, please report it to a steward or member of staff as soon as possible so we can try our best to make things better.
Detailed Timings
15.30 – Doors open
15.55 – Curtain raiser teams introduced on to court
16.00 – Curtain raiser starts
17.10 – Curtain raiser ends
17.30 – Pre-match entertainment starts
17.50 – Teams introduced on to court
18.00 – Main game starts
18.34 – Half time (12 mins)
19.20 – Main game ends
19.25 – POTM and Mike Greenwood trophy presentation
19.30 – Player signatures and pictures (20 mins)
19.50 – Spectators must have left the arena
For more information on the Arena policies, please click here.