The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It has a population of 211,800, covers , Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the towns of Altrincham, Partington, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston.

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 as a merger of the boroughs of Altrincham, Sale, and Stretford, the urban districts of Bowdon, Hale, and Urmston and part of Bucklow Rural District. All were previously in Cheshire, apart from Stretford and Urmston which were in Lancashire. The River Mersey flows through the borough, separating North Trafford from South Trafford. Historically the Mersey also acted as the boundary between the historic counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.

The Trafford area has a long heritage, with evidence of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Roman activity. Amongst the relics of the past are two castles  one of them a Scheduled Ancient Monument  and over 200 listed buildings. The area underwent change in the late 19th century and the population rapidly expanded with the arrival of the railway. Trafford is the home of Manchester United F.C., Lancashire County Cricket Club, Manchester Phoenix, and formerly Sale Sharks. Also in Trafford is the Imperial War Museum North.

Trafford has a strong economy with low levels of unemployment and the Trafford Park industrial estate and Trafford Centre  a large out-of-town shopping centre; apart from the City of Manchester, Trafford is the only borough in Greater Manchester to be above the national average for weekly income. Socially, the area is middle class and contains commuter towns. Altrincham and Sale West is the only parliamentary constituency in Greater Manchester to be held by the Conservative Party. Trafford has the best record for education in Greater Manchester.

History

The choice of the name Trafford for the borough was a "compromise between Altrincham, Stretford and Sale", and "seemed to have wide support". A Liberal councillor for the Municipal Borough of Sale suggested "Crossford ... as Trafford meant slums and factories", whilst "Watlingford" was suggested by councillors in Hale, after the supposed name of an ancient Roman road in the district. Those names were rejected in favour of Trafford, because of the district's "famous sports venue, a major employer as well as historic associations", referring to Old Trafford, Trafford Park and the de Trafford Baronets respectively. .

As a place name, Trafford is an Anglo-French version of Stratford, deriving from the Old English words stræt (a street, more specifically a Roman road) and ford (a river-crossing). The Metropolitan Borough of Trafford has existed since 1974, but the area it covers has a long history. Neolithic arrowheads have been discovered in Altrincham and Sale, and there is evidence of Bronze Age habitation in Timperley.Faulkner (2004), pp. 1–5. Fragments of Roman pottery have been found in Urmston, and Roman coins have been found in Sale. The Roman road between the legionary fortresses at Chester (Deva Victrix) and York (Eboracum) crosses Trafford, passing through Stretford, Sale, and Altrincham. The settlements in Trafford have been based largely around agriculture, although Altrincham was probably founded as a market town. Although the Industrial Revolution affected Trafford, the area did not experience the same rate of growth as the rest of Greater Manchester.Nevell (1997), pp. 90–91. A 100% increase in population in the Trafford area between 1841 and 1861 was a direct result of an influx due to the construction of the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, which allowed residents to more easily commute from Trafford into Manchester. The area developed its own centres of industry in Broadheath (founded in 1885) and Trafford Park (founded in 1897). They have since declined, although Trafford Park still employs 40–50,000 people. Retrieved on 3 July 2007. Retrieved on 12 December 2007. Today, Trafford is mostly a commuter area. The borough was formed on April 1, 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten metropolitan districts of Greater Manchester.