ENGLAND - Stadium and Arena Development News

[SouthBank]

A summary of the UK's largest (though not necessarily best!) stadia. Note - Have included those currently under construction, but not those still in the planning stages. Also please note that they are not in order of what I think is 'best', but purely in order of capacity... Enjoy!


Britain's Top 15 Stadiums in terms of size:

1) Wembley Stadium, London: English national football stadium.
Capacity - 90,000
(Under Construction - opens 2006)







2) Twickenham Stadium, London: English national rugby stadium.
Capacity – 83,000
(Currently being expanded from 75-83,000)







3) Old Trafford, Manchester: Home of Manchester United F.C.
Capacity – 75,000
(Currently being expanded from 68-75,000)







4) Millennium Stadium, Cardiff: Welsh national football and rugby stadium.
Capacity – 73,000







5) Murrayfield, Edinburgh: Scottish national rugby stadium.
Capacity – 67,000







6) New Anfield, Liverpool: New home of Liverpool F.C.
Capacity – 61,000
(Groundwork just begun – Opens 2007/2008)







7) Celtic Park, Glasgow: Home of Celtic F.C.
Capacity – 61,000







8) Emirates Stadium, London: New home of Arsenal F.C.
Capacity – 60,000
(Under Construction – opens 2006)







9) Hampden Park, Glasgow: Scottish national football stadium.
Capacity - 53,000







10) St. James' Park, Newcastle: Home of Newcastle United F.C.
Capacity – 53,000







11) Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow: Home of Rangers F.C.
Capacity – 51,000







12) Stadium of Light, Sunderland: Home of Sunderland A.F.C.
Capacity – 49,000







13) City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester: Home of Manchester City F.C.
Capacity – 48,000







14) Villa Park, Birmingham: Home of Aston Villa F.C.
Capacity – 44,000







15) Stamford Bridge, London: Home of Chelsea F.C.
Capacity – 43,000

[DTGR]

The UK should definitely host a world cup! Dont bother with the olympics..this is what u d do best!!

[The Boy David]

We could host a world cup no bother - and it'd be a bloody spectacular one at that, especially when wembly stadium is finished. Scotland is jealous of that beast!!
Dont want to nit-pick, but Parkheads capacity is 60,832 to be precise.. lol. And what a stadium it is too! Just been voted the most atmospheric stadium in britain by the BBC, and with good reason.
Deserves its nick-name : "Paradise"

[The Boy David]

just a few more pics of Celtic Park, these do it slightly more justice, sorry if im being a bit too obsessive, but Celtic are my team, afterall...

[SouthBank]

I would love to see a British World Cup, it would be as good if not better than anywhere else, but it'll never happen - there would need to be three seperate home teams automatically qualifying (England, Wales, Scotland). Guess they could have a mini-tournament to decide who qualifies automatically - might be a bit of a foregone conclusion though... Also, even if those problems were sorted, two of the best stadiums (Twickenham and Murrayfield) couldn't be used because they are owned by rugby associations who don't generally allow football at their stadiums - ridiculous as that is. The English bid for the 2006 World Cup, for example, didn't include Twickenham.

The Boy David - no probs, second pic is definitely worth posting. Agreed that Parkhead is an awesome stadium, as good as Old Trafford. Will edit the Celtic Park capacity to 61,000 since I'm rounding up/down to nearest 1000.

Welcome any other additional pictures or suggestions...

[high_flyer]

I think if the UK was to host a WC, it should be either just England, or Scotland, Wales and NI host it, it would be too problematic for a UK wide competition

[carlspannoosh]

Some newer renderings of the Arsenal stadium.












360 dgree views
http://www.arsenal.com/clublevel/index.htm#

[gorgu]

Yeah i think that Scotland wasted its chance ten years ago when they redeveloped murrayfield and Hampden.

We could have had a Millenium stadium or Wembley, if the West, East prejudices did not exist. Imagine a stadium half way between the two citeis on the M8, with a direct rail link and complete sports campus, that is what Scotland should be working to in 30 years or so when they need redeveloped agaion

[CharlieP]

Originally Posted by The Boy David

Dont want to nit-pick, but Parkheads capacity is 60,832 to be precise.. lol. And what a stadium it is too! Just been voted the most atmospheric stadium in britain by the BBC, and with good reason.
Deserves its nick-name : "Paradise"

When are they going to finish it?

[dgnr8]

Rubbish point : The City Of Manchester Stadium was also used for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, albeit at a 38,000 capacity.

[Sitback]

As football was invented in Britain, Britain should have the world cup at least every 30 years imo. We are the home of football after all.

[cinosanap]

[QUOTE=SouthBank]two of the best stadiums (Twickenham and Murrayfield) couldn't be used because they are owned by rugby associations who don't generally allow football at their stadiums - ridiculous as that is. The English bid for the 2006 World Cup, for example, didn't include Twickenham. QUOTE]

Murryfield is used for football aswell as rugby. Hearts play their European games there (and may move there) and it was part of the bid for the European Championship in 2008 by Scotland and Ireland. We could have done with Croke Park for that bid but we may try again. Even though Switzerland/Austria won it UEFA said that the Scot/Irish bid was a close runner up and that we should try again but I think Scotlnad may go it alone if we do put in another bid.

[Iain1974]

Originally Posted by cinosanap

Murryfield is used for football aswell as rugby. Hearts play their European games there (and may move there) and it was part of the bid for the European Championship in 2008 by Scotland and Ireland. We could have done with Croke Park for that bid but we may try again. Even though Switzerland/Austria won it UEFA said that the Scot/Irish bid was a close runner up and that we should try again but I think Scotlnad may go it alone if we do put in another bid.

Given the current state of Scottish Rugby and the pathetic crowds at WC99 in Scotland I don't see why the SRU don't swallow their pride and allow big Edinburgh football games at Murrayfield.

By my reckoning the 4 Edinburgh derbies could attract 50,000+ each. Probably even sell outs if there were £10 tickets (268,000 fans) in addittion to Hearts V Celtic/Rangers (4 matches) and Hibs vs Celtic/Rangers (another 4 matches).

That'd give a potential 800,000 spectators rather than the current 215,000 for those 12 games. It doesn't take a genius to see that both scottish rugby, football and the paying public could all benefit.

[empersouf]

The new Wembley is really nice.

[easysurfer]

Beautiful stadiums. Im Proud England is thehome of football, i'd be even prouder if we were given a chance to exhibit these fine stadiums in a world cup.

[Lss911]

[QUOTE=carlspannard]Some newer renderings of the Arsenal stadium.


Interior looks like "da Luz" portuguese stadium and exterior a little bit like "do Dragão" portuguese stadium! emirates?? major sponsor isn`t it? probably the money guys!

[th0m]

Really impressive and huge stadiums. It's interesting to see that a lot of stadiums look to have been expanded over the years and although its not noticable on the inside, you can clearly see it on the outside, which gives a feeling of tradition and history to it, more so than a brand new stadium.

Just my observation

[spacepostman]

Horrary! More of the City of Manchester Stadium... (it should have been much bigger, but as usual, London grabbed the money for itself).

[carlspannoosh]

[QUOTE=Lss911]

Originally Posted by carlspannard

Some newer renderings of the Arsenal stadium.


Interior looks like "da Luz" portuguese stadium and exterior a little bit like "do Dragão" portuguese stadium! emirates?? major sponsor isn`t it? probably the money guys!

Yes it looks like Da Luz but thats not a bad thing.The roof looks quite different to Da Luz though. Emirates will be the sponsors for the stadium over the next 15 years and during this time it will be officially known as The Emirates Stadium.No offence Emirates but it makes me want to throw up. I would feel the same if it was called the Coca Cola or AXA Insurance stadium.I couldve possibly lived with the Rolls Royce stadium but it doesnt matter,to me its The Arsenal Stadium and fcuk sponsors.

[Balleke]

whenever i see english stadiums, my harts starts beating faster and faster... but why is the new stadium name of arsenal so fucked up... emirates stadium