The Britannia Stadium
Address
Britannia Stadium
Stanley Matthews Way
Stoke-on-Trent
England
ST4 4EG
Capacity
27,500 (reduced for 2008/09 from 28,384 due to segregation)
The Britannia Stadium is the home of Stoke City Football Club and has been so since the summer of 1997.
The all-seater stadium cost nearly £15 million to build and brings the club upto standards with the Taylor Report following 119 years at the Victoria Ground.
The first sod from the land formerly owned by the National Coal Board and operated as Hem Heath Colliery until its closure in the early 1990's was cut in the late autumn of 1996. By early 1997, the skeletal steel superstructure was in place and the stadium began to take shape.
In August 1997 it opened its doors for the first time as the Britannia Stadium thanks to a £1million, 10-year sponsorship deal with the Britannia Building Society which was instrumental in the overall funding of the project.
Another £3 million was given as a grant by the Football Trust.
On the 27th of August 1997 Rochdale were the visitors for the historic first-ever competitive match - a 1-1 draw in the Worthington Cup watched by 15,439 - and four days later the first-ever league game took place against Swindon Town before a crowd of 23,859 in party mood.
Ten years on and the club obtained full ownership of the stadium in a deal worth £6 million following the previous joint-partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd.
STADIA
The L-shaped Boothen and East Stands sweep around the north and east sides of the stadium and hold a total number of 6,006 and 8,789 supporters respectively.
The main West stand is a two-tier construction seating over 7,357 fans as well as hosting the media and all the major banqueting facilities such as the Tony Waddington suite.
Finally, the South Stand has the capacity to house 4,996 visiting supporters and can be segregated to allow home support to enter part of the stand, as demonstrated in the match against Southend United in 2007.
The club offices, dressing rooms, and boardroom are nested within the south-west corner of the stadium along with the club's superstore.
The ground's elevated location on land rising towards Heron Cross and looking across the valley of the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey canal means it commands superb views of the site of the club's previous home, the Victoria Ground. It's lofty position means it can be seen by visitors as they arrive in the city on both the A500 and A50.The
Britannia also has full Conference, Banqueting and Events facilities and as well as football has also staged regular firework displays and rock concerts. The likes of rock group Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Busted have all played out on the pitch at the ground in addition to the numerous summer music concerts.Built upon the ever-expanding Trentham Lakes site, the whole area now employs more people than it did when it was Hem Heath Colliery.
