Arsenal Stadium

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Facility statistics
Arsenal Stadium
Highbury, "The Home of Football"

Full Name	Arsenal Stadium
Location	London, England
Opened	September 6, 1913
Renovated	1932-36, 1992-93
Demolished	To be redeveloped as housing
Owner	Arsenal FC
Operator	Arsenal
Construction cost	£125,000 (1913 original) £175,000 (1930s redevelopment)
Architect	Archibald Leitch (1913 original) C. W. Ferrier & W. Binnie (1930s redevelopment)
Former names
None
Tenants
Arsenal
Capacity
38,419 (at closure), 73,000 (peak)
Dimensions
109×73 yds / 100×67 m^[1]

Arsenal Stadium is a former football stadium in North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It is popularly known as Highbury, given its location in the area of London of the same name. The stadium was given the affectionate and unofficial nickname of "The Home of Football", both by fans^[2] and the club.^[3] The stadium is currently being redeveloped as housing, which will see some of its original structure preserved and incorporated into the new development.

1 Structure
2 History
3 Closure and redevelopment
4 Photo gallery
5 Highbury's other roles
6 Final record of results
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Structure

At the time of its closure, the stadium consisted of four separate stands; the pitch was aligned north-south, with the North Bank Stand and South Stand (popularly known as the Clock End) at the ends of the pitch. The East and West Stands ran alongside the pitch, and are two of the few examples of British football stands designed in the Art Deco style. The East Stand incorporated the club's offices and was well known for its marble halls, which are often cited in media depictions of the stadium,^[4] as well as the facade that faces onto Avenell Road. The stand is considered architecturally significant enough that it has been designated a Grade II listed building.^[5]

When it closed, Highbury had a capacity of 38,419^[6] (approximately 12,500 in the North Bank, 11,000 in the West Stand, 9,000 in the East Stand and 6,000 in the Clock End), all seated, and had two Jumbotron screens in the South-East and North-West corners. The stadium's main entrances were on Gillespie Road, Avenell Road and Highbury Hill.

Before the Taylor Report and the era of all-seater stadiums in Britain, both the North Bank and Clock End consisted of terraces, and the stadium often saw crowds of up to 60,000 or more; its largest attendance ever was 73,295 on March 9, 1935 when Arsenal played Sunderland; the game finished 0-0.

Arsenal Stadium was well known for its very small (109×73 yards / 100×67 metres)^[1] but immaculately-kept pitch, which also had under-soil heating. Arsenal's groundsmen, Steve Braddock and his successor Paul Burgess, have won the FA Premier League's Groundsman of the Year award several times for their work on the pitch.^[7]

[edit] History

The original stadium was built in 1913, when Woolwich Arsenal moved from the Manor Ground in Plumstead, South East London to Highbury, leasing the recreation fields of a local divinity college for £20,000. The stadium was hurriedly built over the summer of that year, and was designed by Archibald Leitch, architect of many other football grounds of that era; it featured a single stand on the eastern side, and the other three sides had banked terracing. In all the new stadium cost £125,000 at the time. It opened (not yet fully complete) with Arsenal's first match of the 1913-14 season, a 2-1 Second Division win against Leicester Fosse on September 6, 1913; Leicester's Tommy Benfield scored the first goal at the new ground, while George Jobey was the first Arsenal player to do so.^[8] Highbury hosted its first England match in 1920. Arsenal bought the stadium site outright in 1925, for a further £64,000.

No significant portion of Leitch's original stadium remains today, following a series of bold redevelopments during the 1930s. The first of these was the West Stand, designed by Claude Waterlow Ferrier and William Binnie in the Art Deco style, which opened in 1932;^[5] the same year, on November 5, the local Tube station was renamed from "Gillespie Road" to "Arsenal". Leitch's main stand was demolished to make way for a new East Stand, matching the West in 1936. The West Stand cost £45,000 while the East Stand went far over budget and ended up costing £130,000, mainly thanks to the expense of the facade.^[9] The North Bank terrace was given a roof, and the southern terrace had a clock fitted to its front, giving it the name "The Clock End."

The stadium stayed more or less the same for the next fifty years, although during World War II the North Bank terrace was bombed and had to be rebuilt (the roof was not restored until 1956). Floodlights were fitted in 1951 (having been advocated by Arsenal manager Herbert Chapman some twenty years earlier), with the first ever floodlit match being a friendly against Hapoel Tel Aviv on October 17 of that year. Undersoil heating was added in 1964. Unlike many other grounds, Highbury never had perimeter fencing installed, even at the height of hooliganism in the 1980s, a move which saw it struck off the list of eligible FA Cup semi-final venues.^[10]

In the early 1990s, the Taylor report on the Hillsborough disaster was published, which recommended that football stadiums become all-seater. The North Bank, which had become home of Arsenal's most passionate supporters, was demolished in 1992, and a new all-seater stand constructed in its place opened the following year. During the work, a giant mural of cheering fans was placed behind the goal at that end, to give the illusion that the players were kicking towards a crowd rather than a construction site. The mural initially attracted criticism for its absence of black fans and was quickly rectified.^[11] The Clock End meanwhile had been redeveloped, with a roof, seating and executive boxes fitted in 1989.

[edit] Closure and redevelopment

An artist's impression of how the developed apartment complex will look.

The post-Taylor capacity of Highbury was limited to 38,500 and restrictions such as the East Stand's status as a listed building made any future expansion difficult and expensive. Eventually, Arsenal decided to leave Highbury in favour of the Emirates Stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove, which opened in July 2006. For their final season at Highbury (2005-06), Arsenal ran a series of promotions honouring the stadium's legacy. A commemorative logo was designed, featuring the traditional Art Deco crest from the Herbert Chapman era. This logo was prominently displayed around the grounds as well as on club publications, the web site, club membership cards and merchandise. On the field, Arsenal temporarily set aside their tradtional red shirts with white sleeves for the season and adopted a solid redcurrant shirt, the colour they wore during their first season at Highbury.

The club's history at Highbury was also celebrated through a series of "Themed Matchdays", where home matches commemorated a particular event, series of events or important figure in the club's history. Examples included "Kits Day", "London Derbies Day", "Arsène Wenger Day" and "Dennis Bergkamp Day".^[12] Arsenal's final game at the stadium was their FA Premier League match on 7 May 2006 against Wigan Athletic, which they won 4-2, with their all-time leading goal scorer, Thierry Henry, getting a hat trick.

After the stadium's closure, Arsenal held an auction to sell off many of the stadium's parts, including pieces of the pitch, the goalposts and former manager George Graham's desk;^[13] sale of the stadium's seats had to be cancelled, however, after it was found they contained trace amounts of the toxic metal cadmium.^[14]

Following the club's departure, Arsenal Stadium will be redeveloped and converted into apartments, in a project known as "Highbury Square". The North Bank and Clock End stands will be demolished, with the famous clock having already been moved to the new stadium; however, the exteriors of the listed Art Deco East Stand and the matching West Stand will be preserved and incorporated into the new developments. The pitch will become a communal garden.

In June 2005 Arsenal received planning consent for a revised scheme which will see 711 properties built on the site. In October 2005 the proposed apartments went on sale; as of May 2006 all properties in the North, East and West Stands had been taken. The converted apartments are expected to be ready by 2010.

[edit] Photo gallery

The façade of the East Stand, which looms over Avenell Road

The Clock End, with executive boxes above

The West Stand

[edit] Highbury's other roles

As well as being home to Arsenal, in the past Highbury occasionally functioned as a home stadium for England matches; in all 12 internationals were played at Highbury from 1920 to 1961, most of them being friendlies. These included the "Battle of Highbury", England's famous 1934 3-2 win over World Champions Italy, where seven Arsenal players started the match. Highbury was also used as a football venue for two matches in the 1948 London Olympics (a first-round match and a quarter-final^[15]), although it did not host any games in the 1966 FIFA World Cup or Euro 96, both of which were held in England - by the time of the latter, the pitch had been ruled too small for international football.

Highbury was the venue for twelve FA Cup semi-finals as a neutral ground, the first in 1929 and the last in 1997, although between 1984 and 1992 it was off the FA's list of approved venues, after Arsenal's refusal to install perimeter fencing following a pitch invasion by Everton fans during their semi-final against Southampton.^[10] It also hosted the London XI's home leg against Lausanne Sports in the 1955-58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finals; London won 2-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate.^[16]

Arsenal did not alway play their home matches at Highbury in the 93 years they were based there. During the Second World War the stadium was used as an ARP station and was bombed; Arsenal played their matches at White Hart Lane, home of deadly rivals Tottenham Hotspur, until Highbury re-opened in 1946. More recently, Arsenal's home UEFA Champions League matches in the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons were played at Wembley Stadium, as Highbury's already limited capacity had to be reduced to accommodate advertising hoardings. Arsenal's record at Wembley (P6 W2 D1 L3) was none too impressive, however. After two seasons the club switched back to playing at Highbury, not least because since Wembley closed for rebuilding in October 2000, it would not have been able to host their 2000-01 campaign.

Highbury has also seen several cricket and baseball matches, and was the venue for the 1966 World Heavyweight boxing title bout between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali (which Ali won). It has also featured on the silver screen, having been the backdrop to at least two movies: The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, and Fever Pitch.

[edit] Final record of results

Arsenal's complete competitive record at Highbury is as follows:^[17]

Competition	P	W	D	L	F	A	Win %
League^[18]	1689	981	412	296	3372	1692	58%
FA Cup^[19]	142	92	32	18	305	123	65%
League Cup	98	69	14	15	195	74	70%
Europe^[20]	76	50	17	9	153	60	66%
Charity Shield	5	4	0	1	13	6	80%
Total	2010	1196	475	339	4038	1955	60%