City of Manchester Stadium

City of Manchester Stadium

Eastlands
UEFA
Location	Manchester, England
Broke ground	1999
Opened	25 July 2002 (Athletics) 10 August 2003 (Football)
Owner	Manchester City Council
Operator	Manchester City F.C.
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	£110 million
Architect	Arup Associates
Capacity	47,726[1]
Field dimensions	106.571 × 71 metres 349 × 232 feet
Tenants
Manchester City (2003-present) 2002 Commonwealth Games 2008 UEFA Cup Final

The City of Manchester Stadium, which is also known as COMS or Eastlands, ^[2][3] is a sports venue in Manchester, England. Originally designed as part of Manchester's failed bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, the stadium was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games at a cost of GB£110 million. After the Games, it was converted for use as a football ground, and became the home of Manchester City F.C. who moved there from Maine Road in 2003, signing a 250-year lease.^[4]

The stadium is bowl-shaped, with two tiers all the way around the ground and a third tier along the two side stands. As of 23 June 2007, it is the fifth largest stadium in the FA Premier League and twelfth largest in the United Kingdom with a seating capacity of 47,726. On 14 May 2008 it hosted the 2008 UEFA Cup Final.

History

Plans to build a stadium in east Manchester were first formulated in around 1990 as part of the city's bid to host the 2000 Summer Olympics, with Manchester City Council commissioning a design for an 80,000 capacity stadium on a brownfield site known colloquially as Eastlands. However, in October 1993 the games were awarded to Sydney, Australia. Manchester subsequently made a successful bid to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, using the stadium plans from the Olympic bid. In 1996, the planned stadium competed with Wembley Stadium to gain funding to become the national stadium but the money was used to redevelop Wembley. The stadium's foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Tony Blair in December 1999,^[5] and construction began in January 2000.^[6] The stadium was designed by Arup and constructed by John Laing at a cost of approximately £110 million, £77 million of which was provided by Sport England, with the remainder funded by Manchester City Council.^[7] For the Commonwealth Games the stadium featured a single lower tier running around three sides of the athletics track, and second tiers to the two sides, with an open-air temporary stand at one end. The first public event at the stadium was the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games on 25 July 2002. Among the dignitaries present at the ceremony was Queen Elizabeth II. During the ten days of competition, the stadium hosted all athletics events and the rugby sevens. Four Commonwealth records were set at the stadium, including the women's triple jump and the women's 5000 m.^[8]

City of Manchester Stadium during the 2002 Commonwealth Games, with two tiers of permanent seating

 

...and after redevelopment into a football stadium, with three tiers of seating

After the Commonwealth Games, extensive work was carried out on the stadium to convert it for use as a football stadium. Following the success of athletics events at the Commonwealth Games, the decision to convert the stadium into a football venue received criticism from athletics figures such as Jonathan Edwards and Sebastian Coe,^[9] but redevelopment was deemed necessary to give the venue a financially viable long-term future. The track was removed and relaid at other athletics venues, and the ground level was lowered to make way for an additional tier of seating. The temporary stand was dismantled, and replaced with a permanent structure of similar design to the opposite end. This extensive work took a year and added 12,000 seats. Manchester City F.C. moved to the new ground for the 2003–04 season. The conversion cost £35 million, which was paid for by the football club.

The first football match at the stadium was a friendly between Manchester City and Barcelona on 10 August 2003. Manchester City won the game 2–1, with the first goal at the stadium scored by Nicolas Anelka. The first competitive match followed four days later, a UEFA Cup contest between Manchester City and Welsh Premier League side TNS, which City won 5–0. The record football attendance at the stadium is 47,331, which was set at a Premier League game when Manchester City lost to Chelsea F.C. with a score of 1 – 3 on 13 September 2008.

The stadium has also hosted several other sporting events. It became the 50th stadium to host an England international football match when England played Japan on 1 June 2004, and on 30 October of that year it played host to a rugby league match between Great Britain and Australia in the Tri-Nations series. In June 2005 the stadium hosted England's opening game in the UEFA Women's Championship, setting an attendance record for the competition.^[10] It is rated as a 4 star stadium by UEFA, and hosted the 2008 UEFA Cup Final between Rangers FC and Zenit St Petersburg.^[11]

The stadium has a number of unofficial alternative names. Eastlands was used before the stadium was officially named and is still in common use, and City of Manchester Stadium is sometimes abbreviated to COMS when written. The Blue Camp, a pun on Barcelona's Nou Camp, found little favour.^[12] After the club were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group from the Middle East in 2008 some supporters jokingly referred to the stadium as Middle Eastlands.^[13] The stadium has generally received positive feedback from fans, coming second behind Old Trafford in a 2005 poll to find the United Kingdom's favourite football ground.^[14] However, the atmosphere inside the stadium has sometimes faced criticism, with detractors regarding the atmosphere as inferior to that of Maine Road. But the atmosphere has improved as the seasons have gone by with the fans getting used to the stadium.^[15] The stadium is currently owned by Manchester City Council and is leased by Manchester City FC. The club were bought by new owners in early September 2008 which made them the richest football club in the World.^[16] The new owners revealed in an interview that they are considering buying the stadium outright from Manchester City Council although signing new players were their first priority.^[17] In late September 2008 it was reported that Manchester City's new owners have opened talks with Manchester City Council with a view to buying the City of Manchester Stadium outright and transforming the surrounding landscape into a 5-star "City World" hotel with a leisure complex and shopping complex. If Manchester City do succeed in their plan to buy the stadium, then they will eventually increase the capacity to up to 78,000. Part of the plans would also relocate Manchester City's first-team training complex and youth team complex to East Manchester, preferably next to Manchester City's Stadium. However, such drastic plans reported could take a long time to come to fruition. ^[18]

Structure and facilities

The exterior of the stadium. Steel cables hold the roof in place.

The interior of the City of Manchester Stadium is a continuous oval bowl, with three tiers of seating at the sides, and two tiers at each end. While the seating is continuous, each side of the stadium has its own name in the manner of a traditional football ground. Initially, all sides of the stadium were named by compass direction (North Stand and South Stand for the ends, East Stand and West Stand for the sides). In February 2004 the West Stand was renamed the Colin Bell Stand in honour of the former player.^[19] The South Stand has been officially named the Key 103 Stand for sponsorship reasons since 2003,^[20] though this designation is largely ignored by supporters. A portion of the North Stand is designated the Family Stand, and is reserved for supporters with children. The East Stand is unofficially known as the Kippax after the corresponding stand at Maine Road. Supporters of visiting teams are allocated part of the South Stand. There are 68 executive boxes around the stadium, located along the West, North and East Stands. The boxes on the East and West stands seat 10 people inside and outside, while the boxes on the North Stand seat 8 people inside and outside.

The B of the Bang

The stadium roof is toroidal in shape, and is suspended from steel cables attached to eight towers, which also provide access to the upper tiers of seating via spiral ramps. The areas without seating in each corner have moveable louvres, to allow for ventilation of the pitch. Entry is gained by RFID smart card rather than the traditional manned turnstile. This system can admit up to 1,200 people per minute around all entrances.^[21] A service tunnel running under the stadium provides access for emergency vehicles, and allows the visiting team's coach to enter the stadium directly. Inside the stadium are six themed restaurants, two of which have views of the pitch, and a number of conference facilities. The stadium is also licensed for marriage ceremonies.^[22]

The City of Manchester Stadium has the widest pitch in English football^[23] and features a natural grass pitch reinforced with artificial grass fibres made by Desso. There are approximately 218 floodlights in the stadium each using 2000 watts. In total they produce 436,000 watts when they are all on.^[24]

Joe Mercer Way at The City of Manchester Stadium, the home of Manchester City FC

The stadium is the centrepiece of an area known as Sportcity , which also includes several other sporting venues. Adjacent to the stadium is the Regional Athletics Arena, which served as a warm-up track during the Commonwealth Games, and is now a 6,178 capacity venue that hosts national athletics trials and Manchester City reserve team games.^[25] The Manchester Velodrome and the National Squash Centre are a short distance from the stadium. In front of the stadium is the tallest sculpture in the UK, B of the Bang, built to commemorate the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In September 2006, Manchester City received planning permission to build an 85 m (279 ft) wind turbine at the stadium. Designed by Norman Foster, the turbine will provide power for the stadium and nearby homes, and will make the City of Manchester Stadium the first in the world to be powered by its own turbine.^[26]

The City of Manchester Stadium has won a number of design awards, including the 2004 RIBA Inclusive Design Award for inclusivity in building design,^[27] and the 2003 Institution of Structural Engineers Structural Special Award.^[28]

On 30 January 2007 it was announced that the UK's first Super Casino would be built in the Sportcity area close to the stadium, plans for this have since been abandoned however.^[29]

Transport

The City of Manchester Stadium is located to the east of Manchester city centre. The stadium site itself has 2,000 parking spaces, with another 8,000 spaces in the surrounding area provided by local businesses and schools working in partnership with the football club. The nearest railway station is Ashburys, a 15-minute walk south of the stadium, though services are limited due to the small size of the station. Manchester Piccadilly, which serves mainline trains from London, Birmingham and Edinburgh, is a 30-minute signposted walk away. Several special bus services serve the stadium when events take place.

An extension to the Metrolink tram system with a stop at the stadium was announced in 2000, but following a government spending review the plan was put on hold in July 2004.^[30] However, in July 2006 funding for the extension was reinstated,^[31] and the stadium will have its own Metrolink station in 2012.

Concerts

Outside the football season the stadium hosts occasional concerts, and is one of the UK's largest music venues, having a maximum capacity of 60,000 for performances.^[7] The first concert at the venue was a performance by the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2004. Oasis played concerts at the stadium in 2005 as featured as the bonus disc on Lord Don't Slow Me Down and summer activities like boxing matches for instance often take a toll on the pitch. In 2008 the pitch was relaid after the Bon Jovi concert. The resulting pitch revamp meant Manchester City had to play their UEFA Cup first round qualifying match on 31 July 2008 at Barnsley's Oakwell Stadium.^[32]

Footnotes

References

• The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture - Comprehensive Edition. Phaidon Press. ISBN 0714843121. 
• The Phaidon Atlas of Contemporary World Architecture - Travel Edition. Phaidon Press. 2005. ISBN 0714844500. 

External links

• City of Manchester Stadium official website
• Manchester City Football Club official website
• Images tagged City of Manchester Stadium at Flickr

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