Windsor Park
This article refers to the home ground of Linfield FC and the Northern Ireland national football team. For other uses of Windsor Park, see
Windsor Park (disambiguation).
Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.
History
Named after an area of South Belfast, Windsor Park was first opened in 1905, with a match between Linfield and Glentoran. Most of the current stadium was designed and built in the 1930s, to a design made by the Scottish architect Archibald Leitch. It had one main seated stand - the Grandstand, now known as the South Stand - with "reserved" terracing in front, and a large open terrace behind the goal to the west called the Spion Kop. To the north, there was a long covered terrace - the "unreserved" terracing - and behind the eastern goal at the Railway End another covered terrace. Windsor Park's peak capacity in this format was 60,000. In the early 1960s the Railway End terrace had seats put in the Railway Stand, and in the early 1970s a social club/viewing lounge was constructed in the corner between the Railway Stand and the Grandstand. In the 1980s, the 'unreserved terrace' was demolished and replaced by a two-tier, 7000-seat North Stand. In the late 1990s, the Kop terrace was demolished and replaced with the 5000-seater West Stand, but still referred to as the Kop Stand. The Kop Stand was known as the Alex Russell Stand from 2004-2008 in honour of Linfield's former goalkeeper and coach and one-time Northern Ireland international.
The stadium holds 24,734, but is currently restricted to 12,342 under safety legislation, with an increase to 12,950 permitted for international matches utilising temporary seating. At present the ground has only three sides. [2] For most Linfield home games only the South Stand and Kop stand are opened. The North Stand is usually given to away supporters, and will be re-roofed for the 2010–11 season.[3]
Redevelopment
Owing to the increasingly poor condition of Windsor Park, various proposals for its replacement were mooted, including the idea of a multi-purpose stadium hosting football, rugby union and gaelic games on the site of the Maze prison in Lisburn, or a national stadium built as part of a major leisure development at Sydenham in East Belfast.[4] In September 2009 however, the Irish Football Association (IFA) announced that their preferred option would be to remain at a redeveloped Windsor Park.[5] In 2011, the Northern Ireland Executive allocated £138m for a major programme of stadium redevelopment throughout Northern Ireland, with £28m allocated to the redevelopment of Windsor Park into a brand new, 20,000 all-seater stadium.[6]
International matches
The venue usually sees its biggest crowds for Northern Ireland internationals, from which Linfield receive 15% of the gate receipts.[7] A 100-year agreement was signed by the Irish Football Association (IFA) in 1985 for Northern Ireland to play all home internationals at Windsor Park.[8]
References
External links
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