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The City of Manchester Stadium in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club
Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an England, English association football, football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English football. Fo ...
, with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and tenth-largest in the United Kingdom. Built to host the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
, the stadium has since staged the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, England football internationals,
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
matches, a
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world title fight, the England
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team's final group match of the
2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...
and summer music concerts during the football off-season. The stadium, originally proposed as an athletics arena in Manchester's bid for the
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, was converted after the 2002 Commonwealth Games from a 38,000 capacity arena to a 48,000 seat football stadium at a cost to the city council of £22 million and to Manchester City of £20 million. Manchester City F.C. agreed to lease the stadium from
Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...
and moved there from
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
in the summer of 2003. The stadium was built by
Laing Construction Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded b ...
at a cost of £112 million and was designed and engineered by Arup, whose design incorporated a cable-stayed roof structure which is separated from the main stadium bowl and suspended entirely by twelve exterior masts and attached cables. The stadium design has received much praise and many accolades, including an award from the
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
in 2004 for its innovative inclusive building design and a special award in 2003 from the
Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...
for its unique structural design. In August 2015, a 7,000 seat third tier on the South Stand was completed, in time for the start of the 2015–16 football season. The expansion was designed to be in keeping with the existing roof design.


History


Background

Plans to build a new stadium in Manchester were formulated before 1989 as part of the city's bid to host the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. Manchester City Council submitted a bid that included a design for an 80,000-capacity stadium on a greenfield site west of Manchester city centre. The bid failed and
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
hosted the Games. Four years later the city council bid to host the
2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, but this time focusing on a
brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
site east of the city centre on derelict land that was the site of
Bradford Colliery Bradford Colliery was a coal mine in Bradford, Manchester, England. Although part of the Manchester Coalfield, the seams of the Bradford Coalfield correspond more closely to those of the Oldham Coalfield. The Bradford Coalfield is crossed by ...
, known colloquially as Eastlands. The council's shift in focus was driven by emerging government legislation on
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
, promising vital support funding for such projects; the government became involved in funding the purchase and clearance of the Eastlands site in 1992. For the February 1993 bid the city council submitted another 80,000-capacity stadium design produced by design consultants Arup, the firm that helped select the Eastlands site. On 23 September 1993, the games were awarded to Sydney, but the following year Manchester submitted the same scheme design to the
Millennium Commission The Millennium Commission, a United Kingdom public body, was set up to celebrate the turn of the millennium. It used funding raised through the UK National Lottery to assist communities in marking the close of the second millennium and celebra ...
as a "Millennium Stadium", only to have this proposal rejected. Undeterred, Manchester City Council subsequently bid to host the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
, once again proposing the same site along with downsized stadium plans derived from the 2000 Olympics bid, and this time were successful. In 1996, this same planned stadium competed with
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
to gain funding to become the new
national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...
, but the money was used to redevelop Wembley. After successful athletics events at the Commonwealth Games, conversion into a football venue was criticised by athletics figures such as Jonathan Edwards and
Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...
as, at the time, the United Kingdom still lacked plans for a large athletics venue due to the capability of installing an athletics track having been dropped from the designs for a rebuilt Wembley Stadium. Had either of the two larger stadium proposals developed by Arup been agreed for funding, then Manchester would have had a venue capable of being adapted to hosting large-scale athletics events through the use of
movable seating Moveable may refer to: * A Moveable Feast * Moveable feast * Movable type * Moveable bridge * History of printing in East Asia See also *Personal property property is property that is movable. In common law systems, personal property may a ...
. Sport England wished to avoid creating a
white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...
, so they insisted that the City Council agree to undertake and fund extensive work to convert CoMS from a track and field arena to a football stadium, thereby ensuring its long-term financial viability. Sport England hoped either Manchester City Council or Manchester City F.C. would provide the extra £50 million required to convert the stadium to a 65,000 seater athletics and footballing venue with movable seating. However, Manchester City Council did not have the money to facilitate movable seating and Manchester City were lukewarm about the idea. Stadium architects Arup believed history demonstrated that maintaining a rarely used athletics track often does not work with football – and cited examples such as the Stadio delle Alpi and the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
with both
Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
and
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
moving to new stadiums less than 40 years after inheriting them.


2002 Commonwealth Games

The stadium's foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
in December 1999, and construction began in January 2000. The stadium was designed by Arup and constructed by
Laing Construction Laing O'Rourke is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford, England. It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. History The company was founded b ...
at a cost of approximately £112 million, £77 million of which was provided by
Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...
, with the remainder funded by Manchester City Council. For the Commonwealth Games, the stadium featured a single lower tier of seating running around three sides of the athletics track, and second tiers to the two sides, with an open-air temporary stand at the northern end; initially providing a seating capacity for the Games of 38,000, subsequently extended to 41,000 through the installation of additional temporary trackside seating along the east and south stands. The first public event at the stadium was the opening ceremony of the 2002 Commonwealth Games on 25 July 2002. Among the dignitaries present was
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
who made a speech, delivered to her in an electronic baton, and 'declared the Commonwealth Games open'. During the following ten days of competition, the stadium hosted the
track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
events and all the rugby sevens matches. Sixteen new Commonwealth Games track and fieldThe term 'track and field' normally excludes 'road race' athletics events (e.g., men's
50 km race walk The 50 kilometre race walk was an Olympic athletics event that first appeared in 1932 and made its final Olympic appearance in 2021. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the ...
, women's
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
, etc.) from the other 'athletics' sport events. 'Road race' events may terminate in an athletics stadium but are not usually considered as having been staged there. Furthermore, race walking events were removed from the Commonwealth Games program after the 2010 Games. Although
paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...
athletics events are normally now included under the term 'track and field', two EAD records have been excluded from the tally of 'sixteen' stated in the article as they are often omitted from externally sourced lists of past Games records and thus become a frequent cause of confusion when included in such totals.
records (six men's and ten women's) were set in the stadium. Prior to the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
held in London, the 2002 Games was the largest multi-sport event ever to be staged in the United Kingdom, eclipsing the earlier London
1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
in numbers of teams and competing athletes (3,679), and it was the world's first multi-sport tournament to include a limited number of full medal events for elite athletes with a disability (EAD). In terms of number of participating nations, it is still the largest Commonwealth Games in history, featuring 72 nations competing in 281 events across seventeen (fourteen individual and three team) sports.


Stadium conversion

Sections of the track were removed and relaid at other athletics venues, and the internal ground level was lowered to make way for an additional tier of seating, on terracing already constructed then buried for the original configuration. The three temporary stands with a total capacity of 16,000 were dismantled, and replaced with a permanent structure of similar design to the existing one at the southern end. This work took nearly a year to complete and added 23,000 permanent seats, increasing the capacity of the converted stadium by 7,000 to approximately 48,000. Manchester City F.C. moved to the ground in time for the start of the 2003–04 season. The total cost of this conversion was in excess of £40 million, with the track, pitch and seating conversion being funded by the city council at a cost of £22 million; and the installation of bars, restaurants and corporate entertainment areas throughout the stadium being funded by the football club at a cost of £20 million. The Games had made a small operating surplus, and Sport England agreed that this could be reinvested in converting the athletics warm-up track adjacent to the main stadium into the 6,000 seat
Manchester Regional Arena Manchester Regional Arena is a multipurpose stadium in Manchester, England, primarily used for athletics, football and rugby league. History It was originally developed as the warm-up track for the 2002 Commonwealth Games held at the adjacent ...
at a cost of £3.5 million.


Stadium expansion

The stadium is owned by Manchester City Council and leased by the football club on a 'fully repairing' basis. All operating, maintenance and future capital costs are borne by the club; who consequently receive all revenues from stadium users. The 2008 takeover made the football club one of the wealthiest in the world, prompting suggestions that it could consider buying the stadium outright. Manchester City signed an agreement with Manchester City Council in March 2010 to allow a £1 billion redevelopment led by architect
Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (born 1944) is a Uruguayan architect. He is the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Manchester, Abu Dhabi, and Buenos Aires. Viñ ...
. During the 2010 closed season the football pitch and hospitality areas were renovated, with a £1 million investment being made in the playing surface so that it is better able to tolerate concerts and other events without damage. In October 2010, Manchester City renegotiated the stadium lease, obtaining the naming rights to the stadium in return for agreeing to now pay the City Council an annual fixed sum of £3 million where previously it had only paid half of the ticket sales revenue from match attendances exceeding 35,000. This new agreement occurred as part of a standard five-year review of the original lease and it amounts to an approximate £1 million annual increase in council revenues from the stadium. During 2011–14, the club sold all 36,000 of its allocated season tickets each season and experienced an average match attendance that is very close to its maximum seating capacity (see table in subsequent section). Consequently, during the 2014–15 season, an expansion of the stadium was undertaken. The South Stand was extended with the addition of a third tier which, in conjunction with an additional three rows of pitch side seating, increased stadium capacity to approximately 55,000. Construction commenced on the South Stand in April 2014 and was completed for the start of the 2015–16 season. A final phase of expansion, which received planning approval at the same time as the others but remains unscheduled, would have added a matching third tier of seats to the North Stand. In November 2018 the club consulted with season ticket holders on possible alternative configurations for this expansion; including proposals for a still larger two-tier North Stand without executive boxes or corporate hospitality lounges, and possibly with areas convertible to
safe standing Safe standing is a measure of design in stadia to ensure that spectators are able to stand safely during events. It is important in the context of association football in the United Kingdom, where a series of fatal incidents led to legislation r ...
. The full length of the second tiers in the East and West stands would then be reconfigured as premium seating associated with new hospitality bar areas. Depending on the preferred design option, this final phase could bring the stadium's total seating capacity up to approximately 63,000, making the Etihad Stadium the nation's third largest capacity club ground. Behind
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
and (potentially) the
London Stadium London Stadium (formerly and also known as Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is located ...
, but marginally greater than
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in north London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the third-largest football stadium in England and the ...
.


Architecture

When planning the development, Manchester City Council required a sustainable landmark structure that would be an icon for the regeneration of the once heavily industrialised site surrounding Bradford Colliery, as well as providing spectators with good sightlines in an "atmospheric" arena. Arup designed the stadium to be "an intimate, even intimidating, gladiatorial arena embodying the atmosphere of a football club" with the pitch six metres below ground level, a feature of Roman gladiatorial arenas and
amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
s. The attention to detail, often absent in stadium design, has been remarked upon, including the cigar-shaped roof supports with blue lighting beacons, sculpted rainwater gutters, poly-carbonate perimeter roof edging and openable louvres to aid pitch grass growth with similarities also made to
high-tech architecture High-tech architecture, also known as structural expressionism, is a type of late modernist architecture that emerged in the 1970s, incorporating elements of high tech industry and technology into building design. High-tech architecture grew fro ...
.


Roof design

The toroidal-shaped stadium roof is held together by a tensioned system, which has been described as "ground-breaking" by '' New Steel Construction'' magazine. The stadium's architectural focal point is the sweeping roof and support masts which are separate from the concrete bowl. A catenary cable is situated around the inner perimeter of the roof structure which is tied to the masts via forestay cables. Backstay cables and corner ties from the masts are connected to the ground to support the structure. With the expansion of the South Stand in 2015 to accommodate a third tier of seating, the original south end roof was dismantled; but with the southern masts and corner ties remaining, so as to continue to tie the catenary cable which now runs below the new roof. The new higher South Stand roof is a separate structure, with its own set of braced masts and cables; and it is expected that a counterpart arrangement will be adopted for the proposed North Stand expansion. Cables are attached to the twelve masts circling the stadium with rafters and
purlins A purlin (or historically purline, purloyne, purling, perling) is a longitudinal, horizontal, structural member in a roof. In traditional timber framing there are three basic types of purlin: purlin plate, principal purlin, and common purlin. Pu ...
for additional rigid support. The cigar-shaped masts double as visual features, with the highest at . Access to the upper tiers of seats is provided by eight circular ramps with conical roofs resembling turrets above which eight of the twelve masts rise up providing the support structure for the roof. The roof of the south, east and west stands built for the athletics stadium configuration was supported by the cable net system. The temporary open stand at the north end was built around the masts and tie down cables that would ultimately support the roof of the North Stand. After the games the track and field were excavated. The temporary bleachers at the north end were removed and the North Stand and lower tier of seats constructed on the prepared excavation. The North Stand roof was completed by adding rafters, purlins and cladding.


Facilities and pitch

The stadium has facilities for players and match officials in a basement area below the west stand, which also contains a kitchen providing meals for up to 6,000 people on match days, press rooms, ground staff storage, and a prison cell. The stadium also has conference facilities and is licensed for marriage ceremonies. Fitting out of the hospitality suites, kitchens, offices, and concourse concessions was accomplished by KSS Architects, and included the installation of the communications cabling and automatic access control system. The stadium's interior comprises a continuous oval bowl, with three tiers of seating at the sides, and two tiers at each end. Entry by patrons is gained by
contactless smart card A contactless smart card is a contactless credential whose dimensions are credit-card size. Its embedded integrated circuits can store (and sometimes process) data and communicate with a terminal via NFC. Commonplace uses include transit tickets ...
rather than traditional staffed
turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...
s. The system can admit up to 1,200 people per minute through all entrances. A service tunnel under the stadium provides access for emergency vehicles and the visiting team's
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...
to enter the stadium directly. Once inside the stadium patrons have access to six themed restaurants, two of which have views of the pitch, and there are 70 executive boxes above the second tier of seating in the north, west and east stands. The stadium is equipped with stand-by generators should there be an electrical mains failure. These are capable of keeping the stadium electrics running as well as the floodlights at 800 lux, the minimum level stipulated by FIFA to continue to broadcast live football. To create the optimum grass playing surface in the stadium bowl, the roof was designed to maximise sunlight by using a ten-metre band of translucent polycarbonate at its periphery. Additionally, each of the corners of the stadium without seating have perforated walls with moveable louvres that can be adjusted to provide ventilation of the grass and general airflow through the stadium. Drainage and under-pitch heating were installed to provide optimum growing conditions for the grass. The pitch has a UEFA standard dimension of . and is covered with natural grass reinforced by
artificial fibres Synthetic fibers or synthetic fibres (in British English; see spelling differences) are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms, such as plants (like cotton) ...
made by Desso. The field of play is lit by 218 2000-watt floodlights, consuming a total of 436,000 watts. The grass playing surface is recognised as being one of the best in English football, and has been nominated five times in the last nine seasons for best Premier League pitch, an accolade it won in 2010–11 among other awards.


Names

The stadium was named the City of Manchester Stadium by Manchester City Council before construction began in December 1999, but has a number of commonly used alternatives. City of Manchester Stadium is abbreviated to CoMS when written and spoken. Eastlands refers to the site and the stadium before they were named SportCity and CoMS respectively, and remains in common usage for both the stadium and the whole complex, as does SportCity but with less frequency. The stadium was also officially referred to as Manchester City Stadium for the
2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...
. The football club, under its new ownership, renegotiated its 250-year lease with the city council in October 2010, gaining the naming rights in return for a substantial increase in rent. The stadium was renamed the Etihad Stadium by the club in July 2011 as part of a ten-year agreement with the team kit sponsors
Etihad Airways Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
. The agreement encompasses sponsorship of the stadium's name, extends the team kit sponsorship for ten years, and relocated the club's youth academy and training facilities to the City Football Academy onto the
Etihad Campus Etihad Campus is an area of Sportcity, Manchester which is mostly owned and operated by Manchester City Football Club. The campus includes the Etihad Stadium, the City Football Academy (CFA) training facility and club world headquarters, and u ...
development across the road from the stadium. Despite being a continuous oval bowl, each side of the stadium is named in the manner of a traditional football ground. All sides were initially named by compass direction (North Stand and South Stand for the ends, East Stand and West Stand for the sides). In February 2004, after a vote by fans, the West Stand was renamed the Colin Bell Stand in honour of the former player. The vote was almost cancelled (and the stand instead named after
Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...
) due to suspicions it had been hijacked by rival fans who wished to dub the renamed stand The Bell End. However, core supporters of the club made it clear they still wished the stand named after their hero. The East Stand is unofficially known by fans as
the Kippax The Kippax was one of the best known and vocally active terraced stands at Manchester City's Maine Road ground. Originally named the "Popular Side" when the stadium opened in 1923, its name was changed in 1956 when the club gained planning permis ...
as a tribute to the very vocal east stand at the club's
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
ground. The North Stand is the only part of the stadium built after the Commonwealth Games, during the stadium's conversion. The temporary unroofed north stand it replaced had been dubbed the New
Gene Kelly Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
Stand by supporters, a reference to the unroofed corner between the Kippax and the North Stand at the club's former Maine Road home, because, being exposed to the elements, they frequently found themselves " singing in the rain". Commencing season 2010–11, seating in the North Stand has been restricted to only supporters accompanied by children, resulting in this end of the ground now being commonly referred to as the Family Stand. Although the North Stand has never been officially renamed and is still frequently referenced that way, most external ticketing offices and stadium guides, in addition to the club itself, now preferentially label and refer to this section of the ground as the Family Stand when discussing seating and ticket sales. Supporters initially dubbed the South Stand the Scoreboard End (the former name of the North Stand at Maine Road), and it houses the majority of City's more vocal fans. Supporters of visiting teams are also normally allocated seats in this stand, as it has ready access from the visitor supporter coach park. From 2003 to 2006, the South Stand was renamed the
Key 103 ''For the Network, see Hits Radio. For the National DAB station, see Hits Radio UK.'' Hits Radio Manchester is an Independent local radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Greater Manchester ...
Stand for sponsorship reasons, though this was largely ignored by regular patrons. The November 2018 consultation exercise on further expansion options envisages the North Stand then becoming the Home End, with no corporate hospitality areas, a greatly extended second tier, "affordable" ticket prices and possible areas capable of conversion to safe standing. The singing area would then be in the North Stand, and the Family Stand would be relocated elsewhere in the Stadium.


SportCity

The stadium is the centrepiece of
SportCity Sportcity in Manchester is a multipurpose sports and leisure facility. Originally built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, it is in east Manchester, a mile from Manchester city centre, and was developed on former industrial land including th ...
, which includes several other nationally important sporting venues. Adjacent to the stadium is the
Manchester Regional Arena Manchester Regional Arena is a multipurpose stadium in Manchester, England, primarily used for athletics, football and rugby league. History It was originally developed as the warm-up track for the 2002 Commonwealth Games held at the adjacent ...
, which served as a warm-up track during the Commonwealth Games and is now a 6,178-capacity venue that hosts national athletics trials, but has previously also hosted the home games of both the Manchester City women's team and the club's under-21 reserve team. The Regional Arena has regularly hosted the
AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...
and
Paralympic World Cup The Paralympic World Cup is an annual international multi-sport event for elite athletes with a disability, that has been hosted in Manchester, England, since 2005. It is organized by the British Paralympic Association (BPA) in coordination with t ...
, and is currently the home ground of amateur
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
side Manchester Rangers. The
National Squash Centre The National Squash Centre is a squash venue in Eastlands, Manchester, England, which was constructed for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The National Squash Centre is part of the Sportcity complex. Costing approximately £3.5m, the facilities inclu ...
and the
National Cycling Centre The HSBC UK National Cycling Centre is a multipurpose cycling venue in Sportcity, Manchester, United Kingdom. It includes an indoor Velodrome and a BMX arena and outdoor mountain bike trials. It also has offices for British Cycling, the governi ...
, which includes both the
Manchester Velodrome Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in Manchester, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nations rise t ...
and the
National Indoor BMX Arena The National Indoor BMX Arena is an indoor BMX racing facility, located in Sportcity, Manchester, United Kingdom. The arena was designed by Ellis Williams Architects and built by contractors Sir Robert McAlpine. It is situated next to the Manches ...
, are all a short distance from the stadium. The Squash Centre, which has hosted the British National Squash Championships since 2003 was added to the SportCity complex for the Commonwealth Games along with CoMS. The Velodrome, another showpiece venue used to stage all the
track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...
events for the Games, was already in place and had been home to
British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...
, the governing body for cycling in Britain, since it was built in 1994, as part of Manchester’s unsuccessful 2000 Olympics bid. Prior to the completion of the
Lee Valley VeloPark Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the ...
for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Velodrome had been the only indoor Olympic-standard track in the United Kingdom. The collocated BMX Arena houses the United Kingdom’s only permanent indoor
BMX track BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...
and provides seating for up two thousand spectators. It was added to the National Cycling Centre at SportCity in 2011. Other major sporting and sport-related venues located in SportCity in the immediate vicinity of the Etihad Stadium, all legacies of the 2002 Commonwealth Games are the
English Institute of Sport The English Institute of Sport (EIS), established in May 2002, is an organisation which provides sport science and medical support services to elite athletes through a nationwide network of expertise and facilities, working with Olympic and Pa ...
, west of the stadium, adjacent to the southwest corner of the Regional Arena; the Manchester Regional Tennis Centre, adjacent to the north end of the stadium; and the Manchester Tennis & Football Centre, also adjacent to the stadium, which is operated and administered by the Manchester Sport and Leisure Trust.


Public sculpture

Between 11 March (Commonwealth Day) and 10 August 2002, as part of the preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a national Spirit of Friendship Festival was organised. On 9 July, a few weeks before the Games began, a sculpture outside the new national headquarters of the English Institute of Sport at SportCity was unveiled by the middle-distance runner
Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arr ...
. This sculpture, commissioned in late 2001, was created in a little over eight weeks by Altrincham-based artist, Colin Spofforth, who had submitted to Manchester City Council his idea for a heroic-sized sculpture of a sprinter as a means of celebrating the beauty, power and determination of the competing athletes. Reaching thirty feet high, weighing seven tonnes, and titled ''The Runner'', this unique larger-than-life bronze statue of a male sprinter surmounting a bronze globe was, at the time, the United Kingdom's largest sporting sculpture. It depicts the very moment the runner leaves the blocks once the starter's gun has fired. From 2005 to 2009 a
Thomas Heatherwick Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...
sculpture, '' B of the Bang'', was situated to the southeast of the stadium at the junction of Ashton New Road and Alan Turing Way. Built after the Commonwealth Games to commemorate them, it was the tallest sculpture in the United Kingdom. However, numerous structural problems led to the 184 ft. sculpture being dismantled in 2009 for safety reasons. In 2014, money recovered by the Manchester City Council as a result of lengthy legal battles consequent to this debacle was used to fund a new £341,000 public sculpture a few hundred yards further south.


Stadium firsts

The first public football match at the stadium was a friendly between Manchester City and
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
on 10 August 2003. Manchester City won the game 2–1, with
Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (; born 14 March 1979) is a French professional football manager and retired player who played as a forward. As a player, he regularly featured in his country's national team, often scoring at crucial moments. Known f ...
scoring the first ever
goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
in the stadium. The first competitive match followed four days later, a
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
match between Manchester City and
Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...
side
The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...
, which City won 5–0 with
Trevor Sinclair Trevor Lloyd Sinclair (born 2 March 1973) is an English football coach, professional footballer and pundit. As a player, he was winger who notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United and Manchester City. He ...
scoring the first competitive goal in the stadium. Having started the Premier League season with an away match, Manchester City's first home league fixture in the new stadium was on 23 August, a game drawn 1–1 with
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, with Pompey's
Yakubu Yakubu is an English transliteration of a West African name and is a cognate of Jacob and James. Notable people with the name include: ;Given name * Yakubu (born 1982 as Yakubu Ayegbeni), Nigerian footballer * Yakubu (Gobir ruler), historical ruler ...
scoring the first league goal in the stadium. 2011–12 saw the Etihad Stadium play host to the setting of a number of new club and Premier League footballing records, such as the club becoming the first ever team to win eleven of its opening twelve games in a Premier League season, and going on to remain unbeaten at the Etihad Stadium in all nineteen of the Premier League games played there. The club's record of 55 home points out of a possible 57 at the stadium is a joint best Premier League record, and the club's record of twenty consecutive home wins at the stadium (going back to the end of the previous season) also set a new Premier League record in March 2012. The record football attendance at the stadium not involving its host team Manchester City is 43,878, which was set at the 2008 UEFA Cup Final game between
Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...
and Rangers on 14 May 2008. As is customary for such games, the then 47,715 maximum physical capacity of the stadium had been reduced by UEFA to around 44,000 for this final. However, neither limit would have been able to accommodate the vast number of supporters of the Scottish club, estimated to be in excess of 130,000, that travelled down from Glasgow to Manchester on the day of the game, despite the club's official ticket allocation being just 13,000 and police requests for fans without tickets to stay home. This order of magnitude mismatch between the numbers of travelling fans and those holding tickets ultimately led to a serious public disorder incident in the centre of the city now inextricably associated with this final, despite the fact that the 44,000 or so crowd who watched the game inside the stadium were perfectly well-behaved.


Reception

The 2002 Commonwealth Games were deemed a success and the stadium gained critical acclaim for its atmosphere and architectural design. It has won a number of design awards, including the 2004
Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...
Inclusive Design Award for inclusive building design, the 2003
Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...
Structural Special Award, and in 2002 a BCI Major Project high commendation was awarded by the British Construction Industry. In July 2014, the stadium was declared one of the United Kingdom's five most iconic structures by the
Construction Industry Training Board The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is the industry training board for the UK construction industry. History The CITB was established on 21 July 1964 by the Industrial Training (Construction Board) Order 1964,Explanatory Note to The I ...
. In 2003, initial reception by Manchester City supporters was polarised, with some lukewarm about moving from
Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
which had a reputation for being one of English football's most atmospheric grounds, whilst others were enthusiastic about the bigger stadium and move back to East Manchester where the club was formed. Since 2010, the club has boasted more than 36,000 season ticket holders each season, which is more than the 35,150 maximum capacity of Maine Road just before the club moved homes. In a 2007 Premier League survey of fans of each club, the proportion of Manchester City fans assessing their sight lines as 'very good' was the second highest in the Premier League, after the Emirates Stadium. Opposition fans have generally given positive feedback, with CoMS coming second to
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
in a 2005 poll to find the United Kingdom's favourite football ground. In 2010, the City of Manchester Stadium was the third most visited stadium after Old Trafford and
Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
by overseas visitors. In the early years of Manchester City's tenure, the stadium suffered from a poor atmosphere, a common problem with newly-opened stadia when compared with traditional football grounds such as Maine Road. In the 2007 Premier League survey, the proportion of Manchester City fans assessing match atmosphere as 'very good' was the second lowest in the Premier League, better only than Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium. The more recent expansion of capacity has been designed with improved atmosphere as a specific objective. Though not based on facts, the stadium is nicknamed 'Emptyhad' by rival fans in reference to poor game-day attendance and atmosphere. In October 2014, the club received two national VisitFootball awards for the quality of its customer care of Premier League fans visiting the Etihad Stadium during the previous season. VisitFootball, a joint venture between the Premier League and the national tourism board's VisitEngland, has been assessing the care that patrons receive at football grounds since August 2010, and presents annual awards for those clubs who deliver outstanding customer service. Manchester City had been one of the first four clubs to receive an inaugural VisitFootball award in 2011, but in 2014 it was the recipient of both the Club of the Year and Warmest Welcome awards. According to the panel of experts from the football and customer service industries that assess the services and facilities provided at each of the twenty Premier League club stadia, "Manchester City are the gold standard in providing fans with the best matchday experience."


Etihad Campus


Etihad Campus and CFA

In July 2011, CoMS was renamed the Etihad Stadium, sponsored by
Etihad Airways Etihad Airways ( ar, شَرِكَة ٱلْاِتِّحَاد لِلطَّيْرَان, sharikat al-ittiḥād li-ṭ-ṭayarān) is one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the other being Emirates). Its head office is in Khalifa ...
who fought off competition from
Ferrostaal Ferrostaal is a German-owned industrial services company. It has 4,400 employees and an annual turnover of around 1.6 billion euros (2008), and has a market presence in around 40 countries. The company's activities are focused in two areas: Proje ...
and Aabar to gain the stadium naming rights. The lucrative ten-year sponsorship deal included not just the naming rights to the stadium itself but to the whole £200 million complex of football-related facilities into which it was soon to be incorporated. In mid-September 2011, development plans were duly announced for a new state-of-the-art youth academy and training facility, now known as the City Football Academy (CFA) to be built on derelict land adjacent to the stadium and which would include a 7,000 capacity mini-stadium plus fifteen additional outdoor football pitches, six swimming pools and three gyms. The planned CFA facility was not only to become the new home base of the Manchester City first team squad, reserve (under-21 youth) team squad, and all of the Academy younger age group squads, but also the new home of the prior loosely affiliated Manchester City Ladies team (which was re-branded in 2012 as Manchester City Women's F.C. and more formally merged into the Manchester City family of affiliated football teams). Also fully integrated into the new CFA facility would be the parent club's world headquarters. At the beginning of March 2014, the structural framework for a new pedestrian walkway/footbridge over the junction of Alan Turing Way and Ashton New Road connecting the CFA with the Etihad Stadium was lowered into place. With sponsor Suisse Power & Gas SA having subsequently secured the naming rights, the completed SuisseGas Bridge was officially opened and turned over to Manchester City Council for general public access on 26 November 2014. Twelve days later, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
,
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
, presided over the official opening of the CFA.


Community outreach/Urban regeneration

As part of Manchester City's commitment to community outreach in their redevelopment plans for the areas of East Manchester adjacent to the Etihad Stadium, other urban regeneration plans incorporated into the overall Etihad Campus development project include the new £43 million Beswick Community Hub, that includes
Connell Sixth Form College Connell Co-op College is a Sixth Form College in the Beswick Hub development, Manchester. Run by the Co-op Academies Trust and formerly the Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) the college is located on the Etihad Campus training ground built ...
; a community leisure centre (with swimming pool, dance studio, health and fitness gym, rugby pitch, and grass sports pitches); and a planned Manchester Institute of Health and Performance. On 26 November 2014, the same day the SuisseGas Bridge was officially opened, a "globally admired" grouping of stainless steel sculptures, consisting of three towering metallic chess pieces called ''Dad's Halo Effect'' by its internationally acclaimed creator, Ryan Gander, was likewise unveiled to the public. Commissioned by the Manchester City Council to represent both the past industrial and current sporting heritage of this area of east Manchester, the public artwork is located in front of the Connell Sixth Form College, close to the central circus of the Beswick Community Hub, and only a few hundred yards south from where the area's last public sculpture, ''B of the Bang'', had been situated.


Transport

The stadium is 2.5 km east of
Manchester city centre Manchester City Centre is the central business district of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England situated within the confines of Great Ancoats Street, A6042 Trinity Way, and A57(M) Mancunian Way which collectively form an inner ring road. ...
.
Manchester Piccadilly railway station Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
, which serves mainline trains, is a twenty-minute walk away along a well-lit signposted route that is supervised by stewards close to the ground. Piccadilly station also has a Metrolink tram stop (in the undercroft); from which regular trams along the
East Manchester Line The East Manchester Line (EML) is a tram line of the Manchester Metrolink in Greater Manchester, England, running from Manchester to Ashton-under-Lyne via Droylsden and Audenshaw. The line opened in 2013 as part of phase three of the system's exp ...
to
Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...
serve the stadium and Etihad Campus, with enhanced service frequencies and doubled tram units on matchdays. The
Etihad Campus tram stop Etihad Campus is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. The stop is located adjacent to the City of Manchester Stadium (also known as the Etihad Stadium). The stop has a staggered pla ...
close to
Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...
Way to the immediate north of the stadium opened in February 2013, and handles several thousand travellers each matchday; spectators travelling by tram from Manchester city centre being able to board services at
Piccadilly Gardens Piccadilly Gardens is a green space in Manchester city centre, England, on the edge of the Northern Quarter. It takes its name from the adjacent street, Piccadilly, which runs across the city centre from Market Street to London Road. The ga ...
, the journey taking approximately 10 minutes. The
Velopark tram stop Velopark is a tram stop on the East Manchester Line (EML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened on 11 February 2013, after a three-day free trial for local residents. The stop was constructed as part of Phase 3a of the ...
also opened in February 2013 and provides access to the southeastern approach to the stadium, as well as closer access to other areas of SportCity such as the
Manchester Velodrome Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in Manchester, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nations rise t ...
and the City Football Academy. There are many bus routes from the city centre and all other directions which stop at, or close to, SportCity. On match and event days special bus services from the city centre serve the stadium. The site has 2,000 parking spaces, with another 8,000 spaces in the surrounding area provided by local businesses and schools.


Other uses

Under the terms of its lease, the stadium is able to host non-football events such as concerts, boxing and rugby fixtures at Manchester City's prerogative. Manchester City applied for a permanent entertainment licence in 2012 in a bid to expand the number of non-footballing events at the stadium.


Concerts

Outside the football season, the stadium hosts annual summer concerts, and is one of the United Kingdom's largest music venues, having a maximum capacity of 60,000 for performances. It was the largest stadium concert venue in England before the new
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
was built. The first concert was a performance by the
Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...
supported by
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
in 2004. An
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
concert at the ground was featured on the DVD, ''
Lord Don't Slow Me Down ''Lord Don't Slow Me Down'' is a rockumentary film, looking back on British rock band Oasis' ''Don't Believe the Truth'' world tour which took place from May 2005 to March 2006. The film is directed by Baillie Walsh. It went platinum in th ...
'' and the band's concert in 2005 set the attendance record of 60,000.
Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...
released a DVD of their 2006 performance at the stadium, '' Take That: The Ultimate Tour''. Other artists who have played the stadium are U2,
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
,
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
,
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
,
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,
Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...
,
Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
,
Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...
,
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,
Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a British MC and rapper. A pioneer of grime music, his work has also incorporated elements of UK garage, bassline, British hip hop, and R&B. Dizze ...
,
The Futureheads The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums ...
, the
Sugababes Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...
,
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,
Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...
,
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,
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,
Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
,
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(three times),
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,
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
,
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and the
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.It also hosted
Liam Gallagher William John Paul Gallagher (born 21 September 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009, and later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starti ...
for his homecoming gig in 2022. Concerts and boxing matches eventually took their toll on the pitch. In 2008, late post-concert pitch renovation, combined with an early start to the football season, led to the pitch not being ready for the first home fixture, causing the club to play its
UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
first round qualifying match at
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
's
Oakwell Stadium Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main ...
and a moratorium to be imposed on the staging of non-football events at Eastlands. In May 2010, the club invested in a new pitch and summer concerts resumed in 2011 when Take That played eight nights, with ticket sales totalling approximately 400,000.


Other football events

CoMS is rated a category 4 stadium by UEFA and has hosted several major football matches in addition to Manchester City's home fixtures. It became the fiftieth stadium to host an England international football match when the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
national teams played on 1 June 2004. In June 2005, the stadium hosted
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's opening game in the
UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...
, setting an attendance record of 29,092 for the competition. The stadium also hosted the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, in which
Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...
defeated Rangers 2–0. In May 2011, the stadium hosted the
Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...
play-off final between
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
and
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
; Wimbledon gained promotion to the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
after beating Luton in a
penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
. The stadium was used for the play-offs because the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final was due to take place at Wembley on 28 May 2011 and UEFA regulations stipulate the stadium hosting the Champions League final must not be used for other matches during the previous two weeks.


Other sports

In October 2004, the stadium played host to a
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
international match between
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in the Tri-Nations series in front of nearly 40,000 spectators. The stadium also hosted the
Magic Weekend The Magic Weekend (known as the Dacia Magic Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promote the ...
for three consecutive seasons (2012–2014). After a record attendance in 2012 – both for a single day (32,953) and the aggregate for the whole weekend (63,716) – the Etihad Stadium became the venue of choice for this annual rugby league event, setting another attendance record (36,339/64,552) for it in May 2014. However, construction work involved with the expansion of the South Stand caused it to be relocated to St. James' Park, Newcastle, for summer 2015. On 24 May 2008,
Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...
born and twice
IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
and IBO
light welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...
champion boxer
Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships at li ...
defeated
Juan Lazcano Juan Lazcano (born March 23, 1975) is a Mexican-born American professional boxer currently based in Sacramento, California. He fights at light welterweight and is a former World Boxing Foundation (WBF), NABF and IBA lightweight champion, as we ...
in a contest billed as " Hatton's Homecoming". The fight was held in front of 56,337 fans, setting a record attendance for a British boxing event post World War II. On 10 October 2015, the stadium hosted a 2015 Rugby World Cup Pool A match between hosts nation
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
. England won 60–3 with 50,778 in attendance.


England national football games


See also

*
List of Commonwealth Games venues The following are lists of all Commonwealth Games venues, starting with the first Commonwealth Games in 1930, alphabetically, by sport and by year. As a multi-sport event, competitions held during a given the Commonwealth Games usually take p ...


Notes


References

Specific Bibliography * * Further reading * *


External links


City of Manchester Stadium official websiteManchester City Football Club official websiteImages tagged City of Manchester Stadium
at
Flickr Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...

Arup Associates PDF format article about the original design of the stadiumArup Associates PDF format article about the transformation of the stadium after the 2002 GamesModern Steel Construction PDF format article about the innovative construction of the stadium's roofYouTube video depicting MCFC's vision for planned Etihad Campus / CFA developmentYouTube video depicting sequential construction steps required to expand stadium's ''South Stand''YouTube video depicting hub circus location of ''Dad's Halo Effect'' public sculpture
{{Manchester B&S Etihad Airways Premier League venues Football venues in Manchester Manchester City F.C. 2002 Commonwealth Games venues Music venues in Manchester Commonwealth Games rugby union venues Rugby union stadiums in England Sports venues completed in 2002 2002 establishments in England High-tech architecture Ove Arup buildings and structures