The Queen Elizabeth II Stadium is a multi-use sports venue in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Built initially as a venue for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, in 2011 a three-year refurbishment was completed to allow the stadium to be used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. The Stadium is a

Grade II Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In 1939, construction of a new sports venue for Enfield began. The centerpiece was an athletics stadium, with additional space on the site for ball sports and a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

. Due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, work on the site was suspended, with the stadium not being completed until 1953. The athletics stadium, named after

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 ...

for her Silver Jubilee in 1977, was used as a training venue by a number of significant British athletes, including

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 ...

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958), better known as Daley Thompson, is a British former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four tim ...

and

Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...

, all of whom won Olympic titles. By 2008, the venue had fallen into disuse.

Enfield Town F.C. Enfield Town Football Club is a football club based in Enfield, Greater London, England. Established in 2001 as a fan-led breakaway from Enfield, the club are currently members of the and play at the Queen Elizabeth II Stadium. The club b ...

, which had been formed in 2001, and who had been groundsharing with

Brimsdown Rovers Brimsdown Rovers F.C. were a football club based in Brimsdown in the London Borough of Enfield, England. They played their home games at the Goldsdown Road stadium, Brimsdown in the London Borough of Enfield. Notable former players include David ...

, came to an agreement with Enfield Council to refurbish the stadium for use as a multi-use venue, with the track being resurfaced and the stadium brought up to the standard required for football in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

. Enfield Town moved to their new stadium in 2011, with their first official game taking place against a Tottenham Hotspur XI. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, during upgrades to the

New River Stadium White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, also known as the New River Stadium is a rugby league and athletics stadium in Wood Green, Haringey, north London, England that is home to London Skolars rugby league club, Enfield and Haringey Athletic C ...

, the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a professional rugby league club based at the New River Stadium, Wood Green, Haringey in north London. They were founded in 1995 and have been professional since 2003, operating in the Betfred League 1. They also run an ...

played six home games at the QEII stadium during the second half of the

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 ...

season. In 2018, the stadium was one of the venues for the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup, with ten games played there: six group games, and four in the knockout round, including the final on 9 June 2018.

Facilities

The main element part of the stadium is the pavilion, completed in 1953. This is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

built in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style, and serves as the clubhouse, main stand and changing rooms. Opposite the main stand is a second, small seated stand, while behind each goal, inside the perimeter of the running track, are two covered terraces. The running track was reduced from eight lanes to six during the refurbishment from 2008 to 2010. Enfield Town's Queen Elizabeth Stadium 2017 (2)

Enfield Town's Queen Elizabeth Stadium 2017 (2)

International football

References

{{ConIFA World Football Cup stadiums Enfield, London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Enfield Football venues in England Sports venues in London Athletics venues in London Sports venues completed in 1953 CONIFA World Football Cup stadiums Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Enfield 1953 establishments in England Rugby league stadiums in England