The Queen Elizabeth II Stadium, known for

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

matches as the Dave Bryant Stadium, is a multi-use sports venue in Enfield,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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), competitio ...

, 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The Stadium is a

Grade II Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

. Due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 19268 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. ...

for her

Silver Jubilee Silver Jubilee marks a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, the 25th year of a monarch's reign or anything that has completed or is entering a 25-year mark. Royal Silver Jubilees since 1750 Note: This ...

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 sports administrator, former politician and retired track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, incl ...

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English 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 times. He was unbeaten in competit ...

and

Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...

, all of whom won Olympic titles. By 2008, the venue had fallen into disuse. Enfield Town F.C., which had been formed in 2001, and who had been groundsharing with Brimsdown Rovers, 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 Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

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

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, during upgrades to the

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

, the

London Skolars The London Skolars are a rugby league club based at the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, New River Stadium in Wood Green, London Borough of Haringey, Haringey, North London. Founded in 1995, the club operated as a semi-professional team ...

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

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

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. In 2024, the stadium was temporarily renamed in honour of founder chairman Dave Bryant, becoming The Dave Bryant Stadium until the end of the 2023/24 season, in which Enfield Town won promotion to the

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

for the first time. The name continued to be used the following season as Town avoided relegation from the

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 is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

built in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style, and serves as the clubhouse, main stand and changing rooms. Butler's Bar serves fans on matchdays. 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. The stadium also has a club shop.

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 Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Enfield 1953 establishments in England Rugby league stadiums in England