St Mary's Stadium

St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium in South East England.

The Taylor Report on 29 January 1990 required all First and Second Division clubs to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Southampton's directors initially decided to upgrade The Dell into an all-seater stadium (which was completed in 1993) but speculation about relocation continued, especially as an all-seater Dell had a capacity of just over 15,000; despite this, Southampton continued to defy the odds and survive in the new FA Premier League after 1992.

After a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to build a new 25,000-seater stadium and leisure complex at Stoneham, on the outskirts of Southampton, the city council offered the club the chance to build a new ground on the disused gas work site in the heart of the city, about one and half miles from The Dell.

The move was cited as the club returning home, because the club was formed by members of the nearby St. Mary's Church, as the football team of St. Mary's Church Young Men's Association before becoming Southampton St. Mary's, and eventually Southampton.
Construction started in December 1999 and was completed at the end of July 2001, with work on the 32,689 seat stadium itself and improvements to local infrastructure costing a total of £32 million.

The Saints have been in residence since August 2001 when they moved from The Dell, which for the final years of its life, held just over 15,000 spectators – less than half the size of the new stadium. The first match was played on 1 August 2001 against Espanyol, with the Spanish club winning 4–3.

The first competitive hat trick at the stadium was scored by Stafford Browne for Aldershot Town in a 3–1 victory over Havant & Waterlooville in the Hampshire Senior Cup final on 1 May 2002.

In 2022, the stadium was used as one of the venues for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022, hosting Group A matches, which had the hosts England.

Description

The stadium is a complete bowl, with all stands of equal height. There are two large screens at either end that can be seen from any seat.

The stadium has four stands, which are named after the areas of Southampton they face. The main (east) stand is the Itchen Stand, and faces the River Itchen. The opposite stand is called the Kingsland Stand. Behind the south goal is the Chapel Stand, and to the north is the Northam Stand.

At the rear of the Chapel, Kingsland and Northam Stands, there is a continuous, translucent 'panel' that is designed to allow light to access the pitch. A large section of the roof at the Chapel Stand, at the southern end of the stadium is also translucent, for the same reason.

At the rear of the Itchen Stand, there are 42 executive boxes, and a police control room. The stand also houses the club's offices, changing rooms, press facilities and corporate hospitality suites. The four main hospitality suites are named after some of Saints' greatest players:
* Terry Paine
* Mick Channon
* Bobby Stokes
* Matt Le Tissier

The Northam Stand is home to the majority of the more vocal supporters. Safe standing was installed in the Northam Stand partially in April 2024. The visiting supporters' section was also seated in this stand up until the 2023–24 season but is now located in the corner of the Kingsland and Chapel stands. Visitors can be given up to 4,250 seats (15 per cent of the capacity) for cup games, and up to 3,200 for league matches.

Name

The official ground name at opening was the Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium. Initially the club wanted the ground to be named purely after the sponsors, but fan pressure influenced the decision to include a non-commercial title. In 2006 the new sponsor Flybe did not choose to purchase the naming rights to the stadium, meaning it reverted to St Mary's Stadium.

Capacity

The ground has an all- seated capacity of 32,505, including the press and directors' boxes. Because of the segregation between home and away fans in the Kingsland and Chapel Stands, it is unlikely the full capacity will ever be reached for a competitive match.

The current record attendance was for the Football League Championship match between Southampton and Coventry City on 28 April 2012, when 32,363 spectators attended. The lowest league record was Southampton versus Sheffield United, when just 13,257 attended.

When the club was playing in the lower leagues this had a negative impact on attendances, although the Boxing Day fixture against Exeter City attracted an attendance of 30,890. During the 2009–10 League One campaign, attendances increased significantly, attracting 29,901 against Milton Keynes Dons in the Football League Trophy and then, just 4 days later, 31,385 in a South Coast derby against Portsmouth in the FA Cup. The overall average attendance for the league season was 20,982, a near 3,000 improvement on the previous season despite being a league lower. During the 2010–11 League One campaign the lowest attendance was 18,623 against Yeovil, while the highest was 31,653 against Walsall.

All stands, apart from the Itchen stand, can be built upon and expanded. Overall this would give an approximate capacity of around 50,000, and would cost a similar amount to how much it cost to build the stadium in the first place, which was approximately £32,000,000.

The Ted Bates statue

On 17 March 2007, the £102,000 statue to commemorate club stalwart Ted Bates was unveiled, outside the front of the Itchen Stand. Almost immediately, the statue was widely condemned by supporters due to it being out of proportion, and not an accurate likeness of the former club president. The statue was made by sculptor Ian Brennan.

Former chairman, Leon Crouch stated that he would help fund a replacement or remedial work, in association with the Ted Bates Trust, who were overseeing the collection of funds, commission and erection of the statue. The statue was removed less than a week after its unveiling. The replacement statue, by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, was unveiled on 22 March 2008.

Notable matches

The St Mary's Stadium has hosted two full England international matches, a 2–2 draw between England and Macedonia in October 2002, while Wembley Stadium was out of action due to redevelopment and the Football Association decided that England games would be played at various venues around the country. David Beckham and Steven Gerrard

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