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Alan D
03 Feb 2006, 02:58 PM
Man City's Stadium

Name: City of Manchester Stadium
Inauguration: 2002
Capacity: 48,500 seats
Address: Rowsley Street, Manchester M11 3FF

http://scdeathraider.250free.com/Football/cityofmanchester1.jpg

http://scdeathraider.250free.com/Football/cityofmanchester4.jpg


History Of The City of Manchester Stadium

The stadium was originally built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. It was decided that after the Commonwealth Games had finished, Manchester City Football Club would inherit the stadium as their new home ground to replace Maine Road stadium in Moss Side.

The City of Manchester Stadium is also known as COMS, Eastlands and Sportcity. Manchester City Council agreed a 250 year lease of the stadium to Manchester City Football Club in exchange for their old stadium. When built for the Commonwealth Games the stadium had an original capacity of 38,000.

After the Commonwealth Games were over, the Stadium was further developed, a new North Stand was built and the running track was removed and re-laid elsewhere. The pitch was lowered to make way for the current lower tier, and the old lower tier was extended around the end where the temporary stand had been. This extensive work took a year to complete and added ten thousand extra seats. Other new facilities were also added, including restaurants and function rooms

The stadium has over 2000 car parking spaces and a further 8,000 accredited car parking spaces in easy reach of the Stadium. The Stadium can also be easily reached by rail and bus and is within walking distance from Manchester Piccadilly Station and the city centre.

The 48,000 capacity all seater stadium cost £90 million to construct. It was first occupied by the Manchester City team at the beginning of the 2003 season. The Stadium has the widest pitch in English football. Entry is gained by electronic smart card not the traditional manned type turnstyle.

The City of Manchester stadium has been given a 4 star rating by Uefa which means that it is eligible to host the UEFA Cup final.

The stadium became the 50th stadium to host an England international match when England played Japan in June 2004

The stadium is also home to the B of the Bang, the tallest sculpture in the UK, built to commemorate the success of the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The sculpture is a series of metal spikes that mimics an explosion

In October 2004, the Stadium was host to a Rugby League match between Great Britain and Australia during the Tri-Nations series. In the summer of 2004 it also held its first concert. This was a Red Hot Chilli Peppers concert.

Words from http://www.football-rumours.com/manchester_stadium.html

Here's a great picture of the stadium:

http://www.stealthcadre.com/news/data/upimages/mcfcstadium.jpg

ReturnoftheTang
04 Feb 2006, 01:07 AM
Honestly, the English National Team should play here instead of Old Trafford. So what if Old Trafford can hold 20000 more seats???? This stadium is a lot nicer.

Alan D
04 Feb 2006, 05:22 AM
It is an impressive stadium :) I think it looks better than Old Trafford, but it can't hold as many so thats the reason it doesn't host many England National Games.

Alan D
24 Mar 2006, 01:19 PM
City Of Manchester Stadium has bidded to host the 2008 UEFA Cup final, along with Riverside.

"Along with those in the running for the Champions League final, six venues have put their names forward to host the 2008 Uefa Cup final.

As well as the grounds at Manchester City and Middlesbrough, Hamburg's AOL Arena, the Ramat-Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel, Real Murcia's Nueva Condomina ground and Fenerbahce's stadium in Istanbul are competing for the honour."

From article about Wembley's UEFA Cup Champions League Final bid for 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4826800.stm

stockmanjr
24 Mar 2006, 05:36 PM
It is truely an awesome place to see a match!