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	Capacity
	Opened
	Owner
	Pitch Dimensions

Craven Cottage is astadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the 6.3 acre home ground of the football team Fulham F.C. since 1896. Its capacity has recently been increased to around 26,600 with the highest all-seater Premiership home attendance of 25,357 fans present for the 2-1 loss against Chelsea on 01 January 2008 in the West London derby.

Fulham are renowned for their special bond with Craven Cottage, as many fans view the ground as being the epitome of what the club stands for. It has one of the most picturesque settings in the British football, located next to Bishops Park on the banks of the River Thames.

The ground

Hammersmith End

The Hammersmith End (or Hammy) is the northernmost stand in the ground, and, hence the name, the closest to Hammersmith. It is situated such that looking out from the stand you can see the Putney End and the Cottage opposite, the Riverside Stand (and the river itself) to the right and the Johnny Haynes Stand to the left. The roofing on the ‘Smithy’ was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery to Spurs. It is home to the more vocal Fulham fans, and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand. If Fulham win the toss, they always choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half, a tradition Liverpool F.C. are thought to have copied (playing towards the famous Kop).

Putney End

The Putney End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney and Bishops Park. To its right is The Cottage, opposite is the Hammersmith End, with the Riverside and Johnny Haynes Stands to left and right respectively. This generally hosts visiting or ‘neutral’ supporters. When the ground became redeveloped in 2003-4 (during Fulham’s exile to Loftus Road) the club applied for a licence to have a designated neutral area. Due to Fulham’s past history of having no segregation in the Putney End and having very well-behaved fans, the FA gave Fulham special dispensation to allow for this. Fulham is the only club currently in the UK to have such an area. Fans can wear whatever shirt and support either side in this area, leading to friendly banter. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, however they were retracted after the 2006-07 season commenced. For games against the bigger clubs, the entire Putney End is allocated to visiting supporters.

Riverside Stand

The Riverside was originally terracing that backed onto the Thames. It also featuerd large advertising hoardings above the fans. By 1973, a proper seated stand had been built called the Eric Miller Stand (one of the directors at the time). The stand was opened in a prestigious friendly against Santos F.C., who included Pelé in the team. The name of the stand became called simply The Riverside after the discovery of Eric Miller’s suicide, who had been under investigation for fraud and embezzelment.

The Riverside Stand backs onto the river Thames and is elevated uniquely above the pitch unlike the other 3 stands. It contains the corporate hospitality seating alongside Fulham fans. Jimmy Hill once referred to the Riverside being “a bit like the London Palladium” as Blocks V & W (the middle section) are often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There are several Harrods advertising boardings and above these is the gantry, for the press and cameras. Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they are also some of the more expensive. It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney End to its right and is opposite the Johnny Haynes Stand. During the 70’s, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. On non-match days, the George Cohen restaurant is open providing posh-nosh from Harrods or alternatively there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. (The River Café is also located nearby). Under Tommy Trinder’s chairmanship in the 60’s, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. However, when Fulham were relegated in 1969, Trinder decided not to change the flags as “Fulham won’t be in this division next season”. True to Tommy’s prophecy, Fulham were relegated again! There is now a campaign to bring back the flags again, though whether Chelsea’s club badge would be flown is another matter! The Riverside Stand has been used by sponsors, placing adverts on top of the covering, sponsors who have used this include Pipex.com and Lee Cooper Jeans. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the ‘Smithy’ End’ indicates the end of the ‘Fulham Wall’, which is the Mile Post in The Boat Race.

Johnny Haynes Stand

Formerly the Stevenage Road Stand – named for the street it is on – The Johnny Haynes Stand. Holding Fulham supporters, a lot of whom are season ticket holders, this is opposite the Riverside Stand, with the Putney End and the Cottage to its left, and the Hammersmith end to the right. This stand includes the ticket office and club shop, as well as nostalgic but uncomfortable original wooden seats. This remains the oldest stand (dating back to 1905) in the Football League and is thus a Grade II* listed building (thanks to Jimmy Hill’s efforts when saving the club as Chairman). (The oldest football stand in the world is considered to belong to Great Yarmouth Town, though Wolverton A.F.C. dispute this.) The original wooden Bennet seats as specified by Leitch in 1905 now number 3,571, remain as robust as ever.

The stand’s new name was announced shortly after Johnny Haynes’ untimely death in late 2005. Due to parts of the structure being wooden there is a no-smoking policy in this part of the ground. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a beautiful brick façade rarely seen amongst stadia and features the club’s old emblem in the artwork. Interesting to note, that decorative pillars show the club’s foundation date as 1880 though this thought to be incorrect. Also, a special stone to commemorate Fulham 2000 and The Cottagers return to their rightful home was engraved on the façade for all to see. The family enclosure is located in the corner nearest to the Hammersmith end. The stand also features very narrow and rickety turnstiles (that all must pass through) which are very much a squeeze for some of the more portly spectators. The 2006-7 season sees a new introduction in that all tickets are now read electronically when passing through the gates. Where the new plastic seating lies (in front of the wooden seats), originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch (up until the 70’s).

The Pavillion

The Cottage Pavillion dates back to 1905 along with the Johnny Haynes Stand, built by renowned architect Archibald Leitch. The reason The Cottage was built was due to an oversight in the Stevenage Road Stand (as it was then), as Leitch had forgotten to accommodate changing rooms in his final plans. Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) was traditionally used by the player’s families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game, but the club now sell those seats at a premium game-by-game rate. In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large ‘filing cabinets’, which are corporate boxes on three levels.

Future plans

Craven Cottage is where most Fulham fans would like to be, although the club might prefer a more lucrative situation – a larger ground enabling greater ticket revenue. Whether the club is still looking for a new site for a stadium is unknown, but comments in summer 2004 from Fulham’s CEO at the time, Jim Hone, suggest Fulham are back home for good. Fulham’s move back to the Cottage is believed to have been instigated and financed by the sale of Louis Saha to Manchester United, as his transfer covered the £9 million bill. Plans to move to White City with QPR into a 40,000 all-seater stadium appear to have been put firmly on hold. Fulham now have more realistic expectations of aiming for a mid-table finish and ensuring Premiership survival. The board seem to have moved away from their grandiose ideas of making Fulham the “Manchester United of the south” as Al-Fayed has come to realise how expensive it is to subsidise a Premiership outfit. Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual increase of the grounds capacity every summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during the summer for the past 3 years and this trend continued in 2008 with a small increase in the capacity of the Hammersmith End. Fulham have announced that they are planning to increasing the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4000 seats.

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Latest Bolton Wanderers News

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	Capacity		28,723
	Opened		1997
	Owner		Bolton Wanderers
	Pitch Dimensions		110 x 72 yards

The Reebok Stadium is the home ground of English football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook retail park in Horwich, situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. It is commonly known as ‘The Reebok’. It has 4 stands: The Debt Matters (North) Stand at one end, the Woodford Group (South) Stand:the away end, at the other end, the West Stand at one side of the pitch and the Nat Lofthouse (East) Stand at the other side.

It is a modern, all-seater stadium with a capacity of 28,723 which was completed in 1997, replacing the club’s old ground, Burnden Park. Despite the improved facilities and larger capacity (and resultant larger ticket revenues), this move was unpopular with many of the club’s fans. This was partly due to the new stadium being built out-of-town, and partly due to sentimental attachment to the old stadium and its history. In recognition of this, the street on which the stadium is situated is called Burnden Way.

The lead consultant/architect of the project was Lobb Sports, but the local firm of Bradshaw Gass & Hope acted as planning supervisors and quantity surveyors. The value of the contract was £25 million.

The Reebok Stadium is named for long-time team sponsor, Reebok. Again, this was unpopular with many fans, as it was considered impersonal, and that too much emphasis was being placed on financial considerations. This opposition has considerably lessened since the stadium was built, however, as fans have grown accustomed to the name.

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Latest Derby County News

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	Capacity		33,597
	Opened		18th July 1997
	Owner		Derby County F.C.

Pride Park Stadium is a football ground in the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is owned by and is the home of Derby County F.C. The stadium holds 33,597 spectators. The stadium was completed in 1997 and replaced Derby County’s previous stadium, the Baseball Ground. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 18 July, with a friendly against Sampdoria following on 4 August.

The first competitive league match to be played there was against Wimbledon. The floodlights failed part way through the match and it had to be abandoned.

Plans to build the stadium were revealed only 18 months before the beginning of Derby’s first season there. The original plan had been for the Baseball Ground to be rebuilt with a 26,000-seat capacity, but in February 1996 it was announced that Derby would be relocating instead.

Pride Park has been used for three England under-21s international matches and one full international, a 4–0 friendly victory for England over Mexico on 27 May 2001. That match also holds the record for the highest attendance at the stadium: a full-house of 33,597. The highest attendance at Pride Park Stadium for a Derby County match is 33,475.

2008 Expansion

On 27 April 2007, Derby County released details of a proposed £20m development around the stadium which would create about 250 jobs. Although plans have yet to be submitted to the city council, the Pride Plaza project would include a 165-bed hotel, bars, restaurants and office space. On 9 of November Derby City Council agreed to let the plans go ahead.

Two squares and a road on the west side of the stadium would be named after club legends Brian Clough, Steve Bloomer and Lionel Pickering. The club have said no money would be taken away from the team to pay for the development.

On top of this the club has announced plans to expand the capacity up to 44,000, with the work due to take place during the 2007–08 close season, provided the club avoided relegation. The plans include adding rows of seats to the north, south and east stands. If completed, this would allow the club to break its current club record home attendance, which stands at 41,826 for a match against Tottenham Hotspur during the 1969–70 season set at The Baseball Ground.

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Latest Blackburn Rovers News

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	Capacity		31,367
	Opened		1882
	Pitch Dimensions		115 x 76 yards

Ewood Park is a football ground in Blackburn, Lancashire and the home of Blackburn Rovers football club since they moved there from Leamington Road in the summer of 1890. The stadium, which opened in 1882 as a multi sports stadium, is an all seater facility which holds 31,367 people and has a pitch size of 115 x 76 yards. It comprises four sections: Darwen End, Riverside Stand (currently sponsored by Fraser Eagle), named as such because it stands practically on the banks of the River Darwen, Blackburn End and Jack Walker Stand, named after Blackburn industrialist and club supporter, Jack Walker.

Blackburn Rovers is the only football club to have won the English F.A. Cup 3 times in 3 consecutive seasons, and for this achievement it is the only club in the English Football League with permission to display its club crest on the corner flags. This rule is still applicable at Ewood Park, despite the victories being achieved whilst at the club’s previous Leamington Road ground.

The stadium hosted three matches during the Women’s Euro 2005 competition—two England matches in group play, and the final.

Ewood Park is the oldest home to a Premier League club. Though both Anfield and Stamford Bridge were constructed earlier (1884 and 1877), their current tenants (Liverpool FC and Chelsea FC) did not start playing there until 1892 and 1905, respectively.

Redevelopment

Like many English stadia, Ewood Park remained relatively unchanged for most of the 20th century until outside factors forced change. In the summer of 1984, part of the Nuttall Street Stand was damaged by fire. Instead of rebuilding the stand, the club’s directors decided to install two banks of executive boxes in place of the destroyed section. Later in the decade, the old Riverside stand was deemed unsafe in high winds and needed to be rebuilt. The steel for the new stand was provided by Walkersteel, then owned by Jack Walker, who was later to buy the club. The newly-named for 2007-08 season Fraser Eagle Stand provides 5,000 seats and is now the only part of Ewood Park to date from before the nineties.

After Walker bought Blackburn in 1991, Ewood Park was extensively rebuilt for the modern Premiership era. Three of the four stands – the Darwen End now seating 8,000 and all allocated to Away fans, the Blackburn End a mirror image of the Darwen End Seating 8,000, and the Nuttall Street Stand – were demolished and rebuilt. The Nuttall Street stand was renamed the Jack Walker stand in his honour and seats 11,000 fans and includes the players dressing room and media facilities, the old boardroom was dismantled piece by piece and reassembled when the rebuilding was finished and is situated in the Blackburn End of the ground.

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Latest Spurs News

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	Capacity		36,310
	Opened		September 1899
	Pitch Dimensions		110 x 73 yards

White Hart Lane is the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. It is situated in Tottenham, North London. In 2006, minor alterations to the seating configuration increased capacity to 36,310 all-seated.

Supporters often refer to the ground as “The Lane” or “WHL”.

History

Tottenham Hotspur moved to White Hart Lane in 1899. Their first game there resulted in a 4-1 home win against Notts County. 5,000 supporters witnessed the victory. Between 1908 and 1972, White Hart Lane was one of very few British football grounds that featured no advertising hoardings at all.

By 1923, the ground was enlarged to accommodate 50,000 covered spectators. The pitch was overlooked by a copper fighting cock (the club mascot) that still keeps an eye on proceedings from the roof of the West Stand. In the 1930s watching football was a tremendously popular pastime, and despite Tottenham’s relative mediocrity, at the time, 75,038 spectators squeezed into White Hart Lane in March 1938 to see Spurs lose to Sunderland in the FA Cup. 1953 saw the introduction of floodlights, which were renovated again in the 1970s and steadily upgraded with new technology since. By this stage, Tottenham were firmly established as one of England’s top clubs and attracted some of the highest attendances in the country on a regular basis.

The West Stand was built in the early 1980s and the project was so poorly managed that it was completed late and the cost overruns had severe financial implications for the club. This side of the ground is parallel with Tottenham High Road and is connected to it by Bill Nicholson Way.

The East Stand (on Worcester Avenue) is a three tier structure designed by noted stadium architect Archibald Leitch in the 1930s. Until the 1980s, the middle tier was a standing terrace offering very good views of the playing pitch at reasonable admission prices. The banter among home supporters was marked and the entire terrace was nicknamed The Shelf. By 1990, the East Stand had been upgraded to its current condition, but two view-obstructing roof supports reflect its true age.

The early 1990s saw the completion of the South Stand (on Park Lane) and the introduction of the first Jumbotron video screen, of which there are now two, one above each penalty area. The renovation of the Members’ (North) Stand which is reached via Paxton Road was completed in 1998, leaving the ground in its present form. Talks at board level continue over the future of their home, with an increase in capacity essential as home matches continue to sell out. A move to Wembley Stadium was ruled out by the club, as was the talk of moving to the future stadium of the 2012 Olympic Games.

There had also been plans to increase the stadium’s capacity to 50,000-60,000.

It was announced on the 30th October 2008 that Tottenham are going to develop on the current site and also to the north where they have purchased land, creating a 60,000-seater stadium. The new area will include leisure facilities, shops, housing, a club museum, public space and also a new base for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation. There will be public consultations with a view to applying for planning permission in 2009.

Stands

– North Stand – Total: 10,086
– East Stand – Total: 10, 691
– West Stand – Total: 6,890
– South Stand – Total: 8,573
– Total Capacity: 36,310

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Latest Everton News

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	Capacity		40,569
	Opened		August 24 1892
	Owner		Everton FC
	Pitch Dimensions		112 x 78 yards

Goodison Park is the home ground of Everton F.C. in Liverpool. It was built in 1892, and now has a total capacity of 40,569 all-seated.

History

Built in 1892, on what was Mere Green field, it is one of the oldest and most historic football grounds in the world and was the first major football stadium in England. Goodison Park was the first purpose built football stadium in England. Mere Green field cost £8,090, with an interest free loan of £1,000 from the Catholic Dr Baxter, helping to secure the purchase. It was officially opened on 24th August 1892. The mortgage was cleared during season 1904/05. Kelly Brothers of Walton, erected two uncovered stands, each to accommodate 4.000 & a covered stand to accommodate 3,000, at a cost of £1,640. Twelve turnstiles cost a total of £93. It is also nicknamed the Grand Old Lady. It was the first British sports ground ever to have double-decker stands on all 4 sides and the first to have a 3 tier stand. It was also the first English league ground to have undersoil heating. In 1913 it became the first English football ground to be visited by a reigning monarch, King George V. The first covered dugouts in England were constructed at Goodison, in 1931, following Everton’s visit to Pittodrie to play a friendly against Aberdeen, where such dugouts had been constructed at the behest of the Dons’ trainer Donald Coleman.

The ground staged 5 matches including a semi-final for the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the final for the 1894 FA Cup and the FA Cup Final replay in 1910. Everton have hosted more international matches than any other English club. On 6th April 1895 Goodison hosted England v Scotland and so Everton became the first club to host England internationals on two grounds. Liverpool also became the first English city to stage England games at three different venues. Goodison was also, in 1949, the site of England’s first ever home defeat by a non-Home Nations country, namely the Republic of Ireland. The last Everton player to play in an international at Goodison was Ray Wilson for England v Poland 5th January 1966. The game ended 1-1 and England’s goal was scored by Bobby Moore. This was his first international goal and the only one on English soil. In 1973 Goodison hosted Northern Ireland’s home games against Wales & England.

The greatest match the stadium has ever held, according to voters at Everton’s official website, was a European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich in 1985. Munich, leading at half time, were defeated by three second half Everton goals from Andy Gray, Graeme Sharp and Trevor Steven.

On 26th December 1920, Goodison hosted a match between; Dick, Kerr’s Ladies & St Helens Ladies. An estimated 67,000 turned up for the match, 14,000 of which were locked out. The average gate at Goodison in 1919/1920 was 29,050. Dick, Kerr’s Ladies won 4-0 & over £3,000 was raised for charity.

In seasons 1962/63 & 1963/64 attendances for league matches were in excess of 1,000,000.

The ground is situated in a tightly-packed residential district, which has made expansion of the ground extremely difficult, if not impossible. One corner of the ground is actually formed by a church, St Luke the Evangelist’s.

The pitch is one of the largest in the Premiership (or the old Football League), most pitches tending towards a de facto standard of 110 x 70 yards. Goodison Park is considerably wider, and slightly longer.

Stands

The ground is made up of 4 stands:

The Park End – capacity 6,000. A single-tier, cantilever stand completed in 1994. At the South end of the ground, behind one goal, the Park Stand backs onto Walton Lane which borders Stanley Park. It was re-constructed in 1995. During the 1960s and 1970s, both ends featured a large semi-circle behind the goals, slightly reminiscent of the old Wembley Stadium.

Bullens Road – capacity 8,067. A two-tier stand designed by the renowned football ground architect Archibald Leitch. On the East side of the ground the stand is divided into the Upper Bullens, Lower Bullens and the Paddock. The South end of the Bullens Road stand houses away supporters. The North corner of the stand is connected to the Gwladys Street Stand.

Gwladys Street End – capacity 10,155. Another two-tier Archibald Leitch stand, divided into Upper Gwladys and Lower Gwladys. Behind the goal at the North end of Goodison Park, the Lower Gwladys can be said to hold the most boisterous and vociferous Evertonians. If Everton win the toss before kick-off they always elect to play towards the Gwladys Street End in the second half.

Main Stand – capacity 16,347 (upper tiers). A three-tier stand, incorporating the Main Stand, Family Enclosure and Top Balcony, as well as what, for such a large ground, is a relatively small number of corporate boxes. The current Main Stand was completed in 1971, at a cost of £1m, following the demolition of the previous 1909 incarnation (another Archibald Leitch design). The Main Stand houses the teams’ changing rooms, and the players enter the pitch from a surprisingly discreet tunnel at the halfway line in the Main Stand. Unusually (particularly considering the date of construction) the Top Balcony is accessed by escalator.

A New Goodison?

Goodison Park became all-seater in 1994 with the construction of the Park end, taking the capacity to just over 40,000. It is theoretically possible to expand the ground, but the club considers that it would not be financially viable to do so, and therefore wishes to move.

In 1996, chairman Peter Johnson announced the club’s intention to leave Goodison Park. Although the move was met with opposition from some supporters groups, most notably Goodison Forever-ton (GFE), the club undertook the first of two supporter ballots at the last game of the 1996/97 season to guauge reaction to a proposed move to a site on the Kirkby Golf Course. Although it was much disputed at the time, particularly with the GFE’s calls to the club chairman to hold the ballot under the rules of the Electoral Reform Society, the reported 82% vote in favour of leaving Goodison was generally accepted as being a true barometer of voting supporter sentiments at the time. However, within just six days of the vote, the club chairman stunned most fans by suggesting that Kirkby Golf Course may not be the preferred location of Everton’s new ground and that sites as far afield as Cronton and Burtonwood were not being ruled out.

After 18 months of trying, the GFE finally released an architectural study which they disproved the club’s official line, that Goodison Park could not be redeveloped to a capacity in excess of 45,000. Given Everton’s precarious standing, though, there was very little appetite for discussions about the ground issue. Indeed, by the time the true picture of Everton’s dire financial crisis emerged in November 1998, following the controversial sale of Duncan Ferguson to Newcastle United, which prompted Peter Johnson to sell his stake in the club, it was obvious to all, especially the new owner, Bill Kenwright, that any talk of a ground move would have to be shelved for some considerable time. Nevertheless, the question over Goodison Park’s future still lurked in the background and by early 2000 – four years after the question of moving was first aired – the debate was back in full swing as Everton sought to secure land and planning permission at King’s Dock. On 18 November 2000, the club initiated the second ballot of supporters. Again the GFE was the only serious opposition, citing that it would eventually be proved that the club would not be able to afford a stake in the project and calling for Everton to finally bite-the-bullet and start a redevelopment of Goodison which would be completed by 2005 (noting that had such an ambition been undertaken at the first time of asking in 1996 that it would be nearly completed). Again, though, the vote was overwhelmingly in favour of leaving Goodison Park, this time with some 85% of voting fans declaring their willingness to move. Although Everton were eventually granted preferred bidder status, over twelve other applicants, the deal fell through in 2003 after Everton failed to secure their necessary £30m investment and an alternative bidder was chosen.

In late 2004, representatives from the club met with representatives of their local rivals Liverpool and the Sports Minister to discuss plans to build a joint stadium, Stanley Park. However, this proposal was rejected by both clubs. This leaves Everton with the decision to either build a new stadium on their own, or try and rebuild Goodison Park. As of June 2006, Everton have received at least three offers from Knowsley and Sefton to relocate a few miles outside Liverpool. They are currently in talks with the supermarket Tesco to make a joint bid to build a stadium complex in Knowsley. Supporters opposed to the plans have since formed the KEIOC (Keep Everton In Our City) lobby group. Despite a vociferous campaign the group failed to sway opinion sufficiently, and a subsequent postal ballot held by the club ended with 60% of submitted votes being in favour of a move to Kirkby. Everton hope to move to their new stadium in 2010.

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Latest Chelsea News

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	Capacity		42,055
	Opened		1877
	Owner		Chelsea Pitch Owners plc
	Pitch Dimensions		110 x 75 yards

Stamford Bridge is a football ground on the border of Fulham and Chelsea, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham that is home to Chelsea Football Club. It is nicknamed “The Bridge” by the club’s supporters.

Current stands

Matthew Harding Stand – capacity: 10,884

The Matthew Harding Stand, previously known as the North Stand, is along the north edge of the pitch. It is named after former Chelsea director Matthew Harding, who transformed the club in the early 1990s before his death in a helicopter accident in October 22, 1996. It was due to a considerable investment in the club by Harding that the stand was able to be completed, and as such the tribute is fitting. It was completed during the 1997-98 season, a year or so after Mr Harding’s death. The stand has two tiers and is the area where a majority of Season Ticket Holders will be found. As such, this stand is considered the area where the best and most consistent atmosphere will emanate from, particularly the Lower Tier. There are rumours that owner Roman Abramovich will make this bigger, however it would be necessary to knock down the ‘Chelsea World of Sport’ (for 2005/6 the ‘Chelsea Centenary Museum’) which falls behind the Matthew Harding stand.

For some European matches, sections of this stand are unusable, as large television vans block entrances to the stand. Therefore, the stadium operates with a reduced capacity for these occasions.

East Stand – capacity: 10,925

The oldest stand, the East Stand is located along the east side of the pitch. Previously it was the home to away supporters on the bottom tier, however at the start of the 2005/2006 season manager José Mourinho requested the move of the family section to this part of the stand to boost team morale. The stand has three tiers and is the heart of the stadium, housing the tunnel, dugout, dressing rooms, conference room, press centre, AV and commentary box. The middle tier is occupied by facilities, clubs, and executive suites. The upper tier provides spectators with one of the best views in the stadium.

Shed End capacity: 6,814

The Shed End is located along the south side of the pitch. The stand has two tiers. The lower tier used to be home to the family centre, however for the 2005/2006 season and beyond the club has moved the away fans to the East corner of the stand (Gates 1-3 of the Upper Tier and around half of the Lower). The Shed also contains the centenary museum and a memorial wall where families of deceased fans are able to leave a permanent memorial of their loved ones indicating their eternal support for the club.

West Stand – capacity: 13,432

The West Stand, recently updated, is located along the west side of the pitch. It has three tiers, in addition to a row of executive boxes that stretches the length of the stand. This stand houses Abramovich on match days. Due to this, Abramovich installed heaters so fans (and himself) are warm on the terraces during the cold winter days.

The construction of the stand was almost responsible for Chelsea’s financial crisis, which would’ve seen the club fall into administration but for the intervention of Abramovich. In borrowing some £70m from Eurobonds to finance the project, Ken Bates put Chelsea into a perilous financial position, primarily because of the repayment terms.

Now complete, the stand is the main external ‘face’ of the stadium, being the first thing fans see when entering the primary gate on Fulham Road. The Main Entrance is flanked by the Spackman and Speedie hospitality entrances, named after former Chelsea players Nigel Spackman and David Speedie. The stand also features the largest concourse area in the stadium.

The aforementioned executive boxes are also known as the Millennium Suites and are the home of the majority of matchday hospitality guests. Each box is also named after a former Chelsea player (names in brackets):

* Tambling Suite (Bobby Tambling)
* Clarke Suite (Steve Clarke, current Assistant Manager at Chelsea)
* Harris Suite (Ron Harris)
* ‘Drakes’ (Ted Drake)
* Bonetti (Peter Bonetti)
* Hollins (John Hollins)

Centenary Museum

2005 saw the opening of a new club museum, known as the Chelsea Museum or the Centenary Museum, to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the club. The museum is located in the former Shed Galleria. Visitors are able to visit the WAGs lounge and then watch an introductory video message from the vice-president Richard Attenborough. They are then guided decade by decade through the club’s history seeing old programmes, past shirts, José Mourinho’s coat and other memorabilia.

The Future

The club has announced that it wants to extend Stamford Bridge to around 55,000 seats; however, its location in a heavily built-up part of Inner London near a main road and two railway lines makes this very difficult. The dispersal of an additional 13,000 fans into the residential roads, of the Moore Park Estate opposite, would not be desirable and the club is said to be looking at all possible solutions to this.

The club have therefore been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge to a variety of locations, including the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, White City, Battersea Power Station, the Imperial Road Gasworks (off the Kings Road on the Fulham and Chelsea border) and the Chelsea Barracks. Furthermore, due to the terms of the Chelsea Pitch Owners, the club could have to relinquish the name ‘Chelsea Football Club’ should it ever move from Stamford Bridge.

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Latest Aston Villa News

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	Capacity		42,640
	Opened		1897
	Owner		Aston Villa
	Pitch Dimensions		344 × 226 feet

Villa Park is a football ground in the district of Aston, in Birmingham, England. It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897. It is a UEFA 4–star rated stadium and it has hosted 16 England internationals at senior level. The first international was in 1899 with the most recent being in 2005. It was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries.

Villa previously played at Aston Park from 1874 to 1876 and Perry Barr from 1876 to 1897. Villa Park is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi-final history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The stadium currently comprises four stands; Holte End, Trinity Road Stand, North Stand and the Doug Ellis Stand. The Club have planning permission to extend the North Stand. This will involve the ‘filling in’ of the corners to either side of the North Stand. If and when completed, the capacity of Villa Park will be increased from 42,640 to approximately 50,000.

Facilities

Villa Park comprises 42,640 seats split between four stands. These four stands are the Holte End to the South, the Trinity Road stand to the West, the Doug Ellis Stand opposite the Trinity Road Stand, and the North Stand behind the northern goal. The Holte End is a two–tiered stand with a capacity of 13,500. The roof is a variant of the “King Truss” system and the front third slopes forward slightly. It is one of the largest behind-the-goal stands in Europe. The Holte End is the most renowned stand at Villa Park amongst club supporters and supporters of other clubs. It is traditionally where Villa’s most vocal and passionate supporters gather, including some Aston Villa hooligan firms.

The North Stand, which used to be known as the Witton End, was built in the late 1970s and is the most dated of Villa Park’s stands. It is two–tiered, with a double row of executive boxes running across the middle. Planning permission has been granted for a new stand to be built in time for the 2012 Olympic Games. The club shop is at the North Stand end of the stadium. Manager Martin O’Neill expressed his desire to have Villa fans seated in the North Stand behind the goal for the 2007–08 season. This arrangement was confirmed by the club and they released cut-price season tickets for the Lower tier. This meant moving the away fans from the lower tier of the North Stand to the lower and upper tiers of the Doug Ellis Stand. The Doug Ellis Stand, formerly known as the Witton Lane Stand, is a two–tiered stand with a row of executive boxes dividing the tiers. Opposite the Doug Ellis Stand is the most modern stand at Villa park, the Trinity Road Stand. It is made up of three tiers with a row of executive boxes between the second and third tiers. This stand, although much larger than the other stands has roughly the same roof level as the other three sides. In the SW corner is a three-storey, pavilion-like structure which is used for corporate hospitality. There are two large television screens in the SW and NE corners of the ground.

Future

The Club have planning permission to extend the North Stand. This will involve the ‘filling in’ of the corners to either side of the North Stand. The previous chairman, Doug Ellis, stated that the money must be spent on improving the playing squad first. However, new owner Randy Lerner seems more keen on the idea of increased capacity. If and when completed, the capacity of Villa Park will be increased to 50,000.

Villa Park is one of six stadiums that will hold Olympic football matches in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Lord Sebastian Coe, head of the organising committee for London 2012, claimed that because Villa Park is an Olympic Venue, it will be entitled to funding to help expansion plans.

Other uses

Many athletics and cycle events were staged there prior to the First World War. As a Four star UEFA rated stadium, Villa Park has been used as a venue for international games and several cup games. Villa Park was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries and it has hosted matches during several international tournaments. Villa Park hosted three World Cup matches during the 1966 World Cup and four matches during Euro ‘96. Villa Park has hosted a number of England internationals at senior level. The first of which was in 1899, the most recent being in 2005. In all it has hosted 16 international matches. Villa Park also hosted the last ever final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup where Lazio beat Real Mallorca 2–1.

Villa Park has hosted games for several Cup competitions. It is the most used stadium in FA Cup semi-finals history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The club hosted the League Cup Final in 1980–81 in which Liverpool beat West Ham 2–1 in a replay. During the construction of the new Wembley Stadium between 2001 and 2005 the FA Trophy Final was held at Villa Park.

The stadium has hosted several music concerts, featuring artists such as Bruce Springsteen.

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Seddon Park is a Cricket ground in Hamilton, 4th largest city in New Zealand and is renowned for its “village green” setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators. It is the second largest proper Cricket Ground in New Zealand. The Stadium was named after the former New Zealand Prime Minister Richard John (King Dick) Seddon. It has also been known as Trust Bank Park, WestpacTrust Park and Westpac Park. In 2006, Westpak Trust Bank NZ decided to end its sponsorship of a number of different sporting events and grounds in New Zealand and the stadium has reverted back to its original name of Seddon Park starting in the 2006/2007 season.

Seddon Park is round. Originally outfitted for cricket, Seddon park is a well-grassed stadium with a centre block of 9 pitches, running approximately North/South. These are usually very good batting tracks. There is an embankment going around three-quarters of the perimeter and, outside this embankment is a tall hedgerow. On the side of the oval opposite the pavilion (the south-eastern side) is the semaphore-style scoreboard.

Seddon Park has a flexible stadium environment that can be modified to fit-for-purpose. The ground has been used for hockey, rugby and rugby league matches during the off-season and concerts on several occasions. Providing the weather is fine it has a hard outfield. During 2005 a sand slit sand carpet drainage system was installed into the outfield. THe drainage system is made up of lateral drains spaced 10m apart running approx north to south and 13km of sand slits spaced 1m apart running at a 45degree angle ove the laterals. Then 40mm of san was applied to the top surface in layers. The drainage on the outfield is now excellent.

Usage

The Ground is used for hosting both One Day International Matches as well as Test Matches. Apart from these, First Class Matches are also played on this ground. The First ODI played here was between New Zealand and India in which India was defeated.

The ground was also used for one season in 2001 for the majority of Waikato and Chiefs rugby home games. Temporary stands were raised for the games. Rugby returned to the newly built Waikato Stadium for the following year.

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	Capacity		30,084
	Opened		20032

Stade de Genève is a stadium in the greater Geneva, Switzerland area (located in Lancy, south of the city). It has a capacity of 30,084. The stadium was completed in 2003 by Zschokke Construction S.A. after nearly three years of construction. Normally the home venue of Geneva’s Servette FC, a Swiss football team, the stadium hosted international friendlies between Argentina and England on November 12 2005, which England won 3-2 and between New Zealand and Brazil on June 4, 2006, which Brazil won 4-0. The venue played host to three group-stage matches for Group A during UEFA Euro 2008.

A memorable match Turkey-Czech Republic was played in this stadium. The stadium was also used for rugby union, with a 2006-07 Heineken Cup clash between Bourgoin and Munster being moved from Bourgoin’s home ground.

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Opened – September 07, 2007
Owner – City of Klagenfurt
Construction cost – 66,500,000 Euro
Architect – Albert Wimmer
Former names – Wörtherseestadion (demolished 2005)
Capacity – 32,000

The Hypo-Arena is a football ground in Klagenfurt, Austria. It is the home ground of SK Austria Kärnten.

The old stadium, known as the Wörtherseestadion, was built in 1960 and had a capacity of 10,900. It was demolished in 2005 and replaced by the new Hypo Arena, for the 2008 European Football Championship, which can hold 32,000 spectators. After the event, the stadium will be reduced to a capacity of 12,500. The official opening was on Sep. 07, 2007 and hosted a friendly between Austria and Japan in front of 26,500 spectators.

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Inauguration: 6 September 2000
Capacity: 17,400
Pitch dimensions: 105*68
Address: Stadionstrasse 1b, A-6020 Innsbruck

Tivoli-Neu is a football ground in Innsbruck, Austria. It is currently the home ground of FC Wacker Tirol. The stadium holds 17,400 and was built in 2000. It has been expanded to 30,000 for the 2008 European Football Championship.

Tivoli Neu was named after the original Tivoli stadium, which could be found on a different place next to the Sill River. It was closed down in 2004, four years after Tivoli Neu was opened.

Tivoli Neu is part of the The Olympiaworld Innsbruck complex. This includes the renovated Olympic ice hall Olympiahalle, a new ice hall Tiroler Wasserkraft Arena, a sports center called Landessportcenter Tirol, and the stadium itself.

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Latest New Jersey Devils News

The Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the Downtown district of Newark, New Jersey. The arena was designed by HOK Sport, with the exterior designed by Morris Adjmi Architects. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the National Hockey League’s New Jersey Devils ice hockey team, as well as the Seton Hall Pirates men’s basketball team and the Xtreme Soccer League’s New Jersey Ironmen indoor soccer team. The arena seats 17,625 people for hockey. Prudential Center is also known by its nickname, “The Rock”, in reference to the corporate logo of Prudential Financial, the company that owns the naming rights to the arena.

Capacity: 17,625
Opened: October 25, 2007
Owner: City of Newark
Operator: Anschutz Entertainment Group
Architect: HOK Sport

The arena is located two blocks from Newark Penn Station in downtown Newark, just west of Newark’s Ironbound district. A new park named Triangle Park will connect the train station to the arena, making it easily accessible via New Jersey Transit, PATH, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak.

The Prudential Center is the first major league sports venue to be built in the New York metropolitan area since the Brendan Byrne Arena, the Devils’ former home, opened in 1981. It is hoped that the Prudential Center might play an important role in the revitalization of Newark.

Features

The Prudential Center, built through 2006 and 2007, is the first new arena built in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area in more than 25 years. Located only two blocks from Newark Penn Station, the building is one of the most easily accessible arenas in the country via NJ Transit, PATH, Newark Light Rail, and Amtrak through Newark’s Penn Station. Highways surrounding the arena include I-280, I-78, New Jersey Turnpike, Rt. 1&9, Rt. 21, Rt. 22, and the Garden State Parkway.

The red and gray exterior is inspired by Newark’s bricklaying and railroad heritage, as well as an homage to the colors of the New Jersey Devils. Fans approaching the arena from the front are presented with a view of the arena’s externally mounted 4,800 square foot (446 m�) LED screen, one of the largest in the world. Along the arena’s east side Mulberry Street entrance are two large “entrance cylinders” named the Verizon Tower and PNC Tower, the arena’s most prominent exterior feature. The interior Grand Concourse provides views of downtown Newark on the Edison Street and Mulberry Street sides through large windows. Located next to the ticket office on the street level is the Devils’ new 2,600 square foot (242 m�) Team Store. The Prudential Center features separate concourses for the lower and upper levels.

As the newest facility to be used in the NHL, the Prudential Center features a large array of amenities. The rink area features four LED ribbons and an eight-sided scoreboard equipped with high-definition video screens. The 76 luxury suites available are the largest in North America. Personal dining, WiFi and high-definition televisions are some of the many conveniences available in the luxury suites. There are 750 flat-screen televisions in total across the arena. In the lower bowl are 2,300 black Club seats in three center sections on either side of the ice. Club seat and season ticket holders have access to a 350-seat restaurant on the suite level in one of the end zones with views of the rink. Additionally, the Goal Bar, located at Suite Level One offers Club and Goal Bar seat holders terrace-style seating in a bar environment. Club seat holders also have access to the Fire and Ice Lounges, modern themed private bars intended to attract pre-game and post-game crowds.

Attached to the Prudential Center are the Devils’ corporate offices and practice rink, which contains its own locker rooms. The Prudential Center is one of only two NHL arenas with a practice rink (the other being Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, home of the Columbus Blue Jackets) and the only one with dual locker rooms and practice facilities.

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The Kingdome was an indoor sports and entertainment arena owned and operated by King County, Washington. The Kingdome received its nickname from King County, and was officially known as the King County Domed Stadium and often called the Dome. Before its destruction it was located at the west end of Seattle’s Industrial District, just south of Pioneer Square.

The building was completed in 1976 on reclaimed tideflat land formerly occupied by the Burlington Northern Railroad’s freight yards. It served as home to the Seattle Mariners baseball team, the Seattle Seahawks American football team, and the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team for several years. The Kingdome was demolished by implosion on March 26, 2000 and the footprint is now occupied by Qwest Field.

Replacement

The Kingdome never hosted the World Series or the Super Bowl. In 1997, plans were finalized to construct two new stadiums in Seattle, Qwest Field and Safeco Field. These two planned stadiums, homes of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Mariners respectively, rendered the Kingdome useless and guaranteed its demise.

The Mariners moved to Safeco Field in July 1999, and the Seahawks played their final game in the Kingdome in January 2000, a first-round playoff loss to the Miami Dolphins, the final NFL victory for Dolphins’ quarterback Dan Marino. The Seahawks would play their home games at Husky Stadium in 2000 & 2001.

Before thousands of Seattlites, it was destroyed by implosion on March 26, 2000 in the first live event ever covered by ESPN Classic, and set a world record for the largest implosion of a concrete building.[citation needed] The Kingdome was imploded before its debt was fully paid. It is the first and only domed stadium in the United States to ever be demolished.

Qwest Field, the home of the NFL Seattle Seahawks since 2002, now occupies the site. Safeco Field, the Mariners’ home park, sits just south of Qwest Field.

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The Arena at Gwinnett Center is an indoor arena located in an unincorporated area of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, near Duluth and Atlanta. The Arena was an expansion to the already existing Gwinnett Center, which also includes a Performing Arts Center, and a Convention Center. The arena seats 11,500 for hockey, 12,750 for basketball, and 13,100 for major concerts.

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The Sprint Center is a large, multi-use indoor arena in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The building is located at 14th Street and Grand Boulevard, on the east side of the Power & Light District. The arena’s title sponsor is the telecommunications company Sprint, whose world headquarters is in nearby Overland Park, Kansas.

Sprint Center opened to the public on October 10, 2007, and a concert on October 13, 2007 by Elton John was the first event held at the arena. The arena is estimated to seat 18,500 people and to have 72 suites. Sprint Center has effectively replaced Kemper Arena, which was built in 1974 just a few miles away in the southern portion of the West Bottoms. Additionally, the College Basketball Experience, which includes the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame will be connected to and located directly north of Sprint Center.

Sprint Center hosted the 2008 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, and in addition will host the first and second rounds of the 2009 NCAA Men’s Tournament and the regional rounds of the 2010 NCAA Women’s Tournament.

Kansas City has also entered into discussions with the NHL and the NBA regarding possible expansion or relocation of a professional hockey and/or basketball franchise for the arena.

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Latest Yankees News

Yankee Stadium is the home ballpark for the New York Yankees. It replaced the previous Yankee Stadium, built in 1923. The new ballpark was constructed across the street, northwest of the 1923 Yankee Stadium, on the former site of Macombs Dam Park in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The first game at the new Yankee Stadium was played on April 3, 2009, when the Yankees hosted one of two exhibition games against the Chicago Cubs. The first regular-season game was played on April 16, 2009 when the Yankees hosted the Cleveland Indians.

Although the stadium began construction in August 2006, the project of building a new stadium for the Yankees is one that has spanned many years and faced many controversies. Financing for the stadium has been a very divisive issue, with New York City citizens criticizing the city’s decision to use funds to build the sports venue, instead of using it for other pressing issues. The projected total cost of the stadium is $1.5 billion, making it the second most expensive stadium in the world after Wembley Stadium.

	Capacity		53,000
	Opened		April 2009
	Owner		New York Yankees
	Architect		HOK Sport

The new stadium is served by the same station complex as the current stadium: 161st Street–Yankee Stadium of the New York City Subway. Metro-North Railroad has constructed a new commuter rail station to serve the stadium; the station will routinely see Hudson Line train service, but on game days, Harlem Line and New Haven Line trains will also platform there, as well as shuttle trains from Grand Central Terminal. The stadium will also be served by multiple bus lines and have ferry service. The Yankee Stadium-153rd Street Station will open to customer traffic on May 23, 2009.

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Latest Minnesota Twins News

Target Field is the future ballpark for the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It will be the franchise’s sixth ballpark (or fifth, depending on how one counts the Washington, D.C. ballparks) and third in Minnesota, replacing their current ballpark, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. It is the first built specifically for the Twins, as Metropolitan Stadium was built to attract a Major League team, while the Metrodome was built as a football stadium for the Minnesota Vikings.

The stadium will be a 40,000 seat ballpark in the Warehouse District north of Downtown Minneapolis between 5th and 7th Streets, near the Target Center. The architect is HOK Sports with Bruce Miller as principal lead. The firm is responsible for other stadiums such as Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and AT&T Park in San Francisco. Target Field will bear resemblance to these projects. The Twins have opted for a “neutral” park which favors neither hitters nor pitchers; the current Metrodome with its white teflon ceiling is often said to be a “hitter’s park”, favoring the offense. Fan amenities are anticipated to be designed after those of the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the last major sports venue built in the area, which opened in 2000. Although earlier proposals called for the park to be built with a retractable roof, the current version of the park has neither a roof nor provisions to install one.

Current estimates put the stadium cost at $390 million, while infrastructure and financing costs would bring the total to $522 million. Work on the site began on May 21, 2007, with the official groundbreaking for the stadium taking place August 30, 2007, delayed from the original date of August 2 due to the I-35W Bridge Collapse. The first concrete slab was poured on December 17, 2007. The Twins have targeted 2014 as a year to host the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

	Capacity		42,000
	Opened		2010 (scheduled)
	Owner		Hennepin County
	Cost		$522 million USD
	Architect		HOK Sport

HOK Sport, the lead architectural design firm, tried to avoid creating a replica of the old-style brick Camden Yards or modern urban design of the new Nationals Park (both also designed by HOK Sport). Instead, the design for the new Twins Stadium employs local limestone, Minnesota fir trees outside the outfield, heated viewing areas and a heated field. The stadium does not have a roof, rather a canopy. The stadium will be adjacent to the Minneapolis Intermodal Station on the Hiawatha Line light rail system with the Minneapolis terminus of the Northstar Commuter Rail line leading from the northwest.

The approved design does not include a retractable roof, nor provisions for one in the future, though it was considered initially. A retractable roof was cited to add $100 million to the total budget and none of the parties (Twins, Hennepin County or the State) were willing to pay for that cost. Much like other northern cities with outdoor professional baseball (i.e. Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Cleveland), the weather in Minneapolis during a 162-game baseball season and playoffs can vary from early-spring snow to rain and hot, humid weather. The Metrodome is climate-controlled, and has protected the baseball schedule during the entire time that it has been the venue for the Minnesota Twins. However, many Twins fans and baseball purists argue that this same sterile, climate-controlled environment creates a less-than-desirable atmosphere for watching baseball. The financial impact of adding a retractable roof is the other main reason that a roof will not be included in the new ballpark, and probably the decisive factor. The architect is also testing the feasibility of heated seats.

The small size of the ballpark (about one million square feet) has been criticized. The site is about the same size as that of Fenway Park, though it will have roughly 3,200 more seats.[citation needed] There is also logistical concern for the estimated 5,000 people that will arrive every game via the Hiawatha Line LRT, because rather than unloading onto a broad plaza like that at the Metrodome, passengers will arrive and leave the ballpark in a space about 23 feet (7.0 m) wide, roughly the width of a double garage. An 8-foot (2.4 m) high wall along the light-rail line will keep pedestrians from crossing North 5th Street near the ballpark. Additional traffic concerns come from the intermodal station with the Northstar Commuter Rail and the re-routing of the bicycle-pedestrian Cedar Lake Trail.

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Latest New York Mets News

Citi Field is a stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the New York City borough of Queens. Newly constructed in 2009, it is the home baseball park for Major League Baseball’s New York Mets. Citi Field was built as a replacement for the adjacent Shea Stadium, which was itself constructed in 1964 adjacent to the site of the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. Citi Field was designed by HOK Sport, and is currently named after Citigroup, a financial services company based in New York City. The $850 million baseball stadium is being funded by the sale of New York City municipal bonds which are to be repaid by the Mets plus interest. The payments will offset property taxes for the lifetime of the park.

The first game at the stadium took place on March 29, 2009, with a college baseball game between St. John’s Red Storm and the Georgetown Hoyas. The Mets played their first two games at the stadium on April 3 and April 4, 2009 against the Boston Red Sox as charity exhibition games. The first regular season home game is scheduled for April 13, 2009, against the San Diego Padres. The Mets are bidding to host the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field, which would bring the game to the Mets’ home field for only the second time; the first was at Shea in its 1964 inaugural season.

	Capacity		45,000
	Opened		2009 (planned)
	Owner		City of New York
	Cost		$610 million
	Architect		HOK Sport

Citi Field is located in the borough of Queens, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Corona, which lies to its west, and Willets Point and Flushing to the east. Flushing Bay is to the north, and the rest of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park is to the south. Because all ZIP Codes beginning with 113 belong to the Flushing post office, corresponding to the former Town of Flushing before Queens was annexed by the City of New York, and because of its location in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, its location is frequently referred to as Flushing.

Citi Field is reachable via mass transit systems such as the New York City Subway using the 7 train at the Willets Point-Shea Stadium station, and the Long Island Rail Road at the Shea Stadium station, in addition to several major thoroughfares, including the Grand Central Parkway, the Long Island Expressway, the Van Wyck Expressway, Roosevelt Avenue and Northern Boulevard.

Citi Field is adjacent to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the annual US Open grand-slam tennis tournament is held.

Since the construction of Citi Field began, satellite parking lots in Flushing Meadow Park (access from College Point Blvd) have been opened.

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Latest Washington Nationals News

Nationals Park is the current ballpark for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. It is the first LEED-certified green stadium in the United States. The facility was opened in time for the 2008 baseball season-opening game (in North America) against the Atlanta Braves on March 30, 2008, and previously hosted collegiate baseball games. It is located along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard/Near Southeast neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and replaced RFK Stadium as the Nationals’ home ballpark.

The ballpark, designed by HOK Sport and Devrouax & Purnell Architects and Planners, seats 41,888 fans and cost $611 million to build. It sits across the river from the site of D.C. United’s proposed soccer-specific stadium at Poplar Point. The Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol building are visible from certain areas of the stadium.

The park’s name echoes the original name of the old Washington Senators ballpark, National Park, which was renamed Griffith Stadium when it was rebuilt.

	Capacity		41,222
	Opened		March 30, 2008
	Owner		D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission
	Cost		$611million USD
	Architect		HOK Sport

Nationals Park is located just one block south of M Street, SE, a main artery through Southeast and Southwest Washington, D.C. The ballpark is accessible from I-395 via the Southwest Freeway, and from I-295 via the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which carries South Capitol Street across the Anacostia River. The Douglass Bridge was renovated so that South Capitol Street could continue at ground level past the stadium (it was previously 15 feet (4.6 m) above ground level).

The ballpark is also accessible via the Navy Yard station on the Green Line of the Washington Metro. Located a block and a half from the ballpark’s gate in left-center field, the station is heavily used by fans on game day. Prior to the ballpark’s opening, the Navy Yard station’s ballpark entrance and farecard mezzanine underwent a major expansion, along with the addition of an extra escalator and elevator to handle the crowds.

The Nationals run a shuttle service from parking lots at RFK Stadium on game day, given that parking in the immediate vicinity is highly limited. Several Metrobus routes service the park, and various other transit options have been proposed including a potential water taxi service from Virginia.

Cyclists are encouraged to ride to the stadium and are offered bicycle parking. Garage C, located next to the ticket windows along First Street, houses a free bike valet service where fans are invited to store their bikes for the duration of the game.

History

Financing for the stadium was expected to be provided by a banking syndicate led by Deutsche Bank. However, finalization of the financing deal stalled due to complex negotiations among the city government, MLB as owner of the team, and the bank. The bank requested a letter of credit or comparable financial guarantee against stadium rent to cover risks such as poor attendance or terrorism. The requested guarantee was $24 million, with the city requesting that MLB provide the guarantee. The financing situation was since solved and construction began in May 2006.

The site of Nationals Park was chosen by Mayor Anthony Williams as the most viable of four possibilities for a ballpark. The ballpark’s design was released to the public at a press conference on March 14, 2006. Ground breaking was in early 2006. With an ambitious construction schedule of fewer than two years to complete the stadium, a design-build approach was selected to allow the architects and builders to work in concert with one another. Ronnie Strompf, the project superintendent, coordinated the efforts of numerous subcontractors on a daily basis.

The ballpark has 41,000 seats and features 66 suites, all around the infield. Other amenities include the “Oval Office bar”. Team President Stan Kasten also said that the team might sell the naming rights to the levels of the luxury suites, which bear the names of presidents Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. While the city agreed to spend up to $611 million, Kasten has stated that the principal owners, the Lerner family, spent tens of millions of dollars more on “jazzing up the park”. The park has an out-of-town scoreboard, which is 102 feet (31 m) long, installed in the right field wall. The main scoreboard, at 101 feet (31 m) long and 47 feet (14 m) high, is more than 5 times bigger than the one at RFK Stadium.

On March 13, 2007, Kasten announced that not only was the Nationals new ballpark on schedule to be ready by Opening Day 2008, but that there would be a grove of cherry blossoms located just beyond the left field bleachers. Kasten stated that the cherry blossoms will provide a look that Americans associate with the nation’s capital. The Nationals also have plans to erect three statues in the ballpark, honoring Walter Johnson of the original Washington Senators, Frank Howard of the expansion Senators, and Josh Gibson of the Negro League Homestead Grays, which played many of its games in Washington.[

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Houchens Industries – L.T. Smith Stadium is a 17,500-seat multi-purpose venue in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It is home to the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers football team. The facility is currently being expanded to at least 22,000 seats in preparation for the Hilltoppers’ impending move to the highest level of NCAA football competition, Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A. This move will be complete in 2009.

When the stadium was originally built in 1968 it originally seated 19,250 fans. A 1989 renovation reduced the seating capacity to its current capacity. Lights were installed in 1987 and the current Astroplay playing surface was installed in 2002.

Smith Stadium has been the site of marching band competitions, high school football games, monster truck rallies, the university’s graduation ceremonies and, since 1988, concerts. The stadium could seat up to 25,000 for a typical concert, and the stadium’s expansion is expected to increase the stadium’s concert capacity to 30,000.

On July 19, 2007, WKU reported that Houchens Industries, a long-time corporate supporter of WKU, made a $5 million commitment to enhance an expansion and renovation project for the school’s football stadium. In honor of the gift, WKU will add Houchens Industries to the name of L. T. Smith Stadium. Today, the stadium is now titled as Houchens Industries-L. T. Smith Stadium.

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Bright House Networks Stadium is a 45,301-seat stadium in Orlando, Florida. Located in the Wayne Densch Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Central Florida, it is primarily used for college football, and is the home of the UCF Knights football team. It is the first new on-campus stadium in NCAA Division I FBS to open in the 21st century. The Knights moved here from their previous facility, the Citrus Bowl, near downtown Orlando. Construction of the new stadium was briefly delayed due to the concerns of local residents regarding potentially falling property values and noise levels from the stadium.

	Capacity		45,301
	Opened		September 15, 2007
	Owner		UCF
	Operator		UCF
	Surface		Grass
	Construction cost		$54 million

Initially projected to have a cost of $40 to $45 million, the most recent cost estimations run as high as $55 million. It has been designed for a planned expansion to 65,000 seats. The stadium was originally built without water fountains as the building code used when the stadium was approved did not require water fountains. However, during the opening game, they ran out of water at half time, and 18 people were hospitalized for heat exhaustion during the game. In order to correct the issue, UCF provided a free bottle of water to everyone at the next game, and immediately began work to install at least fifty water fountains throughout the stadium, in order to comply with the latest building code requirement.

On August 8, 2006, UCF announced a fifteen-year, $15 million stadium naming rights to cable company Bright House Networks.

On May 9, 2006, it was announced that the 2007 Texas Longhorns would be the first opponent for the 2007 UCF Knights in the new stadium. The game, which was the first of three scheduled meetings between the schools, was held September 15, 2007, and televised nationally on ESPN2 at 3:30 pm EDT (1930 UTC). A sellout crowd of 45,622 saw the Knights put a scare into the Longhorns before falling 35-32.

Although the Knights lost their first on-campus home game, they finished the remainder of the season undefeated in the stadium, including the Conference USA home opener against Memphis Tigers, 56-20, on September 22. Bright House Networks Stadium was the host of the 2007 C-USA Championship, which was the UCF Knights’ second time hosting it since the inaugural game in 2005 at the Citrus Bowl.

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Romney Stadium is an outdoor American football field on the campus of Utah State University in Logan, Utah. It is the home field of the Utah State Aggies of the Western Athletic Conference. It opened in 1968 and currently has a seating capacity of 30,257. The SprinTurf playing field runs in the traditional north-south configuration, and sits at an elevation of 4710 feet (1435 m) above sea level.

	Capacity		30,257
	Opened		September 14, 1968
	Owner		Utah State University
	Operator		Utah State University
	Surface		SprinTurf

Named for E.L. “Dick” Romney, Utah State’s all-time winningest football coach and former athletics director, Romney Stadium was officially dedicated on Sept. 27, 1969. The first game in Romney Stadium history came a season earlier in 1968, when Utah State defeated New Mexico State, 28-12 on September 14th.

There has been one major stadium addition since its opening. Thanks to a massive volunteer effort in 1980, 10,000 seats were added to the southern bowl which brought the capacity of the stadium to 30,257. Prior to the 1997 season, approximately 4,000 chairback seats replaced wooden bleachers on the west side of the stadium.

Ahead of the 1999 season, new scoreboards were added at each end of the stadium and additional bleacher seats were installed as well. New aluminum bleachers replaced wooden bleachers on the lower sections of the east side of the stadium in 2001. In 2003 that project expanded to the upper sections.

In the summer of 2004, after 46 seasons, the bent bluegrass field was replaced with a state-of-the-art synthetic turf by SprinTurf, similar to FieldTurf.

The stadium was designed specifically for football with all seats, until the 1980 expansion, located between the 15-yard lines and all directed toward the 50-yard line. The first row of seats on the east, west and south sides are elevated eight-feet above the playing field and within 30 feet of the sidelines.

The glass-enclosed press box, located on the stadium’s west side, was renovated in 1997 and features closed-circuit television monitors for replays. The press box can comfortably accommodate 40 writers with facilities for radio and TV broadcasters.

The stadium was financed by a student body which believed in athletics to the extent of underwriting a special bonding assessment for both Romney Stadium and the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, which serves as home for Utah State’s basketball, gymnastics and volleyball teams. The continuing growth of Utah State’s campus prompted University planners to relocate the original Romney Stadium, which was built in 1927 on the grounds where the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building now stands. That facility was dedicated on Oct. 8, 1927, in recognition of Coach Romney’s lasting contributions to Utah State football. That structure served as Utah State’s home for 41 seasons (1927-67). Utah State played its final game in the old complex on November 11, 1967, as the Aggies defeated Montana, 20-14.

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The ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center is a multi-purpose indoor athletic stadium on the campus of the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho. It is the home of the Idaho Vandals of the Western Athletic Conference and is used for intercollegiate competition in four sports: football, basketball, tennis, and indoor track & field.

	Capacity		16,000 (football), 7,000 (basketball)
	Opened		1975
	Owner		University of Idaho
	Operator		University of Idaho
	Surface		RealGrass Pro

More commonly known as the Kibbie Dome, the venue with a wooden barrel-arched roof opened in September 1975, enclosing an outdoor concrete football stadium built four years earlier on the site of the demolished Neale Stadium, seen in this early 1950s photo. With just 16,000 permanent seats, it is currently the smallest home stadium for football in Division I-A. Since February 2001, the Kibbie Dome has been reconfigured for basketball games and is referred to as the Cowan Spectrum, seating 7,000. The elevation of the playing surface is 2610 feet (795 m) above sea level.

Construction

The stadium was built in stages and took several years to complete. Originally, the new football stadium was to be outdoors and seat over 23,000 spectators, with an adjacent 10,000 seat indoor arena for basketball. The PCAA conference had been launched in 1969 and Idaho was attempting to join, but political wrangling in the state legislature and subsequent budget cuts caused a change in the scope of the stadium project. This ensured that Idaho could not make the move to the PCAA; the Vandals would have to remain in the Big Sky Conference with the other state schools, Idaho State and new member Boise State.

The revised plan was for a smaller capacity football stadium, to be enclosed to allow use as a basketball arena (and indoor track and tennis as well). This multi-purpose concept had been recently used at Idaho State in Pocatello, where the Minidome had opened in 1970.

Construction on the concrete grandstands started in February 1971, after a fire destroyed the previously condemned wooden Neale Stadium in November 1969. The stadium, which opened in 1936, had been condemned the summer before the 1969 season, and the Vandal football team played its limited home schedule for the next two seasons at WSU’s Rogers Field in Pullman.

After a fire significantly destroyed that stadium’s south grandstand in April 1970, WSU played its 1970 home games in Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium, but the Vandals remained at Rogers in Pullman for four “home” games. The Vandals’ game with WSU that September 19th in Spokane was dubbed the “Displaced Bowl.” A lopsided 44-16 win for the Cougars, it was WSU’s only victory in a stretch of 22 games.

Back in Moscow, the “New Idaho Stadium” was ready by the fifth game 1971 football season, a 40-3 victory over Idaho State on October 9th. The Vandals went 8-3 in 1971, which included a school-record eight game winning streak, and won the Big Sky title. For its first four seasons (1971-74), the “new Idaho Stadium” was outdoors. In the summer of 1972, a Tartan Turf field with a roll-up mechanism was installed. The arched roof and vertical end walls were completed in time for the 1975 football season’s home opener on September 27th, unfortunately a 14-29 loss to Idaho State.

The enclosed stadium was renamed that year for William H. Kibbie, a construction executive from Salt Lake City and a primary benefactor of the project; he contributed $300,000 to initiate the funding drive.

Bill Kibbie (1918-88), originally of Bellevue, Idaho, was a UI student for less than a month in 1936 before he had to leave the university, due to family hardship. He entered the construction business, and after service as a B-24 pilot in World War II, was very successful as the head of a major contracting company in Utah. The acronym “ASUI” is for the “Associated Students of the University of Idaho,” the student government.

When the university announced it would enclose its football stadium, the fledgling Trus-Joist Company of Boise bid on and got the project. While steel and aluminum were the products of the day for domes and large unsupported buildings, Trus-Joist saw the UI stadium as a chance to demonstrate the strength, durability, and economy of their engineered wood products. From the final design to the end of construction, the enclosure project took just 10 months and $1 million to complete. In 1976, the Kibbie Dome roof won the “Structural Engineering Achievement Award” from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Trus-Joist was acquired by Weyerhaeuser in 1999.

The Kibbie Dome’s roof spans 400 feet (122 m) from sideline-to-sideline, and its maximum height is 150 feet (45 m) above the hashmarks. (Holt Arena, on the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello, has an opposite geometry: its arched roof spans the length of the football field, rather than its width, resulting in a very low roof at the end lines and goal posts.)

Soon after completion, problems arose with the roof’s exterior. The 4.5 acre (1.8 hectare) outer surface was applied as a sprayed foam, and was found to be unsuitable for the extended annual temperature range of northern Idaho. The significant expansion and contraction caused fractures; leaks were occurring and wood rot was a potential problem by 1980. After an extended period of finger-pointing and threatened legal action, an out-of-court settlement was reached. A new superstructure with a composite roof was built over the original. Completed in the summer of 1982, the second roof shielded the first and solved the problem.

Football

The Kibbie Dome officially seats just 16,000 for football, making it the smallest venue in Division I-A, although a record crowd of 17,600 was recorded for a game with Boise State in November 1989, during the school’s I-AA Big Sky era. The football field runs an unorthodox east-west, with the press box on the south side.

For two and a half seasons, 1999-2001, the Vandals used Martin Stadium as its home field, as Idaho transitioned from Division I-AA to I-A. When Dennis Erickson returned as head football coach in 2006, there was talk of adding a second deck to the stadium to increase the football seating to 25,000, and building a new basketball arena. In February 2007, the state board of education appropriated funds to study expansion possibilities. On December 6th, the board approved funding to begin design work for $52 million in improvements, including an expansion to 20,000 seats, lowering the elevation of the playing field, and other various safety and spectator improvements.

When not used for football, the former astroturf football field was rolled up in about an hour to reveal 93,000 square feet (2.13 acres, 0.86 hectares) of polyurethane tartan surface which is used for indoor tennis and track & field. The five-lane track is 290 meters (317 yds) in length, and 9 tennis courts are lined on its infield. Basketball and volleyball courts are also lined on the tartan infield. The astroturf was spooled onto a large field-width reel at the base of the west wall.

In 1990, the original synthetic turf (Tartan Turf) of 1972 was replaced after 18 seasons. In the summer of 2007, the Kibbie Dome’s astroturf was replaced with RealGrass Pro, similar to Field Turf, a next-generation infilled synthethic turf. Unlike the carpet-like astroturf, the infilled synthetic turf is not easily rolled up in a continuous reel, and must be removed in sections. The turf sections are five yards in width, running from sideline to sideline, attached to each other with velcro. Other stadiums with RealGrass Pro include the Dallas Cowboys’ Texas Stadium and the Alamodome in San Antonio.

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Tampa Stadium (known as Houlihan’s Stadium from 1996 to 1998, nicknamed The Big Sombrero) was a sports venue located at 4201 North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa, Florida, USA. The stadium is most closely associated with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers National Football League franchise, which played all of their home games in the stadium from 1976 through 1997.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies were the stadium’s first professional tenant. The Rowdies won their only outdoor championship during the team’s first season in 1975. The Rowdies used the stadium as their home field until the North American Soccer League disbanded in 1984.

Between 1983 and 1985, the Tampa Bay Bandits, one of the twelve original USFL franchises, were the stadium’s third professional tenant. The Bandits enjoyed strong ticket sales and fan support, and were one of the few USFL teams to stay in their original city and stadium for the league’s three seasons.

Major League Soccer placed one of its original teams in Tampa in 1996. The Tampa Bay Mutiny were the stadium’s fourth and final professional tenant. The Mutiny used the stadium as their home field for their first three seasons, and moved to Raymond James Stadium in 1999.

The University of South Florida Bulls football team played its initial season at the stadium in 1997, becoming the stadium’s second and final collegiate tenant. The Bulls played the final football game at the stadium on September 12, 1998, defeating Valparaiso 51-0 before moving to Raymond James Stadium for their next home game on October 3, 1998.

On June 3, 1981, the NFL awarded Tampa Stadium its first Super Bowl, which would be held in January 1984. During the balloting, Tampa beat Dallas, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans and Pasadena.

On May 20, 1987, the NFL awarded Tampa Stadium its second Super Bowl, which would be held in January 1991. During the balloting, Tampa beat Anaheim, Los Angeles, Miami and San Diego.

Between 1977 and 1979, the Can-Am Bowl was played in the stadium. From 1986 to 1998, the Outback Bowl (formerly the Hall of Fame Bowl) was held there for college football. In January 1999, this game was relocated to Raymond James Stadium.

The stadium was the venue of two memorable concerts by English rock band Led Zeppelin. On May 5, 1973 the band attracted 56,800 people, which at the time represented the largest audience for a single artist performance in history, breaking the record set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965. On June 3, 1977 the band returned to the venue but the concert was cut short due to a large thunderstorm. An audience riot followed resulting in several arrests and injuries, with police ultimately using tear gas to break up the crowd.

Upon buying the Buccaneers in 1995, the Glazer family suggested that they might move the franchise to another city unless a new stadium was provided by the community. To accommodate their demands, Raymond James Stadium was built just south of Tampa Stadium in 1997-98. In early 1999, the older stadium was demolished. The land was cleared and converted into a parking lot.

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Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium located in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1926 to 1980. Officially known as the Third Tulane Stadium, it replaced the “Second Tulane Stadium” where the Telephone Exchange Building is now located . It was bounded by Willow and Calhoun Streets, Audubon Boulevard, and North Claiborne Avenue.

The stadium was opened in 1926 with a seating capacity of roughly 35,000. Tulane Stadium was built on Tulane University’s campus (before 1871, Tulane’s campus was Paul Foucher’s Plantation, where Foucher’s father-in-law, Etienne de Bore, had first granulated sugar from cane syrup).

The institution of the annual Sugar Bowl game

In 1935, the first Sugar Bowl was played in Tulane Stadium. The term “Sugar Bowl” had been coined by Fred Digby, sports editor of the New Orleans Item, who had been pushing for an annual New Year’s Day football game since 1927.

Since the institution of the annual Sugar Bowl game, Tulane Stadium itself was often informally referred to as “the Sugar Bowl”. It was also billed as “The Queen of Southern Stadiums”. It was in a portion of Tulane University’s main campus in Uptown New Orleans fronting Willow Street, with parking stretching to Claiborne Avenue. The original 1926 structure was mostly of brick and concrete. The first Sugar Bowl game was played on January 1, 1935 (Tulane vs Temple University).

Tulane Stadium’s final game

The last game played in the stadium was a game between New Orleans Catholic League rivals De La Salle High School, located less than two miles from the Tulane campus, and Archbishop Rummel High on November 1,1979. The last point scored in Tulane Stadium History was by Rummel High place kicker Gary Boudreaux.

Demolition

On November 2, 1979, Tulane President Sheldon Hackney announced that the stadium would be demolished. The demolition started on November 18, 1979 and ended in 1980. The site is currently home to the Aron and Willow student housing complexes, the Diboll parking structure, the Reily Student Fitness Center and Brown Quad, a Fieldturf quad that roughly occupies the site of the football field.

Tulane Stadium was the first stadium to be demolished which hosted a Super Bowl. The second was Tampa Stadium, which was razed in 1999 when Raymond James Stadium was completed.

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Latest New York Jets News

Latest New York Giants News

New Meadowlands Stadium is a football stadium currently under construction in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It will replace Giants Stadium in the parking lot of the current structure at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. As with the current stadium, both the New York Giants and New York Jets will play their home games there. However, unlike Giants Stadium, the new stadium will be a 50/50 partnership between both NFL teams. The stadium will be administered by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which also operates the current stadium (and owned it until selling it to the Giants as part of the stadium plan).

	Capacity		82,500
	Opened		2010 (scheduled)
	Owner		New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority
	Architect		Skanska AB, 360 Architecture

The new stadium will have seating for 82,500 fans, including 10,000 club seats and approximately 200 luxury suites. It will be the second-largest stadium in the NFL, after FedExField outside Washington D.C., currently the largest stadium in the league with a capacity of 91,704. However, the New Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas, Texas, which plans to have a capacity of 80,000, is planned to be expandable to 100,000 with additional end zone seating.

Design

The new stadium the Jets and the Giants are scheduled to occupy in 2010 will be distinguished by an outer skin of aluminum louvers and by interior lighting that will switch colors depending on which team is playing at home – a technique originated at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

There will be numerous tailgating zones, and myriad options to buy food and merchandise in the plaza that will ring the stadium.

The changing colors — blue for the Giants, green for the Jets — reflect each team’s desire to individualize the look of the 82,500-seat stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. The teams’ current home, Giants Stadium, opened in 1976, but the Jets have long felt like a second-class tenant there since arriving in 1984. The louvers in the new stadium, which are arranged in various densities, may also reflect the teams’ colors.

According to renderings of the Jets-Giants stadium obtained by The New York Times, giant red pylons at the north and east entrances will display videos of each team, depending on which one is playing.

A signature feature of the stadium — which will be built in the shape of a rounded rectangle — will be the massive Great Wall that will be partly visible through the louvers at the main entrance.

The wall will be 400 feet long and 40 feet high, showing panels of images that will rotate between photographic murals of the Jets and Giants on game days and different pictures for concerts and other events.

Inside, four 40-by-130-foot scoreboards will hang from each corner of the upper deck.

The sight lines will be similar to those at Giants Stadium, which seats a little over 80,000, but in some cases seats will be farther away because the new facility will have more than double the square footage. The stadium complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it will have four restaurants, nearly double the current 117 luxury suites, and 9,200 club seats, two club lounges, wider concourses and at least one hall of fame. The Giants team offices will be located in the stadium, as they have been in Giants Stadium.

Unlike a number of other new NFL venues such as the new Cowboys Stadium, University of Phoenix Stadium and Reliant Stadium, the new Meadowlands stadium will not have a roof. Proposals to include a roof failed due to a dispute over funding. Therefore, it is unlikely the Super Bowl could be held in this venue due to northern New Jersey’s winter climate and indoor events such as the Final Four will not be held at the facility, which runs counter to the original aspirations for a new stadium in northern New Jersey.

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Latest Dallas Cowboys News

Dallas Cowboys New Stadium is the working title of a new retractable-roof stadium being built in Arlington, Texas, for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. It will replace the Texas Stadium, which opened in 1971, as the Cowboys’ home. It is scheduled to open before the 2009 NFL season and will accommodate 80,000, with the possibility for expansion to accommodate 100,000.

	Capacity		80,000
	Opened		2009 (scheduled)
	Owner		Jerry Jones
	Cost		$1billion
	Architect		HKS, Inc.

The New Cowboys Stadium was designed by the Dallas-based architectural firm HKS. Besides the Cowboys, the new stadium will be used by college football teams and other organizations for other sporting and non-sporting events. On March 10, 2008, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, joined by officials and coaches from Texas A&M University and the University of Arkansas (Jones’ alma mater), announced that the two schools would renew their rivalry with annual games at the stadium, beginning October 3, 2009. In addition, the AT&T Cotton Bowl will move its annual game to the stadium once it opens.

Originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadium’s current construction cost is in excess of $1 billion, which would make it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city’s sales tax by one-half of a percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington will provide $325 million in funding, and Jones will cover any cost overruns. Also, the NFL will provide the Cowboys with an additional $150 million, as per their policy for giving teams a certain lump sum of money for stadium financing.There will be a separate section for the blind and deaf.

Although the stadium has yet to sell naming rights, many fans have taken to referring to the project as “Jerry World” in reference to Jerry Jones. There is also a petition by some fans to have the stadium named after longtime Cowboys coach Tom Landry.

A pair of nearly 300 ft (91 m)-tall arches will span the length of the stadium dome, anchored to the ground at each end. The new stadium will also include a retractable roof, glass doors allowing each end zone to be opened, and a center-hung video display board. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said the screen will be the largest high-definition television screen in the world. This system was implemented by mechanization consultants Uni-Systems. These Kinetic Architecture fundamentals will be employed in order to create a quick conversion of the facility to accommodate a variety of events. When the design was officially unveiled on December 12, 2006, it showed that, from inside the stadium, the roof will look very similar to the Texas Stadium roof, with its trademark hole. However, it can be covered by the retractable roof panel to protect against the elements.

A Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame is planned for the Hall of Fame level. The drawings also include a site for a large sculpture northeast of the stadium, close to Randol Mill Road.

Excavation work at the stadium site began in May 2006 near Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Until it opens, the Cowboys will continue to play in Texas Stadium.

This stadium will host Super Bowl XLV in 2011, beating out bids from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.[

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Latest Indianapolis Colts News

Lucas Oil Stadium, nicknamed “The Luke”, is a retractable roof sports stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The stadium celebrated its grand opening on August 14, 2008 and its ribbon-cutting ceremony August 16, 2008. It replaces the RCA Dome as the home field of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. In addition to the stadium, a new high-rise JW Marriott Indianapolis will be constructed as part of the major expansion of the Indiana Convention Center. It is scheduled to host Super Bowl XLVI in 2012.

	Capacity		63,000
	Opened		August 2008
	Owner		Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority
	Cost		$500million USD
	Architect		HKS, Inc.

HKS, Inc. is the architectural firm credited with the stadium’s design, with Walter P. Moore working as the Structural Engineer of Record. The stadium features a retractable roof and window wall, allowing the Colts to play outdoors. The elements of Kinetic Architecture will provide for quick conversion of the facility to accommodate a variety of events—allowing for increased use of the building and increased return on the investment.

On February 28, 2006, it was announced that Lucas Oil had purchased the naming rights for $120 million over 20 years. The facility had previously been referred to as Indiana Stadium.

Now that Lucas Oil Stadium has opened, work will gear up on expanding the current Indiana Convention Center (ICC). In order to expand the ICC, the Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority will demolish the RCA Dome and will proceed to finance, design, construct and own an expansion to the facility, which will be located on the current site of the dome. The Authority anticipates that the ICC expansion project will be complete by 2010. Once finished, it will also be leased to and operated by the Capital Improvement Board.

Features

Seating capacity for football games is 63,000; an increase of more than 5,000 over the RCA Dome. The stadium, when it will host a Super Bowl, can be expanded to a capacity of 70,000. The basketball configuration will exceed the 70,000 minimum seating capacity required to host the NCAA Final Four. Unlike most basketball contests played in dome facilities, the court at Lucas Oil Stadium will be placed in the center of the facility instead of one of the end zones.

The stadium contains two massive Daktronics high definition scoreboards, each one 97 feet (30 m) wide and 53 feet (16 m) tall, which are situated in the northwest and southeast corners of the stadium.

Mechanized retractable roof

Lucas Oil Stadium has a retractable roof designed by Uni-Systems that divides lengthwise into two retractable panels weighing 2.7 million pounds each, with each half sliding down the sloping roof of the stadium into the open position. The stadium roof is gabled, with the peak running north and south down the center of the field, paralleling the sidelines. A cable drum drive system drives the retractable roof panels up and down the sloped track. Rather than dragging the 32 1-1/2″ diameter galvanized cables across the fixed roof, this system’s patented design lays the roof cable down, and then picks it back up. In nine minutes, the roof panels will simultaneously move to the open position at the touch of a button. To guard the stadium’s interior from weather conditions the roof is designed with a large cap that will run the length of a sealed overlap between the parting roof panels. Just beneath the sealed overlap will be a large trough, finalizing the retractable roof’s layers of protection. This retractable roof is the first ever that divides lengthwise.

The Lucas Oil Stadium retractable roof system is operated by 32 cables 1-1/2” diameter galvanized right and left hand lay. They were manufactured specifically for this project by Wire Rope Corporation of America and furnished by The Tway Company Inc. located in Indianapolis. The lengths vary from 232’6” to 245’ and include a Johnson Wedge Socket installed on one end that terminates the cables at the roof peak 288’ above the stadium floor.

Moveable window wall

A large windowed gate at one end of the stadium allows additional light while closed and allow for a more open feel while open. It is the largest movable glass wall in the world. The transportable window wall is 244 feet (74 m) by 88 feet (27 m), and composed of six 88 ft (27 m) × 38 ft (12 m) glass-clad panels. Each panel rides on a steel rail while the wall opens and closes, and is supported by two hardened steel wheels. The window separates at the center, with three panels amassed on each side when in the open position. The six wall panels move simultaneously during opening and closing in only six minutes. Window seals were installed, fully shielding spectators from any weather conditions. When in the closed position, the perimeter of each wall panel is sealed with rain-tight, air-tight seals.

Cost

Groundbreaking for the stadium took place on September 20, 2005. The total cost of Lucas Oil Stadium was $720 million. The stadium is being financed with funds raised by the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis, with the Indianapolis Colts providing $100 million ($50 million of which will be given to the Colts by the City of Indianapolis for the early termination of their contract). Marion County has raised taxes for food and beverage sales, auto excise taxes, innkeeper’s taxes and admission taxes for its share of the costs. Meanwhile, a small increase in food and beverage taxes in the eight surrounding doughnut counties (with the exception of Morgan County) and the sale of Colts license plates completes the total.

In August 2006, a problem was discovered concerning operating costs of the new stadium. The city’s Capital Improvement Board estimates that the new stadium could cost an additional $10 million more a year to operate than the RCA Dome.

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Lucas Oil Stadium wikipedia entry
Colts official website
IndyStar forums Fansite

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Golfing Sponsors

Torrey Pines Golf Course is a municipal public golf course owned by the city of San Diego, California. It sits on the coastal cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the community of La Jolla south of Torrey Pines State Reserve. It has two famous golf courses, the North Course and the South Course. The South Course was designed by William F. Bell and redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001. It is now a par 72 course at 7,607 yards in length from the back tees.

Much like Bethpage Black on Long Island, Torrey Pines boasts a unique method to ensure continued public access to the course. On weekends, individuals arrive as early as 6 p.m. the prior night to get in line for the first come / first serve tee times that are given out from sunrise till the first reservations at 7:30 a.m..

Torrey Pines is the home of the PGA Tour Buick Invitational each year in January or February. It hosts the San Diego City Amateur Golf Championships every June, and the Junior World Championships every July. It hosted the US Open in 2008.

It is named after the Torrey Pine, a rare tree that grows in the wild only in parts of the coastline in San Diego County and on Santa Rosa Island.

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Torrey Pines website
US Open website
United States Golf Association website

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