Stadium "Emirates": history and description

Stadium "Emirates" ("Ashburton Grove") is the arena, where home matches are held by the English football club Arsenal. The structure was built as a replacement for the former Highbury arena.

Stadium "Emirates": address

The stadium is located at: Homsey Rd, London N7 7AJ, UK. The date of opening is July 22, 2006. Capacity - 60 360 spectators. The height is 42 meters. The cost of the project is 400 million euros. The owner is the club Arsenal (London). The size of the football field is 105x68 meters. The firm-architect is Populous.

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Currently, the stadium "Emirates" (capacity 60 thousand people) is the third largest arena (after Wembley and Old Trafford) in England. His second name ("Ashburton Grove"), he received as a result of the eponymous industrial building name, which was the place for the construction of a new arena. According to the terms of the erection, the object was to be built in 2003. Later, the construction timelines in connection with the next financial crisis that had gripped Europe were significantly shifted.

History

In the 90 years of the last century, the London club "Arsenal" showed impressive results in domestic and international competitions. Old stadium "Highbury", built in 1913, had a capacity of 38 thousand spectators. He was no longer able to accommodate everyone who wanted to watch the game of his favorite team. As a result, the club treasury could not be fully filled (due to the insufficient number of tickets sold), and the team itself began to lose revenue. In the beginning, the stadium was trying to expand at the expense of the nearby territory. But the city authorities did not approve of this idea. The case ended in small ships and the spoiled nerves of both sides.

As a result, the club management decided to build a new arena. By the summer of 2004, the construction of the bowl of the stadium was completed. In addition, two bridges for the movement of vehicles were put into operation. At the end of the summer of 2005, the roof was finished, and a month later, individual seats were installed. July 22, 2006, the stadium "Emirates" (photo in the article) was inaugurated.

The last match in the arena of "Highbury" took place on May 7, 2006. Later, an auction was held, where the sale of the stadium parts, football goal stands , corner flags, coaching table, etc. was held. The old armchairs were not sold. They went to waste, as they contained environmentally dirty materials.

Description of the stadium

Structurally the stadium "Emirates" consists of four stands. Each includes four tiers:

• The upper tier, designed for 26 600 people;
• The lower tier, which accommodates 24,400 spectators;
• Average (club) level, able to receive 7140 spectators;
• Level, equipped with beds for honorary guests (2220 people).

The upper and lower tiers are equipped with ordinary individual armchairs. The middle tier is a zone of increased comfort. This is the place where the fans of the club are. Above this level there are 150 boxes. They have a capacity of ten to fifteen people. The annual cost of a subscription of one lodge is about 70 thousand pounds.

Season ticket for viewing matches from the top and bottom tier costs 1000-1500 pounds. Fans who occupy seats in the middle level of the arena have the opportunity to acquire the right to attend fights for a period of one to four years. One place of this type will cost 3000 pounds per year.

Comfort of watching matches is provided by the roof of the building, which covers all spectator seats. Podtribunnye rooms are equipped with restaurants, shops, toilets, storage chambers. Under the roof of the stadium there are two placards, as well as watches, structurally similar to those that were on the "Highbury".

Since in English football a significant time of the fight takes place in the fight within the penalty areas of competing teams, then there is an intensive trampling of the lawn in these places. Stadium "Emirates" brilliantly coped with this problem. Here it is possible to replace the grass cover in these areas.

Arsenalization of the arena

In 2009, the stadium equipment program was developed and later implemented, in accordance with the spirit of Highbury. To maintain the club's former atmosphere, the same white chairs were installed, various creative and artistic means were used. The very facade of the arena was decorated with huge canvases depicting the 32 best Arsenal players who played in the team for different years. Among the most striking players who played for the club in recent years, were captured:

• Thierry Henry.
• Patrick Vieira.
• Dennis Bergkamp.
• Robert Pires.
• David Simen.

And of course, it was impossible to do without the drawing of the famous "arsenal" gun - the emblem of the club, first used in 1930 and restored in 2003.

Sponsor

Stadium "Emirates" has a name associated with a name that has a direct relationship to the main sponsor of the club, "Arsenal." They are the airline Emirates Airline. With it, in 2004, a fifteen-year agreement (contract) was signed in the amount of 100 million pounds sterling. Part of the transaction was covered by an advertising action (an image of the sponsor's name on the team's T-shirts). In 2012, a new agreement was signed, as a result, the name of the stadium will be the same until 2028. The airline itself undertakes to sponsor the club until 2019. It is important to note that since Emirates Airline is an unofficial sponsor of UEFA, during arena battles Arena is called Arsenal Stadium.

In conclusion, I want to say that since the transition of the Arsenal team to the new stadium, the competitive performance of the club has deteriorated noticeably. For almost 10 years the "Gunners" can not win the country's championship or take at least the second place. Mediocre results were also in European competition.