The city of Manchester is home to the stadium of Old Trafford. But it isn’t the only high profile stadium of the city. Etihad Stadium also known as the City of Manchester Stadium is also a very well known sports facility of the city. The stadium is the home ground of the currently rising in fame professional football club of Manchester City.
The construction began in 1999 and ended in 2002 when the Etihad was opened officially. At that time the stadium was used as an athletics stadium and therefore was classified as an athletics stadium. After the Commonwealth Games of 2002 and facility was converted into a football stadium, which was officially opened on the 10th of August of 2003.
The stadium has an oval shape and is comprised of a total of four stands. The East Stand and the Colin Bell Stand also known as the West Stand are the largest stands. Both are comprised of three tiers and have sections known as executive boxes and seats which accommodate VIP personalities and the owners and executive staff of the club. The South Stand and North Stand are slightly smaller and comprise of two tiers – upper and lower. The currently capacity of the stadium is 47.405 seats but plans to increase it to 62.000 seats are in place. Note that the capacity of the stadium can be altered for different events such as concerts. During concerts the current capacity of Etihad Stadium can reach 60.000 people.
The record attendance during a football game (47.435 spectators) was achieved on the 13th of May, 2012 when Manchester City faced Queens Park Rangers in a match that would decide whether the club will win the English football championship for the first time in 44 years.
Since the opening of the Etihad Stadium, it has hosted a large number of major sports and entertainment events. In 2008 the stadium was the venue of the UEFA Cup Final, in which Russian team Zenit Saint Petersburg defeated by 2-0 the Scottish team of Rangers Football Club. In 2015 the stadium will host one of the matches from the Rugby World Cup.
The latest concert that was held at Etihad Stadium of One Direction which filled the stadium at a maximum. Until 2007 when the New Wembley Stadium was opened, Etihad was the largest concert facility in England.
You can easily say that Etihad Stadium is a must visit site in the city of Manchester. So when your relocation is done, make sure that you drop by and attend a match. You can drastically speed-up and facilitate your relocation if you use professional man and van services. Don’t worry about the scale of your move as nowadays man and van companies have the necessary tools to handle equally well both small and large scale projects.
If you decide to attend at a game or concert make sure that you book your ticket in advance as there are numerous people that want to attend these events.