The evolution of football stadia in England

Prior to 1989, dwindling spectators, in part due to hooliganism, had taken it's toll on the prospect of a redevelopment of English stadia. It took a disaster to kick start the most prominent evolution in the history of English football stadia. Before the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, most stadia in England were comprised of a mix of standing and seating area's. Only a few top flight clubs, such as Nottingham Forest had invested in new all seat spectator stands (with corporate boxes). By and large, most top flight stadia remained the same as they were in 1966, when England hosted the World Cup. Perhaps the most advanced top flight stadia was Hillsborough, which featured the first full length cantilever stand.

The Taylor Report, which was conducted by Lord Taylor of Gosfort, covered the cause and aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster. The final version was released in 1990. The most prominent recommendation was the implementation of all seater football stadiums. Each football league would need to comply with the regulations at varying dates. The higher the league, the quicker they would need to comply. For the English Premier League, the season beginning in 1993 was the start date for all seater grounds. At a later date, some promoted clubs were exempted (Fulham), and given an extra year to redevelop a stand. An all seater stadium was originally an admission condition for the Premier League. Likewise, non league clubs promoted to the Championship were required to convert to all seat stadia in three years.

List of major developments for clubs which have played in the Premier League 1990-2009 (after the Taylor report)

Arsenal - Emirates Stadium, Holloway, London.

Capacity 60,355

Highbury, the North Bank was replaced with a new two tier stand in 1993. A unique cardboard picture was erected whilst construction took place. The clock end was also made all seater. By 2006 Arsenal moved into the Emirates Stadium, which provided 20,000 extra seats over Highbury.

Redevelopment of Highbury was hampered by residential build up around the stadium, and the listed status of the East Stand. The Emirates has produced one of the most profitable match day stadiums in the Premier League. Producing revenue in the region of three million pounds per match.

Aston Villa - Villa Park, Aston, Birmingham.

Capacity 42,593

Villa Park has remained one of the most impressive English stadiums, which has regularly hosted FA Cup semi finals. The ground has undergone considerable development since the Taylor Report, with all but one stand being rebuilt.

The North Stand (formerly the Witton End) was the only stand not rebuilt, but the lower tier was converted to seating in the early 90's. The Doug Ellis stand (formerly Witton Lane Stand) was the first to be built, closely followed by the Holte End. Bringing the capacity to 40,000. Only recently did the historic Trinity Road stand get knocked down and rebuilt. Expanding the stadia capacity again.

Birmingham City - St Andrews, Birmingham.

Capacity 30,016

Birmingham City have yo-yo'd between leagues. St Andrews is another ground to see considerable development. Three stands were completely rebuilt from 1994-1998. Only the main stand remains the same, but Birmingham do have permission to redevelop this stand, and increase the overall capacity to 36,000.

Blackburn Rovers - Ewood Park, Blackburn.

Capacity 31,367

Blackburn were one of the quickest clubs to redevelop their ground. They were fortunate to combine Jack Walker's millions, with promotion to the Premier League, at the moment all seater stadia were required. With Ewood Park featuring small standing area's on three sides, all three stands were demolished and rebuilt during a two year period 1993-95.

The Riverside Stand is the only side to remain untouched since 1988. Rumours suggest Blacburn may develop the stand to create a 40,000 seat stadium. But with Blackburn's average attendance remaining relatively small at 24,000, it may not make financial sense.

Bolton Wanderers - Reebok Stadium, Horwich, close to Bolton.

Capacity 27,879

Bolton are one of a number of clubs who relocated to a new stadium. Their previous home, Burnden Park, was severely dilapidated, and was hampered by having a supermarket built into one corner of the ground.

The Reebok Stadium was built for the 1997 season, and contained a capacity of 28,723. Reebok have been a long term sponsor of Bolton. The Reebok Stadium has one of the most unique and popular designs of any new stadium, unlike with some other new grounds, which tend to look very similar.

Bradford City - Valley Parade, Coral Windows Stadium, Bradford

Capacity 25,130

Known to fans as both Valley Parade and the Coral Windows Stadium. Bradford City held a position in the Premier League for a couple of seasons, and the then chairman set about an ambitious development project which saw the building of the Sunwin Stand and the Carlsberg Stand.

Burnley - Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley

Capacity 22,500

Turf Moor combines the old and the new. The James Hargreaves and The Jimmy McIlroy Stands are recent developments, but the The Bob Lord and The David Fishwick Stands date back to 1974 and 1969 respectively. Burnley are looking to add a tier to the Bob Lord stand to increase capacity to 28,000.

Charlton Athletic - The Valley, Floyd Road, Charlton, London

Capacity 27,100

The Valley has suffered a turbulent history in recent decades. It was once the largest league stadium in London. But due to dilapidation and ownership issues, Charlton Athletic were forced to play at Selhurst Park and the Boleyn Ground in the 1980's. In the past decade Charlton have moved back to the Valley and rebuilt all the stands anew. They have also build upon their new stands at the peak of their success in the Premier League.

Chelsea - Stamford Bridge, Fulham, London.

Capacity 42,449

Stamford Bridge is another stadium featuring extensive development of three stands. The East Stand has remained the same since the 1970's, and is still the largest of any current stand. The Matthew Harding Stand was the first of the other sides to be rebuilt.

The Shed End was next, oddly producing the smallest stand, but which contained a hotel behind the stand. The West stand was the final side to be developed. The lower tier was created and accessed a year or so before the upper tier was.

Chelsea would like to expand the capacity further, and there have been suggestions of moving to a new stadium. But the name, Chelsea FC, is tied to the Stamford Bridge pitch, and moving away from it would require a new name for the club.

Crystal Palace - Selhurst Park, South Norwood, London

Capacity 26,300

Selhurst Park has been the home to more than one club in the past. Both Charlton Athletic and Wimbledon have shared the ground with Crystal Palace. But it has always been owned and the primary home of Crystal Palace football club. The Holmesdale Stand is the only stand to rebuilt in recent decades, which is pictured above.

Derby County - Pride Park Stadium, Derby

Capacity 33,590

Derby County moved to their new home, Pride Park Stadium, in 1997. Their previous home, the Baseball Ground, had become dilapidated and a built up area around the stadium hampered any desire to redevelop the land. Although there had been a plan to increase the Baseball Ground's capacity to 26,000.

Pride Park Stadium is built upon a similar design to Middlesborough's Riverside Stadium, and is situated on an industrial estate near the city centre. It's also within eye sight of Derby's main railway station and is a fairly easy walk from the railway station.

Derby do have a longterm plan to increase the capacity of Pride Park to 44,000, but the plan is dependent on the club retaining a place in the Premier League.

Everton - Goodison Park, Liverpool.

Capacity 40,170

Goodison Park has remained one of the most traditional English top flight stadiums. Only one stand has been rebuilt, and the other three sides have only seen standing space converted to seating. Due to terraced housing surrounding the ground, major redevelopment is nearly impossible.

The main stand's commercial boxes are one of the few refurbishment's of Goodison in recent years. Everton have planned to move their stadium outside the city boundaries to Kirkby. But it appears they have run into problems financing the construction of this new stadium.

Fulham - Craven Cottage, Fulham, London.

Capacity 26,000

Fulham is one example of a club exempted from the all seater requirements for a year long period. When promoted to the top flight in 2001, Craven Cottage did contain standing space. Fulham have redeveloped stands behind each goal, and the river side stand, but their main stand is protected due to it's historical importance, likewise the cottage in the corner of the stadium.

Fulham have been making efforts to increase the stadium capacity to over 30,000, but due to the river Thames and closely built up residential housing around the stadium, this has posed plenty of problems.

Hull City - KC Stadium, Kingston upon Hull.

Capacity 25,404

Hull City moved from their previous home, Boothferry Park, to their new KC Stadium in 2002. Now that they have reached the Premier League they are planning to add an additional tier of seats to their East Stand.

Ipswich Town - Portman Road Stadium, Ipswich

Capacity 30,600

Portman Road is currently the largest stadium in East Anglia. Both stands between each goal were recently redeveloped to take the overall capacity from 22,000 to 30,600. In 2009, the North Stand has been renamed as the Sir Bobby Robson Stand.

Leeds United - Elland Road, Leeds

Capacity 40,200

Elland Road has hosted games for Euro 1966 and a few FA Cup semifinals, such as Everton vs Tottenham in the early 1990's. The main criticism of the ground as a host for FA Cup semifinals was it's lack of balance. The East Stand holds 17,000, nearly half it's capacity. It meant Everton fans were situated on three sides of the ground, which Spurs fans felt gave the team an advantage.

Apart from the East Stand, little has changed at Elland Road since the 1970's. Ends such as the Revie Stand were converted to seats but were otherwise untouched. Refurbishment's have taken place. But the John Charles Stand and Don Revie Stand will only be completely rebuilt (to 50,000 overall capacity) if Leeds are picked to host games for the prospective 2018 World Cup in England.

Liverpool - Anfield, Liverpool.

Capacity 45,362

Anfield has maintained much of it's original design, even though three sides of the ground have been recently redeveloped. The Main Stand was built in the 1970's and remains the same, but is still let down by featuring two posts hampering spectator viewing.

The Centenary Stand was the first of the other stands to be rebuilt. With an additional tier and corporate boxes added. The Spion Kop was the only stand to be completely rebuilt. The final development was to add a small extra tier to the Anfield Road Stand.

Due to significant residential build up around the ground, it's difficult to expand the capacity of Anfield further. Liverpool have been planning to move to an all new Stanley Park Stadium, containing 73,000 seats, but have run into problems funding the financials.

Manchester City - City of Manchester Stadium, Eastlands, Manchester.

Capacity 47,726

Manchester City had played at Maine Road for eighty years. They had only just rebuilt the kop of that stadium before deciding to move to the City of Manchester Stadium. The City of Manchester Stadium was built to host the Commonwealth Games in 2002, at a cost of £110 million.

The new owners of the club, the Abu Dhabi United Group, have announced developed blueprints to expand the stadium further, and develop the surrounding area with a five star hotel and training facilities for the club.

Manchester United - Old Trafford, Trafford, Greater Manchester.

Capacity 76,212

Old Trafford is currently the largest stadium in the English football league. Ever since the early 1990's, United have been adding extra capacity to the stadium. The first development was to rebuild the Stretford End from standing to seating capacity. This provided a total ground capacity of 45,000, the lowest in the club's recent history. With the club selling out every game, they soon added extra tiers to each side of the ground except one.

The last facelift was to fill in two corners of the top tier. The only stand to be totally left alone is the South Stand. Due to a railway line behind the stand, building an extra tier on this stand would prove to be extremely expensive, but, could possibly provide a capacity of 95,590.

Middlesbrough - Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough

Capacity 34,980

Middlesbrough moved to the Riverside Stadium in 1995. Their previous home was Ayresome Park, which is now a housing estate. The Riverside Stadium was the first new stadium built for a Premier League club. And has inspired other clubs such as Derby County, Leicester City and Southampham to build similar projects.

The Stadium was inexpensive to build, costing in the region of sixteen million pounds. It first began life with a capacity of 30,000, which was increased to 34,900 by filling in two corners of the stadium. Middlesbrough have permission to increase the capacity further if demand warrants it.

Newcastle United- St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne

Capacity 52,300

St James has undergone significant redevelopment since the early 1990's. Before that date the ground featured standing area's behind each goal, and the lower tiers on each side. Newcastle United were promoted for the second season of the new Premier League. The popularity of Kevin Keegans team exploded in the city and there simply was not enough enough tickets to satisfy the demand. Local cinema's began to show the games live and were packed to the rafters.

Newcastle quickly began to build new stands behind each goal, rising the capacity to 36,000. The problem was that this new capacity woefully fulfilled demand. Newcastle set about building a second tier behind two stands to raise the capacity to 52,300. The work was completed in July 2000 and cost in the region of 42,000.

The balance of stadium is somewhat uneven however, which has led Newcastle to submit plans to increase the capacity to 60,000 (plans submitted in 2007). The only problem is the proximity of the smaller stands (gallowgate end) to roads surrounding the stadium.

Norwich City - Carrow Road, Norwich

Capacity 26,030

Carrow Road borders the neighbouring River Wensum. The stadium has been progressively redeveloped since 1979. The first stand to be built was the Norwich & Peterborough Stand in 1979, followed by the Geoffrey Watling City Stand in 1986, The Barclay in 1992, The Jarrold Stand in 2004 and The Aviva Community Stand in 2005. Like with many former Premier League clubs,. Norwich City do plan to increase the size of their capacity if they manage to regain a position in the top flight.

Nottingham Forest - City Ground, Nottingham

Capacity 30,600

The City Ground is situated in one of the most picturesque locations of any English football stadiums. On the banks of the River Trent, it's within eye sight of both the Trent Bridge cricket ground and Meadow Lane football stadium.

The Brian Clough Stand was built in 1980, at the height of the club's European success. The next development process began in the early 1990's, with the Bridgford End and the Trent End being totally rebuilt. The City Ground hosted a selection of group games for Euro 96.

Following on from the success of hosting Euro96, Nottingham has begun a campaign to host games for the proposed 2018 World Cup. The one problem is that the City Ground's capacity needs to be 40,000. Therefore, the city has announced a plan to build a new stadium containing between 40,000-50,000.

Portsmouth - Fratton Park, Portsmouth

Capacity 20,288

Fratton Park featured the lowest capacity of any Premier League stadium during the 2007-08 season. Portsmouth have had plans to move to three proposed new stadiums, all containing in the region of 35,000 seats. All these plans look to have been shelved.

Presently it looks like the club's board plan to revert to their original plan, rotating their pitch 90 degrees and rebuilding Fratton Park to host 30,000 seats.

Queens Park Rangers - Loftus Road Stadium or Rangers Stadium, South Africa Road, London

Capacity 18,200

Apart from the addition of seating in the Loftus Road stand in 1994, little has changed at Loftus Road for a couple of decades. It is quite difficult to envision an increase in the capacity of the stadium, due to a tight build up housing around the stadium.

Reading - Madejski Stadium, Bennett Road, Reading

Capacity 24,160

Reading moved into their new home in 1998. The stadium is named after the club's chairman, John Madejski, who helped fund the development of the ground. The stadium is in close proximity to the M4 motorway and cost a total of around fifty million pounds to build. The London Irish rugby union team are scheduled to continue playing at the stadium until 2026. Work is in progress (2009) to expand the capacity of the stadium to 36,900.

Sheffield United - Bramall Lane, Sheffield

Capacity 32,600

Bramall Lane is well known as being the former home of both cricket and football matches. It regularly hosted Yorkshire cricket matches and even an Ashes test. The last time Yorkshire played at Bramall Lane was in 1973. Since then Sheffield United have regularly been renovating the ground as a sole football stadium.

The John Street stand was totally rebuilt in 1996. The Kop was in 1991. The South Stand and Bramall Lane Stand have been fitted with plastic seats in the intervening years. Three of the corners have also been filled in recently. The only corner remaining open is between the Kop and the South Stand.

With an excellent location near the city centre, the club has built a hotel into Westfield stand and are planning to increase the capacity to 44,000 if England win their bid as 2018 World Cup hosts.

Sheffield Wednesday - Hillsborough Stadium, Owlerton, Sheffield

Capacity 39,800

Hillsborough has always been one of the largest stadiums in England. It hosted games for the 1966 World Cup and Euro 1996. The North Stand was the first cantilever stand built in England. The only stands to be redeveloped since the start of the Premier League are the Kop, North-West Terrace and the South Stand.

The only change to the Kop and the North-West Terrace was the addition of seats. The South Stand was rebuilt. Certain parts of the South Stand structure remained, but the roof and a second tier were totally rebuilt. The roof was built with a distinctive V-shape on the half way line, featuring a clock and text just like with the original South Stand. The ticket office and souvenir shop were moved from the South Stand to the North Stand around 1994-1995.

Sheffield Wednesday announced redevelopment plans in 2009. The Kop and the West Stand will be redeveloped for a total stadium capacity of 50,000 by 2016. If England successful win the bid as hosts of the 2018 World Cup, they will battle their City rivals to host games in the city.

Southampton - The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium, Britannia Road, Southampton

Capacity 32,600

Southampton had always been hampered by the size of their previous home, the Dell, a cozy stadium holding in the region of 15,000. Sadly, as soon as they moved into their new stadium they were relegated from the Premier League, they had been a mainstay in the division for decades.

Stoke City - Britannia Stadium, Stoke

Capacity 28,384

Stoke moved from their Victoria Ground in 1997. Their new home was the Britannia Stadium (28,000). Many Stoke fans believed the old ground should have been rebuilt, due to it's excellent road connections and parking spaces. However, the Britannia Stadium has been rated as having the best atmosphere of any Premier League stadium during the 2008-2009 season, which was Stoke's first year in the league.

The Britannia has the quirk of having a corner with no construction, which features a gentle hill fans can stand on and view a portion of the game. It appears a hoarding has been placed in the corner to block this ability, circa season 2009-2010.

Sunderland - Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Capacity 49,000

Sunderland are another team which moved to an all new stadium instead of redeveloping their old home, Roker Park. The Stadium of Light opened in 1997, and was named after Benfica's famous stadium. The Stadium of Light was built with the possible expansion of the stadium to include 64,000 seats.

The current capacity is 49,000, any plans to increase the capacity have been put on hold. Possibly due to Sunderland not filling their current capacity for every fixture. Like with other clubs who moved away from their old homes, Sunderland felt Roker Park was incapable of being converted to a large all seater stadium.

Swindon Town - County Ground, County Road, Swindon

Capacity 15,720

The County Ground was briefly home to Premier League football in the early 1990's. The Don Rogers Stand was built in 1994, and the Arkell's Stand was expanded in 1992. Plans are afoot to build executive boxes above the Stratton Bank stand.

Tottenham Hotspur - White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London

Capacity 36,238

Tottenham have only rebuilt two of their stands (since the Taylor Report), one behind each goal. Providing a total capacity of 36,000, which represents a number too low for a club of Tottenham's size. The club have therefore decided to either expand White Hart Lane or build a new stadium.

Screenshots of a new development 'named the Northumberland Development Project' featuring a 60,000 seat stadium have been released to the press.

Watford - Vicarage Road, Watford

Capacity 19,900

Three sides of Vicarage Road have been redeveloped since 1986. The first stand to be built was The Rous Stand in 1986, followed by the Vicarage Road Stand in 1994 and The Rookery Stand in 1995. The Main Stand(s) are still rather dilapidated, with some parts deemed too unsafe to spectate from in 2004. Financial problems have restricted the club from rebuilding the Main Stand(s).

West Bromwich Albion - The Hawthorns, West Bromwich

Capacity 26,500

In order to meet the requirements of the Taylor Report, the Smethwick End and Birmingham Road End stands were totally rebuilt. The Hawthorns was also the first English stadium to install large widescreen displays. One unique feature of the ground is the Jeff Astle gates, which celebrate their famous striker. Plans are afoot to increase the grounds capacity to 40,000, but no firm date has been put in place to begin the process.

West Ham United - Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London

Capacity 35,146

West Ham United have rebuilt three stands of their Boleyn Ground, the latest and largest being the Dr. Martens Stand on Green Street. Before that the The Bobby Moore Stand and The Centenary Stand were built to replace the aging standing room only stands behind each goal.

West Ham have been planning to move to a new home, or perhaps to the new Olympic stadium. But due to financial difficulties at the club, these plans appear to have been shelved. However, the club may still develop the Boleyn Ground from 35,000 to 40,000.

Wigan Athletic - DW Stadium, Loire Drive, Robin Park, Wigan

Capacity 25,100

Formerly named the JJB Stadium, the ground's name has been changed to represent the clubs primary sponsor. It's home to both the Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors sports teams. Wigan moved to the DW Stadium in 1999, their previous home was Springfield Park. The stadium is situated in Wigan's Robin Park retail complex, there are currently no plans to increase the capacity of the stadium.

Wolverhampton Wanderers - Molineux Stadium, Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton

Capacity 28,520

Molineux's current renovation began in the 1990's, when Sir Jack Hayward's millions attempted to recapture the clubs former glories. The club has managed to reach the Premier League twice since 1990, but as of yet (2009) have failed to retain their position in the league. If they manage to do so, the club plans to expand the capacity of Molineux to around 40,000.

A statue of Billy Wright, the former captain of England and Wolves currently adorns the outside of the Billy Wright stand.