King Power Stadium

King Power Stadium
Filbert Way
Full name King Power Stadium
Former names The Walkers Stadium (2002–2011)
Location Filbert Way, Leicester, England LE2 7FL
Coordinates 52°37′13″N 1°8′32″W / 52.62028°N 1.14222°W / 52.62028; -1.14222Coordinates: 52°37′13″N 1°8′32″W / 52.62028°N 1.14222°W / 52.62028; -1.14222
Owner Leicester City F.C.
Capacity 32,312
Field size 102 x 67 metres
(111.5 x 73 yd)
Surface Desso GrassMaster
Construction
Built 2002
Opened 2002
Tenants
Leicester City (2002–present)

The King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It is the home of Leicester City, the current champions of the Premier League following their title win in the 2015-16 season. The all-seater stadium opened in 2002 and has a capacity of 32,312, the 20th largest football ground in England. The current record attendance at the stadium for football is 32,242.[1] It is named after travel retail group King Power,[2] a company owned by the club's owners.

The site has hosted rugby and football international matches, as well as boxing events.[3][4] The address of the ground 'Filbert Way,' retains a link to their former home Filbert Street. The stadium is built as an enclosed design with four stands, namly; The North Stand, East Stand, South Stand and West Stand. Inside the stadium, suites & lounges are named after club legends.[5]

History

Background and construction

Leicester's previous stadium was at nearby Filbert Street, which had been their home since 1891. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate the possibility of building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but initially decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season.

Filbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared that the 21,500 capacity would be adequate.

However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant that virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals Stoke City and Derby County.

Some parts of the ground – the East and North Stands in particular – were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.

In early 1998, plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season, but these plans were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom vowed that other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping that either option would have materialised by August 2002.[6]

The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003–04 being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002–03 season.[7] Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed that the new stadium would be ready for the 2002–03 season.[8]

The stadium was completed on time in the summer of 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30 million in debt. The stadium itself is thought to of cost around £37 million to build.

The stadium also has under-soil heating.

The record attendance for football at the stadium is 32,242, this was Leicester City's first home game of the 2015-16 season against Sunderland. The overall record attendance at the stadium is thought to be between 32,488-32,500, for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262.[9]

Opening

The stadium was officially opened by former Leicester striker Gary Lineker on 23 July 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Spanish team Athletic Bilbao, on 4 August 2002. The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart scoring Leicester's first goal. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. Brian Deane scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed.

Ownership

The £37 million cost of the new stadium, combined with relegation from the Premiership, the collapse of the English transfer market due to the introduction of the transfer window and the collapse of ITV Digital meant that Leicester went into receivership shortly after moving to the new stadium. Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from any further football ground construction. The main losers from this were Leicester's local rivals Coventry City, who were in negotiations with Birse to build their own new stadium.

As part of the deal which brought the club out of receivership, the ownership of the stadium reverted to American academic retirement fund TIAA–CREF, who had supplied £28 million via a bond scheme towards the stadium's construction, with the club taking a long-term lease while the bond repayments were made.

On 1 March 2013, Leicester City's Thai owners King Power bought the ground through their company K Power Holdings Co, Ltd.[10]

Plans

In 2015, vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha stated that plans were in place to increase the capacity of the ground to around 42,000.[11] Relocation to a bigger stadium has also been considered.[12]

Naming

The King Power Stadium from the River Soar

In 2002, former Leicester City shirt sponsors Walkers signed a ten-year deal for naming rights. The agreement was superseded halfway through the period, in May 2007, when they again paid a "seven-figure sum" to extend their sponsorship of the stadium until 2017.[13] Originally the ground was to have been called the "Walkers Bowl," but that name was dropped after a fans objected on the grounds that the name was too "American" (referring to the American college football bowl game concept). As a result of a fans' petition, the name was quickly changed to the "Walkers Stadium"; however, some fans were still unhappy that the name only referenced the sponsor, with no Leicester City reference, such as "Filbert," "Fosse" or "Foxes". Consequently, the stadium was sometimes derogatorily referred to (by both Home and Away supporters) as the "crisp bowl," in reference to Walkers best known products. The naming rights were sold to King Power for the 2011–12 season.

Some fans refer to the stadium as Filbert Way after the ground's address, retaining a link with the past, while others refer to the ground as Freeman's Wharf, after the area of the city in which the stadium is situated.[14] During the 2015 Rugby World Cup and UEFA Champions League matches, the stadium is known as the Leicester City Stadium.[15]

Stadium design

The King Power Stadium has four stands that each join together in an enclosed design and, like many other football stadia in England, its stands are named for the cardinal points of the compass (i.e. The North, East, South and West Stands respectively). The away supporters are located in the corner between the North and East Stand. The North Stand is referred to as the Family Stand or Family Area, and the South Stand is known by fans as 'The Kop.'

The North and South stands have original names dating back to when the stadium was built. The North Stand called the 'Lineker Stand', after club legend Gary Lineker, and The South Stand named as the 'Fosse Stand', retaining the link with Leicester's original club name Leicester Fosse. [16][17]

Notable games

Football

During their absence from Wembley Stadium, the England national football team played a home friendly game against Serbia and Montenegro at the stadium on 3 June 2003. Goals from Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole gave England a 2–1 victory. On 12 October of the same year, the ground hosted an international friendly match between Brazil and Jamaica, with Roberto Carlos scoring the winner.[18][19]

On 20 May 2006, the stadium hosted the Football Conference playoff final between Hereford United and Halifax Town. A goal in extra time gave Hereford a 3–2 win and promotion to the Football League. Nine days later, the ground was also the venue for another international friendly, with Ghana beating Jamaica 4–1.

On 12 October 2007, it hosted the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3 match between England’s under-21s and Montenegro’s under-21s. The hosts edged out the visitors 1–0 with Matt Derbyshire’s goal.

On 30 July 2011, Leicester City played a strong Real Madrid side in the Npower Cup in front of a record 32,188 home fans, with star players such as Ronaldo and Kaká playing for Madrid. After falling behind to a first-half goal from José Callejón and a second on the hour from Karim Benzema, Sven-Göran Eriksson's men pulled a goal back a minute from the end through substitute Lloyd Dyer.

On 4 April 2014, Leicester won 2-1 in a Friday night home victory against Sheffield Wednesday. The win put them on the brink of promotion back to the Premier League, and the next day their Premier League status was confirmed as results went in Leicester's favour.[20][21]

On 21 September 2014, Leicester went on to produce one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history, as they won 5-3 against Manchester United at the King Power Stadium. They came back from 3–1 down with 30 minutes left to score four goals.[22]

On 8 August 2015, Leicester City hosted Sunderland at the King Power Stadium for the first game of the 2015–16 Premier League season. The stadium attendance for the match was 32,242, which is thought to be the largest-ever league attendance at the ground since it opened in 2002.

On 7 May 2016, Leicester City lifted the 2015–16 Premier League trophy following a 3–1 win versus Everton, less than a week after officially becoming champions as Tottenham Hotspur failed to beat Chelsea.[23][24] Andrea Bocelli performed live before the match.

On 27 September 2016, the stadium hosted its first ever European football match since its opening in 2002. Leicester won 1–0 against FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League.[25]

International matches

Rugby Union

In 2004 Leicester Tigers considered sharing the stadium with Leicester City as their own 16,815-capacity ground at Welford Road was considered too small to handle the growing popularity of rugby union. The plan would have seen the two clubs form a jointly owned company to buy the stadium from Teachers. The deal was abandoned in 2005 as the clubs failed to fully agree terms. Because of the continued parlous state of the football club's finances, rumours that groundsharing was still being discussed continued to circulate, with some suggestions that Tigers were considering buying the stadium outright from Teachers. In 2007, a permanent groundshare seemed to be ruled out as Leicester Tigers received planning consent for a major expansion of their own Welford Road venue with a new 10,500-seat stand taking Welford Road to a capacity of 24,500.

However, Tigers have played six matches at the stadium The first three were either to capitalise on the larger capacity with the greater interest in high-profile games or when competition rules demanded that the match be played away from their normal home ground while the other three was due to the demolition of the old Caterpillar Stand at Welford Road.

Date Competition Opponents Result
24 April 2005 2004–05 Heineken Cup Semi-final Toulouse 19 – 27
1 April 2006 2005–06 Heineken Cup Quarter-final Bath 12 – 15*
21 April 2007 2006–07 Heineken Cup Semi-final Llanelli Scarlets 33 – 17
11 April 2009 2008–09 Heineken Cup Quarter-final Bath 20 – 15
25 April 2009 2008–09 Guinness Premiership, Round 22 Bristol 73 – 3
9 May 2009 2008–09 Guinness Premiership Semi-final Bath 24 – 10

* Played in front of a sell-out crowd of 32,500, which is the record attendance for the stadium. (This number is unlikely to be equalled for a football match, unless the stadium is expanded due to crowd segregation requirements.)

With the expansion of Welford Road under way, it is likely that the only rugby games to be played at the King Power Stadium in future will be European Cup semi-finals when Leicester Tigers are drawn at "home," which enables them to propose a suitable English venue away from their home ground.

It also hosted an exhibition match between World XV and South Africa XV on 3 December 2006 to mark the centenary of the Springboks' first game abroad.[26] South Africa won 32–7.

The stadium hosted matches for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, hosting three pool matches: ArgentinaTonga, ArgentinaNamibia and CanadaRomania.

Date Stage of Tournament Team 1 Score Team 2 Attendance
4 October 2015 Pool C Argentina  45 – 16  Tonga 29,124 [27]
6 October 2015 Pool D Canada  15 – 17  Romania 27,153 [28]
11 October 2015 Pool C Argentina  64 – 19  Namibia 30,198 [29]

Average league attendances

Season League Attendance % Full
2002–03 First Division 29,230 91%
2003–04 Premier League 30,983 96%
2004–05 Championship 24,137 75%
2005–06 Championship 22,234 69%
2006–07 Championship 23,206 72%
2007–08 Championship 23,509 73%
2008–09 League One 20,254 63%
2009–10 Championship 24,542 76%
2010–11 Championship 23,666 73%
2011–12 Championship 23,037 71%
2012–13 Championship 22,283 69%
2013–14 Championship 24,990 77%
2014–15 Premier League 31,693 98%
2015–16 Premier League 32,014 99%

References

  1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/33744669
  2. "Leicester rename Walkers Stadium the King Power Stadium". BBC Sport. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11712/9993860/leicester-city-ready-to-embrace-challenge-of-hosting-rugby-world-cup-matches
  4. http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/ultra-white-collar-boxing-returns-to-king-power-stadium-3023852.aspx
  5. http://www.lcfcevents.co.uk/downloads/LCFC%20CE%20Insert%20-%20Room%20Plans.pdf#page=2
  6. "Leicester bin stadium blueprint". The Guardian. London. 6 January 2000.
  7. Prior, David (3 November 2000). "Leicester make plans to move". The Independent. London.
  8. "Leicester 12–15 Bath" BBC.co.uk (News), 1 April 2006 (Retrieved: 11 August 2009)
  9. "Leicester City Owners buy King Power Stadium". www.LCFC.com. Leicester City F.C. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  10. Leicester City could increase capacity at the King Power Stadium to 42,000
  11. http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/leicester-city-look-ground-expansion-build-new/story-29238169-detail/story.html
  12. "Allen Named New Foxes Manager" LCFC.co.uk, 30 May 2007 (Retrieved: 11 August 2009)
  13. Leicester make plans to move
  14. "Leicester City Stadium". England Rugby. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  15. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/championship/3036528/Leicester-bank-on-Lineker-rescue.html
  16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2146756.stm
  17. RSSSF Brasil – Seleção Brasileira (Brazilian National Team) 2002–2003
  18. IOL Sport – Brazil bring samba to Leicester
  19. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26780766
  20. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/26906091
  21. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29196081
  22. "Chelsea 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur". www.bbc.co.uk. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  23. "Leicester City 3-1 Everton". www.bbc.co.uk. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  24. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11712/10596521/leicester-1-0-porto-champions-league-adventure-set-to-go-on
  25. "Marshall to play for World side". BBC Sport. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2009.
  26. "Pool C, Leicester City Stadium, Leicester". Rugby World Cup. 4 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  27. "Pool D, Leicester City Stadium, Leicester". Rugby World Cup. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  28. "Pool C, Leicester City Stadium, Leicester". Rugby World Cup. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
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