cash back galera bet-rapant-mcelroy.com

Football stadium in Staffordshire, England

The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as bet365

Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

🏵 and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the

Britannia Stadium but was renamed 🏵 on 1 June 2024 when the club entered into a new

stadium-naming-rights agreement with its parent company, Bet365.[4] It has 🏵 a capacity

of 30,089 following the completion of expansion works in 2024.[5][6]

The stadium was

built in 1998 at a cost 🏵 of £14.8 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground.

Former player Sir Stanley Matthews' ashes were buried beneath the 🏵 centre circle of the

pitch following his death in February 2000; he had officially opened the stadium on 30

August 🏵 1997.[7] In European competitions it is known as the Stoke Ground due to UEFA

regulations on sponsorships.[8][9]

History [ edit ]

Main 🏵 Stand exterior

The all-seater

stadium cost nearly £15 million to build and brought the club up to standards with the

Taylor 🏵 Report of January 1990 to end 115 years at the Victoria Ground. Along with the

possibility of converting the Victoria 🏵 Ground into an all-seater stadium, relocation

was being considered by 1995 and by early 1996 the decision to build a 🏵 new stadium

elsewhere had been confirmed.[10]

Construction of the stadium was underway during the

1996-97 season.[11] In August 1997 it opened 🏵 its doors for the first time as the

Britannia Stadium thanks to a £1 million, 10-year sponsorship deal with the 🏵 Britannia

Building Society which was instrumental in the overall funding of the project. Another

£4.5 million was given as a 🏵 grant by the Football Trust.[11]

The stadium's opening did

not go according to plan, as from the outset there was concern 🏵 about getting there, as

the plans covered only one access road from the nearby A50, and as a result, spectators

🏵 arriving from the city or the motorway had to travel up the A50 for over a mile to a

roundabout 🏵 at Sideway and double-back the other way, which caused huge congestion.[10]

The stadium was officially opened by club legend Sir 🏵 Stanley Matthews, then aged 82.

After he died in March 2000, his ashes were buried beneath the stadium's centre circle

🏵 and a statue showing different stages of his career was put up in his honour outside

the ground.[12]

On 27 August 🏵 1997, Rochdale were the visitors for the historic

first-ever competitive match – a 1–1 draw in the League Cup watched 🏵 by 15,439 – and

four days later the first-ever league game took place against Swindon Town before a

crowd of 🏵 23,859.[11] The first season at the new ground was a disappointing one as

Stoke were relegated from the First Division, 🏵 losing 5–2 at home to Manchester City on

the final day of the season, with the visiting side also going 🏵 down after the

relegation-threatened sides above them all won their final games. The club's supporters

protested against chairman Peter Coates, 🏵 who stood down afterwards, only to return in

2006.[11]

Four seasons of third-tier football followed with Gunnar Gíslason taking

control of 🏵 the club in November 1999.[10] In May 2006 he sold control of the club back

to Peter Coates, and soon 🏵 after the club obtained full ownership of the stadium in a

deal worth £6 million following the previous joint-partnership with 🏵 the Stoke-on-Trent

City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd.[13] The name of the ground was

changed to the bet365 Stadium in 🏵 June 2024.[14]

Structure and facilities [ edit ]

Stand

names and capacities Stand Location Capacity The Boothen End sponsored by Staffordshire

University 🏵 North 6,006[11] The Franklyn Stand West 7,357[11] The Tile Mountain Stand

East 10,720[11] The Caldwell Construction Stand South 6,006[11]

In total, 🏵 the stadium

cost £14.7 million and took around ten months to construct on the former site of

Stafford No.2 Colliery, 🏵 which had been closed in 1969. Building work began in late

autumn 1996 and was completed in August 1997. The 🏵 all-seater stadium can hold 30,089

supporters in four cantilever stands. The main West stand consists of two tiers of

seating 🏵 which house 7,357 spectators, plus all of the stadiums corporate and media

facilities. The Boothen and East stands hold 6,006 🏵 and 8,789 people respectively. The

South Stand, which is used by both home and away supporters can hold 4,996 people.[11]

🏵 The club's dressing rooms, offices, boardroom, ticket office and club store are

positioned between the West and South stands.

The Boothen 🏵 End and main stand

In 2006,

work took place on the A50 to allow direct access to the stadium from the 🏵 eastbound

direction, involving building a bridge across the road. It is close to the Sideway

junction with the A500. At 🏵 the start of the 2010–11 season, the stadium was accessible

via a new underpass under Stanley Matthews Way, to reduce 🏵 traffic problems with exiting

the area back onto the A50.[15]

Development [ edit ]

In the middle of 2009, surveyors

were asked 🏵 to investigate the feasibility of filling in one and possibly two of the

stadium's open corners.[16] Filling in a corner 🏵 of the ground would cost approximately

£3 million, increasing capacity by around 3,000 seats and taking the total capacity to

🏵 over 30,000. In November 2009, chairman Peter Coates said that a decision on expansion

would be made at the end 🏵 of the season and was dependent on the club's Premier League

survival.

Stoke fans celebrate following promotion to the Premier League 🏵 in 2008.

February 2010, the club were still considering whether to expand the 27,500 capacity by

filling in the scoreboard 🏵 corner between the South and East stands. Chief Executive

Tony Scholes cautioned that expansion might jeopardise the atmosphere at the 🏵 stadium,

one of the factors credited with Stoke City's resurgence in the top tier of English

football, stating: "The big 🏵 risk when anyone expands their stadium is that they could

lose that 'sell-out' factor, which would affect the atmosphere. I 🏵 would loathe to give

that up."[17] At the end of the 2009–10 season, Peter Coates indicated that the club

would 🏵 wait at least another 12 months before deciding whether to spend up to £6 million

on expanding the stadium, saying: 🏵 "You don't do these things lightly. It is on the

drawing board and is something we will consider. But we 🏵 want to feel confident we can

justify it in terms of getting the increased capacity, filling it and it making

🏵 economic sense."[18]

Plans to increase the stadium's capacity to over 30,000 were

unveiled in November 2012.[19] By June 2014 work had 🏵 not started, and the club CEO,

Tony Scholes, stated that the club were in no rush to expand the stadium.[20] 🏵 In April

2024 plans were again revealed for stadium expansion, with a stated completion to be in

time for the 🏵 beginning of the 2024–18 season, which was met.[4] Work began on expanding

the stadium to over 30,000 in February 2024 🏵 and was concluded in the summer of

2024.[21]

Stoke began a £20 million five-year refurbishment project at the stadium

beginning in 🏵 the summer of 2024 including replacement seats, and upgrades to Delilah's

Bar and corporate boxes.[22]

Ahead of the 2024/24 season, Stoke 🏵 City undertook a

floodlighting upgrade to state-of-the-art LED floodlights.[23] The upgrade includes 104

Modus S1500 and 66 Modus R1500 luminaires 🏵 from Midstream Lighting.[24] With the

floodlighting upgrade, the stadium also has the ability to put on light shows[25] –

which 🏵 is now a standard occurrence at every evening game – it produces a stunning

pre-match display that brings the bet365 🏵 to life in a whole new way[26]

Other events [

edit ]

The stadium also has full conference, banqueting and events facilities 🏵 and has,

as well as football, also staged firework displays and music concerts. The likes of Bon

Jovi, Bryan Adams, 🏵 Busted, Elton John and Rod Stewart have all played out on the pitch

at the ground in addition to the 🏵 numerous summer music concerts.[11]

The stadium hosted

the 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 playoff finals for the Conference National and on 16

🏵 April 2002, it hosted England's under-21s international friendly against Portugal's

under-21s. The hosts lost 1–0 with 28,000 in attendance.[27] England 🏵 U20s and 19s have

also used the stadium.

vocational rehabilitation success stories.