EPL & Championship stadiums are safest in the world!

Premier League Regulation Stadiums Update: Wembley, Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Anfield Road, Etihad, White Hart Lane, Anfield Road, Emirates

Most Premier League, Championship, and Scottish Premier League clubs have refurbished or rebuilt their home grounds to comply with the 1989 Taylor Report, making top-tier UK stadiums safe for fans. As a result of the 1989 Hillsborough Stadium disaster in which 96 FC Liverpool fans died, a final inquiry overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth called the Taylor Report was published in the aftermath establishing the causes of the tragedy and making recommendations for the provision of safety at stadiums hosting sporting events in the future.

The Taylor Report determined that the main reason for the disaster was actually the failure of police to control fans, and that all major stadia should convert to an all-seaters format. The report further determined that all ticketed spectators should have seats, as opposed to some or all standing during matches. The Taylor Report also included recommendations regarding the sale of alcohol inside stadiums, crush barriers, fences, turnstiles, ticket prices, and other stadium items. As a result of the report, the Football League in England and the Scottish Football League introduced regulations that clubs in the highest divisions must comply with certain recommendations by August 1994. Although standing accommodation is not intrinsically unsafe, none-the-less no standing accommodation is allowed.

Due to the changed regulations, several titan clubs determined to refurbish existing venues, partly rebuild stadia, or build brand new superstadiums to comply with the new standards and regulations put forth by the Taylor Report in new locations including Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium; Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium; Leicester City’s King Power Stadium; Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium; Southampton’s St. Mary’s Stadium; and Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

Liverpool’s famous Shankley Gates at Anfield depict the phrase “You’ll never walk alone,” next to a memorial to the 96 Hillsborough victims. Anfield is now one of the country’s leading stadiums. Owner of the land it is on, John Houlding, established a new team in 1892 which became Liverpool F.C. to compete there after the venue’s original club Everton moved on to Goodison Park. The newly formed Liverpool hired Archibald Leitch in 1895 to construct a new main stand. After winning their second League Title in 1906, the club built the first edition of Spion Kop End. By 1928, The Kop was fully covered and capable of holding 30,000 fans.

After the tragic events of Hillsborough and the release of the Taylor Report in 1990, Liverpool began to convert their stadium to all-seating, adding additional tiers to both the Centenary Stand in 1992 and Anfield Road Stand in 1998. To increase their matchday revenues, Liverpool decided to renovate Anfield with the expansion of the main stand beginning in December 2014 ultimately increasing the stadium’s seating capacity to an impressive 55,000.

At other clubs, a number of world-famous terraces were replaced by all-seater stands, including Manchester United's Stretford End and Arsenal's North Bank, which were both demolished in the summer of 1992. Two years later,Aston Villa's Holte End was demolished. After considering relocation, in 1993, current Premier League leaders Leicester City decided to redevelop Filbert Street with a new 9,500-seat stand and filled in the remaining standing areas. Currently Leicester play at home ground King Power Stadium with a capacity or more than 32,000 as Leicester’s fortunes have seen the demand for tickets outstrip the number of seats.

The Gunners complied with the new regulations and converted Highbury Stadium into an all-seater venue with a capacity of around 39,000 in 1993, however soon the stadium capacity was not sufficient for Arsenal’s popularity and ticket demand. Arsenal built a stunning new 60,000 seat stadium on a nearby site at Ashburton Grove, Emirates Stadium, in time for the 2006-2007 Premier League season.

Manchester City moved into their new all-seater Etihad Stadium with a capacity of almost 48,000 in 2003. Previously City gave up on further redevelopment of their original beloved stadium, Maine Road, after converting it to a 35,000 all-seater in 1995. Plans for further expansion at Maine Road were abandoned after the club agreed to become tenants at the new Eastlands site, where a new sports stadium was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. City moved there in time for the start of the 2003-2004 EPL season after 80 years at Maine Road. Wimbledon moved to Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park, which was eventually redeveloped as an all-seater stadium.

ENGLAND FOOTBALL STADIUMS

Here is a list of UK venues for top tier Premier League clubs along with city, club name, maximum capacity, and original date that stadium was built.

ENGLAND NATIONAL STADIUM

Wembley Stadium, London, England, UK 90,000 2007

PREMIER LEAGUE STADIUMS

Anfield, Liverpool, UK FC Liverpool 45,276 1892
Boleyn Ground, London, UK West Ham United 35,016 1904
Britannia Stadium, Stoke, UK Stoke City 27,740 1997
Carrow Road, Norwich, UK Norwich City 26,034 1935
Goodison Park, Liverpool, UK Everton 40,157 1892
King Power Stadium, Leicester, UK Leicester City 32,262 2002
Liberty Stadium, Swansea, UK Swansea 20,750 2005
Old Trafford, Manchester, UK Man Utd 75,731 1910
Selhurst Park, London, UK Crystal Palace 26,309 1924
St James' Park, Newcastle, UK Newcastle 52,404 1892
St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, UK Southampton 32,363 2001
Stadium of Light, Sunderland, UK Sunderland 49,000 1997
Stamford Bridge, London, UK Chelsea 41,837 1876
Emirates, London, UK Arsenal 60,338 2006
Etihad Manchester, UK Man City 47,805 2003
Hawthorns, West Bromwich, UK West Brom 27,000 1900
Vicarage Road, Watford, UK Watford 21,277 1922
Villa Park, Birmingham, UK Aston Villa, UK 42,788 1897
Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, UK Bournemouth 12,000 1910
White Hart Lane, London, UK Tottenham 36,230 1899

Old stadiums were closed and rebuilt on new sites which were more suitable for all-seater capacities that would have been almost impossible on the site of the existing grounds. Bolton Wanderers had standing accommodation at Burnden Park right up to its closure at the end of the 1996-97 season, after which they relocated to the all-seater Reebok Stadium. Since 2001, a number of clubs who originally decided to modernize their existing stadiums have since taken the relocation option in order gain a higher seating capacity and higher revenues from ticket sales.

Southampton converted The Dell into an all-seater stadium in the early 1990s as a short-term measure to comply with the Taylor Report, but a capacity of less than 16,000 was inadequate in the Premier League. Southampton’s long-range goal was to build a new stadium at a different location. After renting at Selhurst Park for 12 years, Southampton relocated to Milton Keynes and the Stadium mk in 2007. St Johnstone built regulation McDiarmid Park that opened in time for the 1989-1990 campaign before the Hillsborough tragedy occurred. Coventry City’s Highfield Road stadium was reverted to an all-seater capacity venue in the early 1990s following the Taylor Report. They left Highfield Road for the larger regulation Ricoh Arena in 2005.

Football Stadium Tickets

Buy Premier League tickets, England tickets, Europa League tickets, and Champions League tickets to watch the “Beautiful Game” in safe state-of-the-art football UK stadiums at 1st4FootballTickets.com!

Wembley Stadium, England tickets
Old Trafford, Manchester United tickets
Etihad Stadium, Manchester City tickets
Emirates Stadium, Arsenal tickets
White Hart Lane, Tottenham Hotspur tickets
Stamford Bridge, FC Chelsea tickets
Anfield Road, FC Liverpool tickets
King Power Stadium, FC Leicester City tickets