Previously, Arsenal stadium in Highbury, North London was the official home of ArsenalFootball Club. Now, the home of Arsenal FC is the massive stadium known asEmirates Stadium. This stadium allows for many more supporters to come andwatch Arsenal in action which leads to more Arsenal Tickets being sold.
The Emirates Stadium is actually the newest stadium to be included in the Premier leaguelist of stadiums and is a UEFA elite football stadium. The massive stadium isable to seat over sixty thousand roaring fans with rumors that the capacitywill be increased.
The stadium also has over a hundred and fifty executive suites. The stadium was opened onthe 22nd of July, 2006 and is located in beautiful Holloway, London.The stadium measures 105 x 68 meters.
Origins
The origins of this stadium date back to the 1990s when Arsenal realized the need for astadium with a larger capacity. Arsenal stadium had a capacity of nearly thirtynine thousand after its conversion to an all-seater in 1993. Due to the natureof the stadium and nearby structural obstructions, expansion was looking to beimpossible.
A shortage of seats also meant that many fans could not be seated which reduced Arsenal football tickets sales. This matter was further aggravated when there were over twenty thousand memberson the season ticket waiting list. The decision was made to look for a new homestadium.
Plan in Motion
In November 1999, Arsenal FC announced in a press release that they had chosen AshburtonGrove as the site of their next home stadium and it would open in August 2003.Unfortunately for Arsenal, this date was postponed due to many financialconstraints and planning difficulties.
After the money was given to buy out local businesses on the site which included arecycling plant and a delivery office, the go ahead was given to start theprocess. Finally, Ten acres of land was purchased.
Road bumps
Not everyone felt such vigor as Arsenal did about the stadium. The local businesses whichwere supposedly forced to move filed law suits against Arsenal and lost. Roadclosure on match days followed by police parking demands was to be met if thestadium was ever to open. The road closures were passed in a local councilmeeting.
Construction
After a long and bumpy start, construction of the stadium actually began in February 2004.By the summer of 2004, the two bridges that connected the stadium and nearbyDrayton park were finally built. On the 13th of March 2006, thefirst seat was installed in the stadium.
In fact, this was done in a ceremonial manner and was installed by Abou Diaby who wasalso an Arsenal midfielder. Within the next two years, almost ninety percent ofthe club tier seats were sold with the rest to be sold a month prior opening.
Opening
Queen Elizabeth II was to officially open the stadium but could not do so due to an unfortunateback injury. Instead, the stadium was officially declared open on the 26thof October 2006 by her husband, Prince Philip. To compensate for her absence,the club’s chairman, manager and first team was invited to have afternoon teawith Queen Elizabeth II on the 15th of February 2007.