Britannia Stadium
| "The Britannia", "The Brit" | |
 |
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| Full name | bet365 Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Britannia Stadium (1997–2016) |
| Location | Stanley Matthews Way Stoke-on-Trent England ST4 4EG |
| Coordinates | 52°59′18″N 2°10′32″W / 52.98833°N 2.17556°WCoordinates: 52°59′18″N 2°10′32″W / 52.98833°N 2.17556°W |
| Owner | Stoke City |
| Capacity | 27,902 (reduced from 28,387 due to segregation) |
| Field size | 105 by 68 metres (115 by 74 yd) |
| Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1997 |
| Opened | 30 August 1997 |
| Construction cost | £14.7 million |
| Tenants | |
| Stoke City (1997–present) | |
The bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of Premier League club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the club entered into a new stadium-naming rights agreement with its parent company, bet365. It has space for 27,902 spectators (reduced from 28,387 due to segregation) with expansions plans announced by the club.
The stadium was built in 1997 at a cost of £14.7 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground. The highest attendance recorded at the stadium was 28,218 for the sell-out fixture against Everton in their FA Cup 3rd Round tie in 2002. 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. In European competitions it is known as the Stoke Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship.
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 119 years at the Victoria Ground. Relocation had been considered by 1994 and by early 1996 the decision to build a new stadium had been confirmed.
By early 1997, the skeletal steel superstructure was in place and the stadium began to take shape. 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 £3 million was given as a grant by the Football Trust.
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. The stadium was officially opened made by club legend Sir Stanley Matthews, then aged 82. After he died in February 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. 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. The first season at the new ground was a bad one as Stoke were relegated from Division One and the supporters protested against chairman Peter Coates.
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