St Mary's Stadium

Association football stadium in Southampton

St Mary’s Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacitance of 32,384 [ 1 ] and is presently the largest football stadium outside London in Southern England .

history [edit ]

Since the 1980s there had been speak of the club relocating to a modern stadium to replace The Dell due to the old stadium ‘s cramp location which made it unsuitable for major expansion work.

Reading: St Mary’s Stadium

When the Taylor Report on 29 January 1990 required all First and Second Division clubs to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Southampton ‘s directors initially decided to upgrade The Dell into an all-seater stadium ( which was completed in 1993 ) but guess about move continued, particularly as an all-seater Dell had a capability of fair over 15,000 ; despite this, Southampton continued to defy the odds and survive in the newfangled FA Premier League after 1992. After a drawn-out and ultimately abortive attack to build a new 25,000-seater stadium and leisure building complex at Stoneham, on the outskirts of Southampton, the city council offered the golf club the chance to build a new labor on the disused accelerator function site in the affection of the city, about one and one-half miles from The Dell. The motion was cited as the cabaret returning home plate, because the club was formed by members of the nearby St. Mary ‘s Church, as the football team of St. Mary ‘s Church Young Men ‘s Association before becoming Southampton St. Mary ‘s F.C., and finally Southampton F.C. structure started in December 1999 and was completed at the end of July 2001, with workplace on the 32,689 [ 2 ] seat stadium itself and improvements to local infrastructure monetary value a total of £32 million. The Saints have been in residence since August 2001 when they moved from The Dell, which for the concluding years of its life sentence, held just over 15,000 spectators – less than half the size of the new stadium. The first match was played on 1 August 2001 against RCD Espanyol, with the spanish side winning 4–3. The first competitive hat trick at the stadium was scored by Stafford Browne for Aldershot Town in a 3–1 victory over Havant & Waterlooville in the Hampshire Senior Cup final on 1 May 2002. [ 3 ]

description [edit ]

Front Facade The stadium is a complete stadium, with all stands of equal altitude. There are two bombastic screens at either end that can be seen from any seat. The stadium has four stands, which are named after the areas of Southampton they face. The main ( east ) stand is the Itchen Stand, and faces the River Itchen. The inverse rack is called the Kingsland Stand. Behind the south goal is the Chapel Stand, and to the north is the Northam Stand. At the rear of the Chapel, Kingsland and Northam Stands, there is a continuous, translucent ‘panel ‘ that is designed to allow light to access the slope. A large section of the roof at the Chapel Stand, at the southerly end of the stadium is besides translucent, for the lapp reason. At the back of the Itchen Stand, there are 42 executive boxes, and a police control room. The digest besides houses the club ‘s offices, changing rooms, imperativeness facilities and corporate cordial reception suites. The four chief cordial reception suites are named after some of Saints ‘ greatest players :
The Northam Stand is home to the majority of the more vocal supporters, a well as visiting fans. Visitors can be given up to 4,250 seats ( 15 per cent of the capacity ) for cup games, and up to 3,200 for league matches .

name [edit ]

The official ground name at opening was ‘The Friends Provident St Mary ‘s Stadium ‘. initially the golf club wanted the reason to be named strictly after the sponsors, but fan press influenced the decision to include a non-commercial entitle. In 2006 the newfangled sponsor Flybe .com did not choose to purchase the naming rights to the stadium, meaning it reverted to the mention ‘St Mary ‘s Stadium ‘ .

capacity [edit ]

The Northam Stand The earth has an all- seat capability of 32,505, [ 4 ] including the crush and directors boxes. Because of the segregation between home and away fans in the Northam Stand, it is unlikely the full capacity will always be reached for a competitive match. The stream record attendance was for the Football League Championship match between Southampton and Coventry City on 28 April 2012, when 32,363 spectators attended. [ 5 ] The lowest league record was Southampton versus Sheffield United, when fair 13,257 attended. [ 6 ] When the club had lower league military position this had a veto impact on attendances, although the visit of Exeter City on Boxing Day, 2009 in a League One regular, attracted an attendance of 30,890. [ 7 ] During the 2009–10 League One campaign, attendances increased importantly, attracting 29,901 against Milton Keynes Dons in the Football League Trophy and then, just 4 days by and by, 31,385 in a South Coast bowler hat against Portsmouth in the FA Cup. The overall average attendance for the league season was 20,982, a about 3,000 improvement on the previous season despite being a league lower. [ citation needed ] During the 2010–11 League One campaign the lowest attendance was 18,623 against Yeovil, while the highest was 31,653 against Walsall. [ 8 ] All stands, apart from the Itchen stand, can be built upon and expanded. overall this would give an approximate capacity of around 50,000, and would cost a like measure to how much it price to build the stadium in the first position, which was approximately £32,000,000. [ citation needed ]

The Ted Bates statue [edit ]

The Ted Bates statue On 17 March 2007, the £102,000 statue to commemorate club loyalist Ted Bates was unveiled, outside the front of the Itchen Stand. Almost immediately, the statue was wide condemned by supporters ascribable to it being out of symmetry, and not an accurate compare of the former cabaret President. The 11-foot ( 3.4 molarity ) statue was made by sculptor Ian Brennan. Former chair, Leon Crouch stated that he would help fund a replacement or curative function, in association with the Ted Bates Trust, who were overseeing the collection of funds, commission and erecting of the statue. The statue was removed less than a week after its unveiling. The successor statue, by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn, was unveiled on 22 March 2008. [ 9 ]

noteworthy matches [edit ]

The St Mary ‘s Stadium has hosted two full England external matches, a 2–2 reap between England and Macedonia in October 2002, while Wembley Stadium was out of legal action due to redevelopment and the Football Association decided that England games would be played at respective venues around the country. David Beckham and Steven Gerrard scored for England. The second base was a 5–3 acquire against Kosovo in a Euro 2020 Qualifier on the tenth September 2019. Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane & Jadon Sancho Scored for England. There has besides been an international between Japan and Nigeria. The stadium first gear hosted european football in September 2003, when the Saints faced romanian slope Steaua Bucharest in the beginning round of the UEFA Cup. The game ended in a 1–1 draw. In 2016, Southampton had their first guess in the UEFA Europa League and their first game against Czech side Sparta Prague ended in a 3–0 succeed. Later in the group degree, they faced early champions Inter Milan and won 2–1. The venue hosted two England under-21 internationals. The first was a 2009 UEFA european Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3 meet against the Republic of Ireland ‘s under-21s on 20 November 2008. The hosts thrashed the visitors 3 – 0 thanks to Stephen O’Halloran ‘s sixtieth moment own goal followed by James Milner ‘s sixty eighth-minute finish and Theo Walcott ‘s seventy eighth-minute goal with 31,473 in attendance. The other was an international friendly against Norway ‘s under-21s on 28 March 2011. The hosts beat the visitors 2 – 0 with goals from Daniel Sturridge on the ninth minute and Danny Rose on the fortieth hour with 18,000 in attendance.

Between Monday 1 June and Friday 5 June 2015, St Mary ‘s Stadium hosted a populace record breaking match for the longest continuous football game always played. Players from Southampton-based jacob’s ladder Testlands Support Project played for 102 hours directly, beating the previous read of 101 hours. [ 10 ]

International games hosted [edit ]

England Norway 28 March 2011 International friendly 2–0Southampton, EnglandMatch 288
Sturridge 9 ‘
Rose 40 ‘
Report

Stadium: St Mary ‘s stadium
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
As is coarse for mod day stadium, St Mary ‘s is besides used as a conference facility, with cordial reception suites available for this purpose most days of the week. In the Northam Stand the Saints Study Support Centre – a club-run first step to help school children outside class – can be found, along with the offices of Southampton City Training, a quasi-council run organization which helps young people get vocational trail. It is besides used as a promenade setting for many local anesthetic schools of Southampton, including St. Anne ‘s and St. George ‘s. The stadium has besides held movie premieres for movies such as Casino Royale, deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as music concerts by Elton John in 2005 and Bon Jovi in 2006. There was a protection to Elvis Presley in August 2007 and Southampton winnow Craig David played at St Mary ‘s on 25 October 2007, although neither in the main bowl of the stadium. Bon Jovi returned to St Mary ‘s on 11 June 2008. [ 12 ] and on 6 June 2017 Robbie Williams had The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour. On 29 May 2018, The Rolling Stones performed at the stadium as depart of their No Filter Tour. Alongside the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, St Mary ‘s was the smallest venue on the UK leg of the enlistment. additionally, St Mary ‘s besides houses the head office of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance since its establish in 2007. [ 13 ] St Mary ‘s was one of the seventeen venues short-listed for manipulation in the 2015 Rugby World Cup but was not selected for the final number. [ 14 ]

Folklore and local legends [edit ]

According to local caption, during construction of the stadium, a group of Portsmouth F.C. supporters buried their team ‘s shirt under the Northam Stand end of the pitch and cast a curse that caused the team ‘s initial lose streak at the new stadium. Pagan wiccan Ceridwen Dragonoak Connelly performed a celtic ceremony to lift the curse good anterior to the team ‘s first winnings. [ 15 ] [ 16 ]

Facts and figures [edit ]

Average attendance: [ 17 ] 2020–21 : NA* ( Premier League )
2019–20 : 29,651* ( Premier League )
2018–19 : 30,139 ( Premier League )
2017–18 : 30,794 ( Premier League )
2016–17 : 30,936 ( Premier League )
2015–16 : 30,750 ( Premier League )
2014–15 : 30,652 ( Premier League )
2013–14 : 30,212 ( Premier League )
2012–13 : 30,874 ( Premier League )
2011–12 : 26,419 ( Championship )
2010–11 : 22,160 ( League One )
2009–10 : 20,982 ( League One )
2008–09 : 17,849 ( Championship )
2007–08 : 22,253 ( Championship )
2006–07 : 23,556 ( Championship )
2005–06 : 23,614 ( Championship )
2004–05 : 30,610 ( Premier League )
2003–04 : 31,699 ( Premier League )
2002–03 : 30,680 ( Premier League )
2001–02 : 30,633 ( Premier League )

Seasons interuppted by the COVID-19 pandemic

Record attendance:
32,363 five Coventry City, Championship 28 April 2012 Biggest Saints wins at St Mary’s
8–0 vanadium Sunderland, Premier League 18 October 2014 [ 18 ]
6–1 volt Tranmere Rovers, League Cup 2 October 2002
6–1 five Aston Villa, Premier League 16 May 2015
5–0 five Huddersfield Town, League One 2 March 2010
5–1 v Walsall, League One 27 February 2010
4–0 v Tottenham Hotspur, FA Cup 4 January 2003
4–0 v Hull City, Championship 8 February 2007
4–0 volt Dagenham & Redbridge, League One 2 November 2010
4–0 vanadium Exeter City, League One 1 January 2011
4–0 v Watford, Championship 1 October 2011
4–0 v Derby County, Championship 18 February 2012
4–0 volt Coventry City, Championship 28 April 2012
4–0 volt Newcastle United, Premier League 29 March 2014
4–0 vanadium Newcastle United, Premier League 13 September 2014
4–0 volt Arsenal, Premier League 26 December 2015
Biggest Saints defeats at St Mary’s
0–9 vanadium Leicester City, Premier League 25 October 2019 [ 19 ]
1–6 five Liverpool, League Cup 2 December 2015
0–5 five Arsenal, FA Cup 28 January 2017
1–5 v Chelsea, FA Cup 5 January 2013
0–4 vanadium Manchester United, FA Cup 12 March 2005
Highest scoring games at St Mary’s
Southampton 0–9 Leicester, Premier League 25 October 2019
Southampton 8–0 Sunderland, Premier League 18 October 2014
England 5–3 Kosovo, UEFA Euro 2020 qualify, 11 September 2019
Southampton 6–1 Tranmere Rovers, League Cup 2 October 2002
Southampton 4–3 Norwich City, Premier League 30 April 2005
Southampton 3–4 Leeds United, Championship 19 November 2005
Southampton 4–3 Milton Keynes Dons, FA Cup 7 January 2006
Southampton 5–2 Yeovil Town, League Cup 23 August 2006
Southampton 4–3 Birmingham City, Championship 29 November 2006
Southampton 5–2 Barnsley, Championship 17 February 2007
Southampton 4–3 Burnley, FA Cup 4 January 2014
Southampton 6–1 Aston Villa, Premier League 16 May 2015 [ 20 ]
Southampton 1–6 Liverpool, League Cup 2 December 2015
Southampton 2–5 Tottenham Hotspur, Premier League 20 September 2020

St Mary’s Stadium