King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a football stadium located in Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. It has been the home of EFL Championship club Leicester City since 2002 and was the stage as the club famously lifted the Premier League title in 2016.
Situated alongside the River Soar, the all-seater stadium has a capacity of 32,262 and since 2021 has also been the primary home of Leicester City Women.
Leicester’s previous stadium was at nearby Filbert Street, less than 300 yards away from the current site. Filbert Street was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City’s directors began to investigate building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season.
However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including fellow Midlands clubs Stoke City and Derby County.
Some parts of the ground – the East and North Stands in particular – were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O’Neill to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.
In early 1998, plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season, but they were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom vowed other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping either option would have materialised by August 2002.
The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium in the Freeman’s Wharf area, with 2003–04 being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002–03 season. Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed the new stadium would be ready for the 2002–03 season. The stadium was completed on time in the summer of 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season.
However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as the club had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30 million in debt. The stadium itself, designed by architects The Miller Partnership and constructed by Birse Stadia, cost £35-£37 million to build. The stadium has previously been described as a “flagship development, not just for the club but for the community and city of Leicester as a whole.” At the time of building, two large dual-purpose concourses, which could be used as exhibition centres on non-matchdays, were a first in British stadium design, read more
FACTS & FIGURES
- Full Name: King Power Stadium
- Capacity: 32 262
- Field Size: 105 x 68 meters
- Opened: 2002
CHECK YOUR FOOTBALL RESULTS
Leave a Reply