Stadium
Content
Existing football stadiums in India with capacity more than
12000.
# Stadium
1
2
3
Salt Lake
Stadium
Capacity
120,000[1
]
Jawaharlal
Nehru
70,000
Stadium
Jawaharlal 60,000
Nehru
Stadium
Game(
City
s)
State
Home Team
East Bengal
Club, Moha
mmedan
SC, Mohun
Bagan
Foot
AC, Atlético
West
ball
Kolkata
de
Bengal
(Soccer
Kolkata,so
)
me Chirag
United
Sports
Club match
es
Crick
et,
F
ootball Kochi
(Soccer
)
Athl Delhi
etics,
Foot
ball
India
cricket
team (1998
–present)
Kerala
Chirag
United Club
Kerala (201
1–present)
Delhi
local
football
teams
(Soccer
)
4
E.M.S.
Stadium
53,000[7]
Foot
local
Kozhiko
ball
Kerala football
(Soccer de
teams
)
Foot
ball
Margao Goa
(Soccer
)
Dempo
Sports
Club, Salga
ocar Sports
Club, Sporti
ng Clube de
Goa
Foot
Chenna Tamil
ball
Nadu
(Soccer i
)
Indian Bank
Recreationa
l
Club, Chen
naiyin F.C.
5
Fatorda
Stadium
6
Chennai
Jawaharlal
40,000
Nehru
Stadium
7
Foot
Kanchenju
local
West
ball
[7]
nga
40,000
Siliguri
football
Bengal
(Soccer
Stadium
teams
)
8
JRD Tata
Sports
Complex
9
45,000
40,000[7]
Patliputra 40,000
Sports
Foot
local
Jamshe Jharkh
ball
football
and
(Soccer dpur
teams
)
Foot Patna
Bihar
local
football
ball
(Soccer
)
Complex
Sree
10 Kanteerav 40,000
a Stadium
11
Kalinga
Stadium
33,000
teams
Foot
Bengal Karnat Bengaluru
ball
aka
FC
(Soccer uru
)
Foot
ball
Samaleswa
(Soccer Bhuban
ri Sports
Odisha
Club, Kaling
), Fiel eswar
a Lancers
d
Hockey
Sree
12 Kanteerav 30,000[7]
a Stadium
Athl
etics,
Foot Bangal Karnat
ore
aka
ball
(Soccer
)
Indian
Telephone
Industries,
athletics
Khuman
Lampak
13
Main
Stadium
30,000[7]
Foot
Manip
ball
Imphal
ur
(Soccer
)
local
football
teams and
athletics
30,000
Foot
Ludhian
ball
Punjab JCT FC
(Soccer a
)
Guru
14 Nanak
Stadium
Indira
Gandhi
15
Athletic
Stadium
30,000[13]
Athl
NorthEast
etics,
United
FC,local
Foot Guwah
Assam
ati
football
ball
teams and
(Soccer
athletics
)
Foot
Dadaji
ball
16 Kondadev 30,000[7]
Thane
(Soccer
Stadium
)
local
Mahar
football
ashtra
teams
Malappura
Federation
m District
Cup 2014
Foot
Sports
Malapp
venue,
ball
17 Complex 28,000[14]
Kerala
Local
(Soccer uram
& Football
football
)
AcademyS
teams
tadium
18
Paljor
Stadium
East
19 Bengal
Ground
20 Mohun
Bagan
Ground
25,000
Foot
Gangto
United
ball
Sikkim
Sikkim F.C.
(Soccer k
)
23,500
Foot
West
ball
Kolkata
East Bengal
Bengal
(Soccer
)
22,000
Mohun
Foot Kolkata West
Bengal Bagan
ball
(Soccer
)
Guru
Gobind
21
Singh
Stadium
Satindra
Mohan
22
Dev
Stadium
23
24
Barasat
Stadium
Mangala
Stadium
Rajiv
Gandhi
25
Stadium
Mualpui
22,000
Foot
local
Jalandh
ball
Punjab football
(Soccer ar
teams
)
22,000
Foot
local
ball
Silchar Assam football
(Soccer
team
)
22,000
Calcutta
Foot
West
Football
ball
Kolkata
Bengal League mat
(Soccer
ches
)
20,000
Foot
Mangal Karnat Mangalore
ball
aka
United
(Soccer ore
)
20,000
Athl
etics,
Aizawl
Foot
ball
Ambedkar
26
20,000
Stadium
27 Anna
20,000
Foot
ball
Delhi
(Soccer
)
athletics,
Mizora local
m
football
team
India
Foot Tiruchir Tami
appalli Nadu
ball
ONGC
Football
Club
(Soccer
), Ho
ckey
Stadium
Rabindra
28 Sarobar
Stadium
18,000
Bangalore
29 Football
15,000
Stadium
Foot
West
Tollygunge
ball
Kolkata
Bengal Agragami
(Soccer
)
Foot
local
Bangal Karnat
ball
football
aka
(Soccer ore
teams
)
30
Ravi
Shankar
Shukla
Stadium
15,000
Madhy
Foot
local
Jabalpu a
ball
football
Prades
(Soccer r
teams
h
)
31
Thrissur
Municipal
15,000
Corporatio
n Stadium
Foot
local
ball
Thrissur Kerala football
(Soccer
team
)
32
Mohamme
dan
15,000
Sporting
Ground
Foot
Mohammed
West
ball
Kolkata
an Sporting
Bengal
(Soccer
Club
)
33 Kishore
12,000
Bharati
Krirangan(J
adavpur
Footb Kolkata
all
(Soccer)
West
local football
Bengal teams
Stadium)
Tilak
34 Maidan
Stadium
Footb
12,000
Vasco da
Goa
all
Gama
(Soccer)
Crick
12,000(Fo
Tau Devi Lal otball),
et,
Fo Gurgaon Haryan
35
Stadium
7,000(Cric otball
a
ket)
(Soccer)
local football
team
Haryana
cricket
team, Amity
United
Football Club
1.Salt Lake Stadium or Yuva Bharati Krirangan is a multipurpose stadium in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the largest
stadium in India, also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance
and music concerts.and the second-largest stadium in the world by capacity.
The record attendance of 131,000 was set in 1997 in a match between East
Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan AC.
The stadium is situated approximately 10 km to the east of
the Kolkata downtown. The roof is made of metal tubes and aluminum sheets
and concrete. The stadium covers an area of 76.40 acres (309,200 m2) and it
was inaugurated in January, 1984.
The stadium also hosts important athletic events. It has hosted the SAF
Games in 1987 and various national athletics events in India. The stadium
also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance and music
concerts.
A modern stadium (plural stadiums/stadia[1]) is a place or venue for
(mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or
stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to
allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event. [2]
Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient
Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stade
at Olympia, where the word "stadium" originated.[3]
Computer imaging of the proposed new multi-purpose stadium at Baku in Azerbaijan
History
The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in the
western Peloponnese, Greece, where the Olympic Games of antiquity were
held from 776 BC. Initially 'the Games' consisted of asingle event, a sprint
along the length of the stadium. The stadion, a measure of length, may be
related to the "Stadium", but the track at the Stadium at Olympia is longer
than the conventional stadion. Greek and Roman stadiums have been
found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being
the Stadium of Domitian, in Rome.
The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic stadium hosted an
early version of the Olympic Games in 1870,[4] 1875, 1896 and 1906. The
excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the
Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas, and it was the first ancient
stadium to be used in modern times.
Modern stadia
Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadiumin 1909.
The first stadia to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed
for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. With
tremendous growth in the popularity of organised sport in the late Victorian
era, especially football in the United Kingdom and baseball in the U.S., the
first such structures were built.[5] One such early stadium was
theLansdowne Road Stadium, the brainchild of Henry Wallace Doveton
Dunlop (1844 -1930), who organised the first All
Ireland Athletics Championships. Banned from locating sporting events at
Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. "I laid down a cinder
running path of a quarter-mile, laid down the present Lansdowne Tennis
Club ground with my own theodolite, started a Lansdowne archery club, a
Lansdowne cricket club, and last, but not least, the Lansdowne Rugby
Football Club - colours red, black and yellow." Some 300 cartloads of soil
from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, allowing
Dunlop to utilise his engineering expertise to create a pitch envied around
Ireland.
Other early stadia from this period in the UK include the Stamford Bridge
stadium (opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club) and Anfield
stadium (1884 as a venue for Everton F.C.).
In the U.S., many professional baseball teams built large stadia mainly out
of wood, with the first such venue being the South End Grounds in Boston,
opened in 1871 for the team then known as the Boston Beaneaters (now
the Atlanta Braves). However, many of these parks caught fire, and even
those that did not burn proved inadequate for a growing game. All of the
19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some after only a few years,
and none survive today.
Goodison Park was the first purpose-built football stadium in the
world. Walton-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect
two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A
third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested.
[6]
Everton officials were impressed with the builder's workmanship and
agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost
of £150 and 12 turnstiles were installed at a cost of £7 each.[7] The stadium
was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick
Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000
crowd watched a short athletics event followed by music and a fireworks
display.[6]Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built
football stadium in the world.[8]
The White City Stadium during the 1908 Summer Olympics.
The architect Archibald Leitch brought his experience with the construction
of industrial buildings to bear on the design of functional stadiums up and
down the country. His work encompassed the first 40 years of the 20th
century. One of his most notable designs was Old Trafford inManchester.
The ground was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators
and featured seating in the south stand under cover, while the remaining
three stands were left as terraces and uncovered. [9] It was the first stadium
to feature continuous seating along the contours of the stadium. [5]
These early venues, originally designed to host football matches, were
adopted for use by the Olympic Games, the first one being held in 1896
in Athens, Greece. TheWhite City Stadium, built for the 1908 Summer
Olympics in London is often cited as the first modern seater stadium.
Designed by the engineer J.J. Webster and completed in 10 months
by George Wimpey,[10] on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition, this
stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward
VII on 27 April 1908.[11] Upon completion, the stadium had a running track
24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to the mile (536 m); outside there was a
35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a
swimming and diving pool. The London Highbury Stadium, built in 1913,
was the first stadium in the UK to feature a two-tiered seating arrangement
when it was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1936.[5] However, two- and
three-tiered stadiums had been the standard in the US for several decades
prior to 1936. The first two-tiered stadium in that country was the Baker
Bowl, a baseball park in Philadelphia that opened in 1895. The first threetiered stadium came in 1923 with the opening of the original Yankee
Stadium in New York City.
The ancient stadium
Hippodrome; stadium; circus
The Greek hippodrome was the basic model for both the Roman stadium
and the Roman circus. A hippodrome and a stadium may be of similar size,
while the largest circus structures can have seating capacities up to ten
times greater. In practice, however, the association of one of these three
words with a given structure may be more the result of some naming
convention than a reflection of any characteristic of its physical size or
structure. Indeed from one epoch to another the same structure many be
known by different names. For example the Stadium of Domitian was also
known as the Circus Agonalis. In another example a structure at
Aphrodisias can be found referred to as a stadium, or a hippodrome, while
it has the size and structure of a small circus.
Examples of ancient stadiums[edit]
Name
Stadium at
Olympia
Stadium at
Delphi
Stadium of
Domitian
Countr
Earliest
y
date
Track length
Track width
Greece 776 BC
212.54 m (697.3 ft)
28.5 m (94 ft)
Greece 500 BC
177 m (581 ft)
25.5 m (84 ft)
Italy
80 AD
200 m (660 ft) - 250 m
(820 ft) (estimated)
Stadium at
Aphrodisias
Turkey
225 m (738 ft)
30 m (98 ft)
(approx.)
(approx.)
The modern stadium
Wembley Stadium in London,England
The Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen,Germany is an example of a stadium with a retractable roof
and a retractable pitch
Journalist Mario Filho Stadium, popularly known as Maracanã, one of the most famous
stadiums in the world.
Types
Domed stadiums are distinguished from conventional stadiums by their
enclosing roofs. Many of these are not actually domes in the pure
architectural sense, some being better described as vaults, some
having truss-supported roofs and others having more exotic designs such
as a tensegrity structure. But, in the context of sports stadiums, the term
"dome" has become standard for all covered stadiums, [12] particularly
because the first such enclosed stadium, the Houston Astrodome, was built
with an actual dome-shaped roof. Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a
few have even been designed to have moveable fields as part of the
infrastructure. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans is a true
dome structure made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter
of 680 feet (210) m. It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world.[6]
Even though enclosed, dome stadiums are called stadiums because they
are large enough for, and designed for, what are generally considered to be
outdoor sports such as athletics,American football, association
football, rugby, and baseball. Those designed for what are usually indoor
sports like basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are generally
called arenas. Exceptions include the basketball arena at Duke University,
which is called Cameron Indoor Stadium, Red Bull Arena, which is home of
the New York Red Bulls of MLS, and the now-demolished Chicago
Stadium, former home of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL and Chicago
Bulls of the NBA.
Design issues
Different sports require fields of different size and shape. Some stadiums
are designed primarily for a single sport while others can accommodate
different events, particularly ones withretractable seating. Stadiums built
specifically for association football are quite common in Europe;
however, Gaelic games stadiums (such as the incomplete Croke Park)
would be most common in Ireland, while ones built specifically
for baseball or American football are common in the United States. The
most common multiple use design combines a football pitch with arunning
track, a combination which generally works fairly well, although certain
compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are
necessarily set back a good distance from the pitch, especially at the ends
of the pitch. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there are not stands at
the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on
an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has a horseshoe
shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common,
especially in the case of American college football stadiums. Rectangular
stadiums are more common in Europe, especially for football where many
stadiums have four often distinct and very different stands on the four sides
of the stadium. These are often all of different sizes and designs and have
been erected at different periods in the stadium's history. The vastly
differing character of European football stadiums has led to the growing
hobby of ground hopping where spectators make a journey to visit the
stadium for itself rather than for the event held there. In recent years the
trend of building completely new oval stadiums in Europe has led to
traditionalists criticising the designs as bland and lacking in the character of
the old stadiums they replace.
In North America, where baseball and American football are the two most
popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use
stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were
successful.
However, since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly
different, the trend, beginning with Kansas City in 1972–1973 and
accelerating in the 1990s, has been toward the construction of singlepurpose stadiums. In several cases, an American football stadium has
been constructed adjacent to a baseball park, to allow for the sharing of
mutual parking lots and other amenities. With the rise of MLS, the
construction of soccer-specific stadiums has also increased since the late
1990s to better fit the needs of that sport. In many cases, earlier baseball
stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block.
This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee
Stadium, for example, was built on a triangular city block in The
Bronx, New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a
small right field dimension.
Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States,
many baseball parks, including Fenway Park, the Polo Grounds, Wrigley
Field, Comiskey Park, Tiger Stadium, Griffith Stadium, Milwaukee County
Stadium, Shibe Park, Forbes Field, Yankee Stadium, and Sportsman's
Park were used by the National Football League or the American Football
League. (To a certain extent, this continues in lower football leagues as
well, with TD Ameritrade Park being used as the home stadium of the
United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks.) Along with today's single
use stadiums is the trend for retro style ballparks closer to downtown
areas. Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the first such ballpark for Major
League Baseball to be built, using early-20th-century styling with 21stcentury amenities.
There is a solar-powered stadium in Taiwan that produces as much energy
as it needs to function.[13]
Stadium designers often study acoustics to increase noise caused by fans'
voices, aiming to create a lively atmosphere.[14]
Spectator areas and seating
Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain is the largest stadium in Europe.
An "all-seater" stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are
designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term
"all-seater" is not common in the U.S., perhaps because very few American
stadiums have sizeable standing-only sections. Poor stadium design has
contributed to disasters, such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel
Stadium disaster. Since these, all FA Premier League, UEFA and FIFA
World Cup qualifying matches require all spectators to be seated (though
not necessarily in an all-seater stadium, if terraces are left empty).
The spectator areas of a stadium may be referred to as bleachers,
especially in the U.S., or as terraces, especially in the United Kingdom, but
also in some American baseball parks, as an alternative to the term tier.
Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped
with seating. Either way, the term originates from the step-like rows which
resembleagricultural terraces. Related, but not precisely the same, is the
use of the word terrace to describe a sloping portion of the outfield in a
baseball park, possibly, but not necessarily for seating, but for practical or
decorative purposes. The most famous of these was at Crosley
Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Many stadiums make luxury suites or boxes available to patrons at high
prices. These suites can accommodate fewer than 10 spectators or
upwards of 30 depending on the venue. Luxury suites at events such as
the Super Bowl can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Political and economic issues[
Empire Field, stadium made with temporary structures, cheaper than permanent.
Modern stadiums, especially the largest among them,
are megaprojects that can only be afforded by the largest corporations,
wealthiest individuals, or government. Sports fans have a deep emotional
attachment to their teams. In North America, with its closed-league
"franchise" system, there are fewer teams than cities which would like
them. This creates tremendousbargaining power for the owners of teams,
whereby owners can threaten to relocate teams to other cities unless
governments subsidize the construction of new facilities. [15] In Europe and
Latin America, where there are multiple association football clubs in any
given city, and several leagues in each country, no such monopoly power
exists, and stadiums are build primarily with private money. Outside of
professional sports, governments are also involved through the intense
competition for the right to host major sporting events, primarily
the Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (of association football),
during which cities often pledge to build new stadiums on order to satisfy
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA.
Corporate naming[
PGE Arena in Gdańsk, Poland is an example of corporate naming.
In recent decades, to help take the burden of the massive expense of
building and maintaining a stadium, many American and European sports
teams have sold the rights to the name of the facility. This trend, which
began in the 1970s, but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to
sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones.
In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of
success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years.
But many of the more recently built stadiums, like theVolkswagen
Arena in Wolfsburg, Germany, have never been known by a non-corporate
name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. There
remain a few municipally owned stadiums, which are often known by a
name that is significant to their area (for example, Minneapolis' Hubert H.
Humphrey Metrodome). In recent years, some government-owned
stadiums have also been subject to naming-rights agreements, with some
or all of the revenue often going to the team(s) that play there.
One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium
name changes, when the namesake corporation changes its name, or if it
is the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field, for
example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark, but was renamed to
reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's
historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years,
but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and
it was another two years before the new name of Monster Cable Products'
Monster Park was applied. Local opposition to the corporate naming of that
particular stadium led San Francisco's city council to permanently restore
the Candlestick Park name once the Monster contract expired. More
recently, in Ireland, there has been huge opposition to the renaming
of Dublin's historic Lansdowne Road as the Aviva Stadium. Lansdowne
was redeveloped as the Aviva, opening in May 2010.
On the other hand, Los Angeles' Great Western Forum, one of the earliest
examples of corporate renaming, retained its name for many years, even
after the namesake bank no longer existed, the corporate name being
dropped only after the building later changed ownership. This practice has
typically been less common in countries outside the United States. A
notable exception is the Nippon Professional Baseball league of Japan, in
which many of the teams are themselves named after their parent
corporations. Also, many new European football stadiums, such as
the Reebok and Emirates Stadiums in England and Signal Iduna
Park and Allianz Arena in Germany have been corporately named.
This new trend in corporate naming (or renaming) is distinguishable from
names of some older venues, such as Crosley Field, Wrigley Field, and the
first and second Busch Stadiums, in that the parks were named by and for
the club's owner, which also happened to be the name of the company
owned by those clubowners. (The current Busch Stadium received its
name via a modern naming rights agreement.) SkyDome
in Toronto, Canada was renamed Rogers Centre in 2005, removing any
reference that it is a domed stadium.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, some stadiums were
temporarily renamed because FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadiums. For
example, the Allianz Arena in Munich was called the FIFA World Cup
Stadium, Munich during the tournament. Likewise, the same stadium will be
known as the "München Arena" during the European Competitions. Similar
rules affect the Imtech Arena and Veltins-Arena. This rule applies even if
the stadium sponsor is an official FIFA sponsor—the Johannesburg
stadium commercially known as "Coca-Cola Park", bearing the name
of one of FIFA's major sponsors, was known by its historic name of Ellis
Park Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Corporate names are also
temporarily replaced during the Olympics.
Music venues
A Queen concert in Drammen, Norway in 1982, showing the scale and lighting of an arena rock
concert
From the 1960s stadiums began to be used as live music venues, giving
rise to the term "stadium rock", particularly for forms of hard
rock and progressive rock. The origins of stadium rock are sometimes
dated to when The Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York in 1965. Also
important was the use of large stadiums for American tours by bands in the
later 1960s, such as The Rolling Stones, Grand Funk Railroad and Led
Zeppelin. The tendency developed in the mid-1970s as the increased
power of amplification and sound systems allowed the use of larger and
larger venues.[16] Smoke, fireworks and sophisticated lighting shows
became staples of arena rock performances.[17] Key acts from this era
includedJourney, REO Speedwagon, Boston, Foreigner, Styx,[18] Kiss, Peter
Frampton[19] and Queen.[20][21] In the 1980s arena rock became dominated
by glam metal bands, following the lead of Aerosmith[22] and
including Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P. and Ratt.[23] Since the 1980s
pop and folk stars including Madonna, Britney Spears, Lepa Brena, Taylor
Swift andLady Gaga have undertaken large-scale stadium based tours. [
Football Ground
A football pitch (also known as a football field[1] or soccer field) is the
playing surface for the game of football made of turf. Its dimensions and
markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of
Play".[2]
All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define. For
example, a ball on or above the touchline is still on the field of play; a ball
on the line of the goal area is in the goal area; and a foul committed over
the 16.5-metre (18-yard) line has occurred in the penalty area. Therefore a
ball must completely cross the touchline to be out of play, and a ball must
wholly cross the goal line (between the goal posts) before a goal is scored;
if any part of the ball is still on or above the line, the ball is still in play.
The field descriptions that apply to adult matches are described below.
Note that due to the original formulation of the Laws in England and the
early supremacy of the four British football associations within IFAB, the
standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed inimperial
units. The Laws now express dimensions with
approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets),
Standard pitch measurements. Not all pitches are the same size, though the preferred
size for many professional teams' stadiums is 105 by 68 metres (115 yd × 74 yd) with
an area of 7,140 square metres (1.76 acres). Old Trafford is this size, with other pitches'
size a slight variation (Stamford Bridge, Santiago Bernabeu, La Bombonera)
but use of the imperial units remains common in some countries, especially
in the United Kingdom.
Pitch boundary
The Goal line at the Stretford End of Old Trafford in Manchester (1992)
The pitch is rectangular in shape. The longer sides are called touchlines.
The other opposing sides are called the goal lines. The two goal lines must
be between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) and be the same length.[3] The
two touch lines must also be of the same length, and be between 90 and
120 m (100 and 130 yd) in length.[3] However, in international matches, the
goal lines must be between 64 and 75 m (70 and 80 yd) long and the
touchlines must be between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd).[3] All lines
must be equally wide, not to exceed 12 centimetres (5 in).[3] The corners of
the pitch are demarcated by corner flags.[4]
In March 2008 the IFAB attempted to standardise the size of the football
pitch for international matches and set the official dimensions of a pitch to
105 m long by 68 m wide.[5] However, at a special meeting of the IFAB on 8
May 2008, it was ruled that this change would be put on hold pending a
review and the proposed change has not been implemented. [6]
Although the term goal line is often taken to mean only that part of the line
between the goalposts, in fact it refers to the complete line at either end of
the pitch, from one corner flag to the other. In contrast, the
term byline (or by-line) is often used to refer to that portion of the goal line
outside the goalposts. This term is commonly used in football
commentaries and match descriptions, such as this example from a BBC
match report; "Udeze gets to the left byline and his looping cross is
cleared..."[7]
Goals
A football goal
Goals are placed at the centre of each goal-line. [8] These consist of two
upright posts placed equidistant from the corner flagposts, joined at the top
by a horizontal crossbar. The inner edges of the posts must be 7.32 metres
(8 yd) apart, and the lower edge of the crossbar must be 2.44 metres (8 ft)
above the ground.[9] Nets are usually placed behind the goal, though are not
required by the Laws.
Goalposts and crossbars must be white, and made of wood, metal or other
approved material. Rules regarding the shape of goalposts and crossbars
are somewhat more lenient, but they must conform to a shape that does
not pose a threat to players. Since the beginning of the football there have
always been goalposts, but the crossbar wasn't invented until 1875, where
a string between the goalposts was used.[10]
A goal is scored when the ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts, even if a defending player last touched the ball before it crossed the
goal line (see own goal). A goal may, however, be ruled illegal (and void by
the referee) if the player who scored or a member of his team commits an
offence under any of the laws between the time the ball was previously out
of play and the goal being scored. It is also deemed void if a player on the
opposing team commits an offence before the ball has passed the line, as
in the case of fouls being committed, a penalty awarded but the ball
continued on a path that caused it to cross the goal line.
History of football goals and nets
Football goals were first described in England in the late 16th and early
17th centuries. In 1584 and 1602 respectively, John Norden and Richard
Carew referred to "goals" in Cornish hurling. Carew described how goals
were made: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote
asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelue [twelve] score off, other
twayne in like distance, which they terme their Goales". [11] The first
reference toscoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of
Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659). Similarly in a poem
in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to
the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". Solid crossbars were first
introduced by the Sheffield Rules. Football nets were invented
by Liverpool engineer John Brodie in 1891,[12] and they were a necessary
help for discussions about whether there had been scored. [13]
Penalty and goal areas
The penalty area is the large marked rectangular area. The smaller rectangle within it is the goal
area (here the yellow-shirted goalkeeper is the only player in the goal area). Thepenalty arc is
the curved line adjoining the "top" of the penalty area (here the red-shirted referee is standing
near the arc).
Two rectangular boxes are marked out on the pitch in front of each goal.
The goal area (colloquially the "six-yard box"), consists of the area formed
by the goal-line, two lines starting on the goal-line 6 yards (5 m) from the
goalposts and extending 6 yards (5 m) into the pitch from the goal-line, and
a line joining these. Goal kicks and any free kick by the defending team
may be taken from anywhere in this area. Indirect free kicks awarded to the
attacking team within the goal area must be taken from the point on the line
parallel to the goal line nearest where an incident occurred; they can not be
taken further within the goal-area. Similarly drop-balls that would otherwise
occur in the goal area are taken on this line.
The penalty area (colloquially "The 18-yard box" or just "The box") is
similarly formed by the goal-line and lines extending from it, however its
lines commence 18 yards (16 m) from the goalposts and extend 18 yards
(16 m) into the field. This area has a number of functions, the most
prominent being to denote where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and
where a foul by a defender, usually punished by a direct free kick, becomes
punishable by a penalty kick. Both the goal and penalty area were formed
as halfcircles until 1902.[14]
The penalty mark (or "penalty spot") is 11 metres (12 yd) in front of the very
centre of the goal; this is the point from where penalty kicks are taken.
The penalty arc (colloquially "the D") is marked from the outside edge of
the penalty area, 9.15 metres (10 yd) from the penalty mark; this, along
with the penalty area, marks an exclusion zone for all players other than
the attacking kicker and defending goalkeeper during a penalty kick.
Other markings
The centre circle is marked at 9.15 metres (10 yd) from the centre spot.
Similar to the penalty arc, this indicates the minimum distance that
opposing players must keep at kick-off; the ball itself is placed on
the centre spot.[14] During penalty shootouts all players other than the two
goalkeepers and the current kicker are required to remain within this circle.
The half-way line divides the pitch in two. The half which a team defends is
commonly referred to as being their half. Players must be within their own
half at a kick-off and may not be penalised as being offside in their own
half. The intersections between the half-way line and the touchline can be
indicated with flags like those marking the corners – the laws consider this
as an optional feature.[4]
The arcs in the corners denote the area (within 1 yard of the corner) in
which the ball has to be placed for corner kicks; opposition players have to
be 9.15 m (10 yd) away during a corner, and there may be optional lines
off-pitch 10 yards away from the corner on the goal- and touch-lines to help
gauge these distances.[8]
Turf[
Grass is the normal surface of play, although artificial turf may sometimes
be used especially in locations where maintenance of grass may be difficult
due to inclement weather. This may include areas where it is very wet,
causing the grass to deteriorate rapidly; where it is very dry, causing the
grass to die; and where the turf is under heavy use. Artificial turf pitches are
also increasingly common on the Scandinavian Peninsula, due to the
amount of snow during the winter months. The strain put on grass pitches
by the cold climate and subsequent snow clearing has necessitated the
installation of artificial turf in the stadia of many top-tier clubs in Norway,
Sweden and Finland. The latest artificial surfaces use rubber crumbs, as
opposed to the previous system of sand infill. Some leagues and football
associations have specifically prohibited artificial surfaces due to injury
concerns and require teams' home stadia to have grass pitches. All artificial
turf must be green and also meet the requirements specified in the FIFA
Quality Concept for Football Turf.
12000.
# Stadium
1
2
3
Salt Lake
Stadium
Capacity
120,000[1
]
Jawaharlal
Nehru
70,000
Stadium
Jawaharlal 60,000
Nehru
Stadium
Game(
City
s)
State
Home Team
East Bengal
Club, Moha
mmedan
SC, Mohun
Bagan
Foot
AC, Atlético
West
ball
Kolkata
de
Bengal
(Soccer
Kolkata,so
)
me Chirag
United
Sports
Club match
es
Crick
et,
F
ootball Kochi
(Soccer
)
Athl Delhi
etics,
Foot
ball
India
cricket
team (1998
–present)
Kerala
Chirag
United Club
Kerala (201
1–present)
Delhi
local
football
teams
(Soccer
)
4
E.M.S.
Stadium
53,000[7]
Foot
local
Kozhiko
ball
Kerala football
(Soccer de
teams
)
Foot
ball
Margao Goa
(Soccer
)
Dempo
Sports
Club, Salga
ocar Sports
Club, Sporti
ng Clube de
Goa
Foot
Chenna Tamil
ball
Nadu
(Soccer i
)
Indian Bank
Recreationa
l
Club, Chen
naiyin F.C.
5
Fatorda
Stadium
6
Chennai
Jawaharlal
40,000
Nehru
Stadium
7
Foot
Kanchenju
local
West
ball
[7]
nga
40,000
Siliguri
football
Bengal
(Soccer
Stadium
teams
)
8
JRD Tata
Sports
Complex
9
45,000
40,000[7]
Patliputra 40,000
Sports
Foot
local
Jamshe Jharkh
ball
football
and
(Soccer dpur
teams
)
Foot Patna
Bihar
local
football
ball
(Soccer
)
Complex
Sree
10 Kanteerav 40,000
a Stadium
11
Kalinga
Stadium
33,000
teams
Foot
Bengal Karnat Bengaluru
ball
aka
FC
(Soccer uru
)
Foot
ball
Samaleswa
(Soccer Bhuban
ri Sports
Odisha
Club, Kaling
), Fiel eswar
a Lancers
d
Hockey
Sree
12 Kanteerav 30,000[7]
a Stadium
Athl
etics,
Foot Bangal Karnat
ore
aka
ball
(Soccer
)
Indian
Telephone
Industries,
athletics
Khuman
Lampak
13
Main
Stadium
30,000[7]
Foot
Manip
ball
Imphal
ur
(Soccer
)
local
football
teams and
athletics
30,000
Foot
Ludhian
ball
Punjab JCT FC
(Soccer a
)
Guru
14 Nanak
Stadium
Indira
Gandhi
15
Athletic
Stadium
30,000[13]
Athl
NorthEast
etics,
United
FC,local
Foot Guwah
Assam
ati
football
ball
teams and
(Soccer
athletics
)
Foot
Dadaji
ball
16 Kondadev 30,000[7]
Thane
(Soccer
Stadium
)
local
Mahar
football
ashtra
teams
Malappura
Federation
m District
Cup 2014
Foot
Sports
Malapp
venue,
ball
17 Complex 28,000[14]
Kerala
Local
(Soccer uram
& Football
football
)
AcademyS
teams
tadium
18
Paljor
Stadium
East
19 Bengal
Ground
20 Mohun
Bagan
Ground
25,000
Foot
Gangto
United
ball
Sikkim
Sikkim F.C.
(Soccer k
)
23,500
Foot
West
ball
Kolkata
East Bengal
Bengal
(Soccer
)
22,000
Mohun
Foot Kolkata West
Bengal Bagan
ball
(Soccer
)
Guru
Gobind
21
Singh
Stadium
Satindra
Mohan
22
Dev
Stadium
23
24
Barasat
Stadium
Mangala
Stadium
Rajiv
Gandhi
25
Stadium
Mualpui
22,000
Foot
local
Jalandh
ball
Punjab football
(Soccer ar
teams
)
22,000
Foot
local
ball
Silchar Assam football
(Soccer
team
)
22,000
Calcutta
Foot
West
Football
ball
Kolkata
Bengal League mat
(Soccer
ches
)
20,000
Foot
Mangal Karnat Mangalore
ball
aka
United
(Soccer ore
)
20,000
Athl
etics,
Aizawl
Foot
ball
Ambedkar
26
20,000
Stadium
27 Anna
20,000
Foot
ball
Delhi
(Soccer
)
athletics,
Mizora local
m
football
team
India
Foot Tiruchir Tami
appalli Nadu
ball
ONGC
Football
Club
(Soccer
), Ho
ckey
Stadium
Rabindra
28 Sarobar
Stadium
18,000
Bangalore
29 Football
15,000
Stadium
Foot
West
Tollygunge
ball
Kolkata
Bengal Agragami
(Soccer
)
Foot
local
Bangal Karnat
ball
football
aka
(Soccer ore
teams
)
30
Ravi
Shankar
Shukla
Stadium
15,000
Madhy
Foot
local
Jabalpu a
ball
football
Prades
(Soccer r
teams
h
)
31
Thrissur
Municipal
15,000
Corporatio
n Stadium
Foot
local
ball
Thrissur Kerala football
(Soccer
team
)
32
Mohamme
dan
15,000
Sporting
Ground
Foot
Mohammed
West
ball
Kolkata
an Sporting
Bengal
(Soccer
Club
)
33 Kishore
12,000
Bharati
Krirangan(J
adavpur
Footb Kolkata
all
(Soccer)
West
local football
Bengal teams
Stadium)
Tilak
34 Maidan
Stadium
Footb
12,000
Vasco da
Goa
all
Gama
(Soccer)
Crick
12,000(Fo
Tau Devi Lal otball),
et,
Fo Gurgaon Haryan
35
Stadium
7,000(Cric otball
a
ket)
(Soccer)
local football
team
Haryana
cricket
team, Amity
United
Football Club
1.Salt Lake Stadium or Yuva Bharati Krirangan is a multipurpose stadium in Bidhannagar, Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the largest
stadium in India, also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance
and music concerts.and the second-largest stadium in the world by capacity.
The record attendance of 131,000 was set in 1997 in a match between East
Bengal FC and Mohun Bagan AC.
The stadium is situated approximately 10 km to the east of
the Kolkata downtown. The roof is made of metal tubes and aluminum sheets
and concrete. The stadium covers an area of 76.40 acres (309,200 m2) and it
was inaugurated in January, 1984.
The stadium also hosts important athletic events. It has hosted the SAF
Games in 1987 and various national athletics events in India. The stadium
also hosts different kinds of cultural programs such as dance and music
concerts.
A modern stadium (plural stadiums/stadia[1]) is a place or venue for
(mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or
stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to
allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event. [2]
Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event at the ancient
Greek Olympic festival was the race that comprised one length of the stade
at Olympia, where the word "stadium" originated.[3]
Computer imaging of the proposed new multi-purpose stadium at Baku in Azerbaijan
History
The oldest known stadium is the one in Olympia, in the
western Peloponnese, Greece, where the Olympic Games of antiquity were
held from 776 BC. Initially 'the Games' consisted of asingle event, a sprint
along the length of the stadium. The stadion, a measure of length, may be
related to the "Stadium", but the track at the Stadium at Olympia is longer
than the conventional stadion. Greek and Roman stadiums have been
found in numerous ancient cities, perhaps the most famous being
the Stadium of Domitian, in Rome.
The excavated and refurbished ancient Panathenaic stadium hosted an
early version of the Olympic Games in 1870,[4] 1875, 1896 and 1906. The
excavation and refurbishment of the stadium was part of the legacy of the
Greek national benefactor Evangelos Zappas, and it was the first ancient
stadium to be used in modern times.
Modern stadia
Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadiumin 1909.
The first stadia to be built in the modern era were basic facilities, designed
for the single purpose of fitting as many spectators in as possible. With
tremendous growth in the popularity of organised sport in the late Victorian
era, especially football in the United Kingdom and baseball in the U.S., the
first such structures were built.[5] One such early stadium was
theLansdowne Road Stadium, the brainchild of Henry Wallace Doveton
Dunlop (1844 -1930), who organised the first All
Ireland Athletics Championships. Banned from locating sporting events at
Trinity College, Dunlop built the stadium in 1872. "I laid down a cinder
running path of a quarter-mile, laid down the present Lansdowne Tennis
Club ground with my own theodolite, started a Lansdowne archery club, a
Lansdowne cricket club, and last, but not least, the Lansdowne Rugby
Football Club - colours red, black and yellow." Some 300 cartloads of soil
from a trench beneath the railway were used to raise the ground, allowing
Dunlop to utilise his engineering expertise to create a pitch envied around
Ireland.
Other early stadia from this period in the UK include the Stamford Bridge
stadium (opened in 1877 for the London Athletic Club) and Anfield
stadium (1884 as a venue for Everton F.C.).
In the U.S., many professional baseball teams built large stadia mainly out
of wood, with the first such venue being the South End Grounds in Boston,
opened in 1871 for the team then known as the Boston Beaneaters (now
the Atlanta Braves). However, many of these parks caught fire, and even
those that did not burn proved inadequate for a growing game. All of the
19th-century wooden parks were replaced, some after only a few years,
and none survive today.
Goodison Park was the first purpose-built football stadium in the
world. Walton-based building firm Kelly brothers were instructed to erect
two uncovered stands that could each accommodate 4,000 spectators. A
third covered stand accommodating 3,000 spectators was also requested.
[6]
Everton officials were impressed with the builder's workmanship and
agreed two further contracts: exterior hoardings were constructed at a cost
of £150 and 12 turnstiles were installed at a cost of £7 each.[7] The stadium
was officially opened on 24 August 1892 by Lord Kinnaird and Frederick
Wall of the Football Association. No football was played; instead the 12,000
crowd watched a short athletics event followed by music and a fireworks
display.[6]Upon its completion the stadium was the first joint purpose-built
football stadium in the world.[8]
The White City Stadium during the 1908 Summer Olympics.
The architect Archibald Leitch brought his experience with the construction
of industrial buildings to bear on the design of functional stadiums up and
down the country. His work encompassed the first 40 years of the 20th
century. One of his most notable designs was Old Trafford inManchester.
The ground was originally designed with a capacity of 100,000 spectators
and featured seating in the south stand under cover, while the remaining
three stands were left as terraces and uncovered. [9] It was the first stadium
to feature continuous seating along the contours of the stadium. [5]
These early venues, originally designed to host football matches, were
adopted for use by the Olympic Games, the first one being held in 1896
in Athens, Greece. TheWhite City Stadium, built for the 1908 Summer
Olympics in London is often cited as the first modern seater stadium.
Designed by the engineer J.J. Webster and completed in 10 months
by George Wimpey,[10] on the site of the Franco-British Exhibition, this
stadium with a seating capacity of 68,000 was opened by King Edward
VII on 27 April 1908.[11] Upon completion, the stadium had a running track
24 ft wide (7.3 m) and three laps to the mile (536 m); outside there was a
35-foot-wide (11 m), 660-yard (600 m) cycle track. The infield included a
swimming and diving pool. The London Highbury Stadium, built in 1913,
was the first stadium in the UK to feature a two-tiered seating arrangement
when it was redesigned in the Art Deco style in 1936.[5] However, two- and
three-tiered stadiums had been the standard in the US for several decades
prior to 1936. The first two-tiered stadium in that country was the Baker
Bowl, a baseball park in Philadelphia that opened in 1895. The first threetiered stadium came in 1923 with the opening of the original Yankee
Stadium in New York City.
The ancient stadium
Hippodrome; stadium; circus
The Greek hippodrome was the basic model for both the Roman stadium
and the Roman circus. A hippodrome and a stadium may be of similar size,
while the largest circus structures can have seating capacities up to ten
times greater. In practice, however, the association of one of these three
words with a given structure may be more the result of some naming
convention than a reflection of any characteristic of its physical size or
structure. Indeed from one epoch to another the same structure many be
known by different names. For example the Stadium of Domitian was also
known as the Circus Agonalis. In another example a structure at
Aphrodisias can be found referred to as a stadium, or a hippodrome, while
it has the size and structure of a small circus.
Examples of ancient stadiums[edit]
Name
Stadium at
Olympia
Stadium at
Delphi
Stadium of
Domitian
Countr
Earliest
y
date
Track length
Track width
Greece 776 BC
212.54 m (697.3 ft)
28.5 m (94 ft)
Greece 500 BC
177 m (581 ft)
25.5 m (84 ft)
Italy
80 AD
200 m (660 ft) - 250 m
(820 ft) (estimated)
Stadium at
Aphrodisias
Turkey
225 m (738 ft)
30 m (98 ft)
(approx.)
(approx.)
The modern stadium
Wembley Stadium in London,England
The Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen,Germany is an example of a stadium with a retractable roof
and a retractable pitch
Journalist Mario Filho Stadium, popularly known as Maracanã, one of the most famous
stadiums in the world.
Types
Domed stadiums are distinguished from conventional stadiums by their
enclosing roofs. Many of these are not actually domes in the pure
architectural sense, some being better described as vaults, some
having truss-supported roofs and others having more exotic designs such
as a tensegrity structure. But, in the context of sports stadiums, the term
"dome" has become standard for all covered stadiums, [12] particularly
because the first such enclosed stadium, the Houston Astrodome, was built
with an actual dome-shaped roof. Some stadiums have partial roofs, and a
few have even been designed to have moveable fields as part of the
infrastructure. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans is a true
dome structure made of a lamellar multi-ringed frame and has a diameter
of 680 feet (210) m. It is the largest fixed domed structure in the world.[6]
Even though enclosed, dome stadiums are called stadiums because they
are large enough for, and designed for, what are generally considered to be
outdoor sports such as athletics,American football, association
football, rugby, and baseball. Those designed for what are usually indoor
sports like basketball, ice hockey and volleyball are generally
called arenas. Exceptions include the basketball arena at Duke University,
which is called Cameron Indoor Stadium, Red Bull Arena, which is home of
the New York Red Bulls of MLS, and the now-demolished Chicago
Stadium, former home of the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL and Chicago
Bulls of the NBA.
Design issues
Different sports require fields of different size and shape. Some stadiums
are designed primarily for a single sport while others can accommodate
different events, particularly ones withretractable seating. Stadiums built
specifically for association football are quite common in Europe;
however, Gaelic games stadiums (such as the incomplete Croke Park)
would be most common in Ireland, while ones built specifically
for baseball or American football are common in the United States. The
most common multiple use design combines a football pitch with arunning
track, a combination which generally works fairly well, although certain
compromises must be made. The major drawback is that the stands are
necessarily set back a good distance from the pitch, especially at the ends
of the pitch. In the case of some smaller stadiums, there are not stands at
the ends. When there are stands all the way around, the stadium takes on
an oval shape. When one end is open, the stadium has a horseshoe
shape. All three configurations (open, oval and horseshoe) are common,
especially in the case of American college football stadiums. Rectangular
stadiums are more common in Europe, especially for football where many
stadiums have four often distinct and very different stands on the four sides
of the stadium. These are often all of different sizes and designs and have
been erected at different periods in the stadium's history. The vastly
differing character of European football stadiums has led to the growing
hobby of ground hopping where spectators make a journey to visit the
stadium for itself rather than for the event held there. In recent years the
trend of building completely new oval stadiums in Europe has led to
traditionalists criticising the designs as bland and lacking in the character of
the old stadiums they replace.
In North America, where baseball and American football are the two most
popular outdoor spectator sports, a number of football/baseball multi-use
stadiums were built, especially during the 1960s, and some of them were
successful.
However, since the requirements for baseball and football are significantly
different, the trend, beginning with Kansas City in 1972–1973 and
accelerating in the 1990s, has been toward the construction of singlepurpose stadiums. In several cases, an American football stadium has
been constructed adjacent to a baseball park, to allow for the sharing of
mutual parking lots and other amenities. With the rise of MLS, the
construction of soccer-specific stadiums has also increased since the late
1990s to better fit the needs of that sport. In many cases, earlier baseball
stadiums were constructed to fit into a particular land area or city block.
This resulted in asymmetrical dimensions for many baseball fields. Yankee
Stadium, for example, was built on a triangular city block in The
Bronx, New York City. This resulted in a large left field dimension but a
small right field dimension.
Before more modern football stadiums were built in the United States,
many baseball parks, including Fenway Park, the Polo Grounds, Wrigley
Field, Comiskey Park, Tiger Stadium, Griffith Stadium, Milwaukee County
Stadium, Shibe Park, Forbes Field, Yankee Stadium, and Sportsman's
Park were used by the National Football League or the American Football
League. (To a certain extent, this continues in lower football leagues as
well, with TD Ameritrade Park being used as the home stadium of the
United Football League's Omaha Nighthawks.) Along with today's single
use stadiums is the trend for retro style ballparks closer to downtown
areas. Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the first such ballpark for Major
League Baseball to be built, using early-20th-century styling with 21stcentury amenities.
There is a solar-powered stadium in Taiwan that produces as much energy
as it needs to function.[13]
Stadium designers often study acoustics to increase noise caused by fans'
voices, aiming to create a lively atmosphere.[14]
Spectator areas and seating
Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain is the largest stadium in Europe.
An "all-seater" stadium has seats for all spectators. Other stadiums are
designed so that all or some spectators stand to view the event. The term
"all-seater" is not common in the U.S., perhaps because very few American
stadiums have sizeable standing-only sections. Poor stadium design has
contributed to disasters, such as the Hillsborough disaster and the Heysel
Stadium disaster. Since these, all FA Premier League, UEFA and FIFA
World Cup qualifying matches require all spectators to be seated (though
not necessarily in an all-seater stadium, if terraces are left empty).
The spectator areas of a stadium may be referred to as bleachers,
especially in the U.S., or as terraces, especially in the United Kingdom, but
also in some American baseball parks, as an alternative to the term tier.
Originally set out for standing room only, they are now usually equipped
with seating. Either way, the term originates from the step-like rows which
resembleagricultural terraces. Related, but not precisely the same, is the
use of the word terrace to describe a sloping portion of the outfield in a
baseball park, possibly, but not necessarily for seating, but for practical or
decorative purposes. The most famous of these was at Crosley
Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Many stadiums make luxury suites or boxes available to patrons at high
prices. These suites can accommodate fewer than 10 spectators or
upwards of 30 depending on the venue. Luxury suites at events such as
the Super Bowl can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Political and economic issues[
Empire Field, stadium made with temporary structures, cheaper than permanent.
Modern stadiums, especially the largest among them,
are megaprojects that can only be afforded by the largest corporations,
wealthiest individuals, or government. Sports fans have a deep emotional
attachment to their teams. In North America, with its closed-league
"franchise" system, there are fewer teams than cities which would like
them. This creates tremendousbargaining power for the owners of teams,
whereby owners can threaten to relocate teams to other cities unless
governments subsidize the construction of new facilities. [15] In Europe and
Latin America, where there are multiple association football clubs in any
given city, and several leagues in each country, no such monopoly power
exists, and stadiums are build primarily with private money. Outside of
professional sports, governments are also involved through the intense
competition for the right to host major sporting events, primarily
the Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (of association football),
during which cities often pledge to build new stadiums on order to satisfy
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) or FIFA.
Corporate naming[
PGE Arena in Gdańsk, Poland is an example of corporate naming.
In recent decades, to help take the burden of the massive expense of
building and maintaining a stadium, many American and European sports
teams have sold the rights to the name of the facility. This trend, which
began in the 1970s, but accelerated greatly in the 1990s, has led to
sponsors' names being affixed to both established stadiums and new ones.
In some cases, the corporate name replaces (with varying degrees of
success) the name by which the venue has been known for many years.
But many of the more recently built stadiums, like theVolkswagen
Arena in Wolfsburg, Germany, have never been known by a non-corporate
name. The sponsorship phenomenon has since spread worldwide. There
remain a few municipally owned stadiums, which are often known by a
name that is significant to their area (for example, Minneapolis' Hubert H.
Humphrey Metrodome). In recent years, some government-owned
stadiums have also been subject to naming-rights agreements, with some
or all of the revenue often going to the team(s) that play there.
One consequence of corporate naming has been an increase in stadium
name changes, when the namesake corporation changes its name, or if it
is the naming agreement simply expires. Phoenix's Chase Field, for
example, was previously known as Bank One Ballpark, but was renamed to
reflect the takeover of the latter corporation. San Francisco's
historic Candlestick Park was renamed as 3Com Park for several years,
but the name was dropped when the sponsorship agreement expired, and
it was another two years before the new name of Monster Cable Products'
Monster Park was applied. Local opposition to the corporate naming of that
particular stadium led San Francisco's city council to permanently restore
the Candlestick Park name once the Monster contract expired. More
recently, in Ireland, there has been huge opposition to the renaming
of Dublin's historic Lansdowne Road as the Aviva Stadium. Lansdowne
was redeveloped as the Aviva, opening in May 2010.
On the other hand, Los Angeles' Great Western Forum, one of the earliest
examples of corporate renaming, retained its name for many years, even
after the namesake bank no longer existed, the corporate name being
dropped only after the building later changed ownership. This practice has
typically been less common in countries outside the United States. A
notable exception is the Nippon Professional Baseball league of Japan, in
which many of the teams are themselves named after their parent
corporations. Also, many new European football stadiums, such as
the Reebok and Emirates Stadiums in England and Signal Iduna
Park and Allianz Arena in Germany have been corporately named.
This new trend in corporate naming (or renaming) is distinguishable from
names of some older venues, such as Crosley Field, Wrigley Field, and the
first and second Busch Stadiums, in that the parks were named by and for
the club's owner, which also happened to be the name of the company
owned by those clubowners. (The current Busch Stadium received its
name via a modern naming rights agreement.) SkyDome
in Toronto, Canada was renamed Rogers Centre in 2005, removing any
reference that it is a domed stadium.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, some stadiums were
temporarily renamed because FIFA prohibits sponsorship of stadiums. For
example, the Allianz Arena in Munich was called the FIFA World Cup
Stadium, Munich during the tournament. Likewise, the same stadium will be
known as the "München Arena" during the European Competitions. Similar
rules affect the Imtech Arena and Veltins-Arena. This rule applies even if
the stadium sponsor is an official FIFA sponsor—the Johannesburg
stadium commercially known as "Coca-Cola Park", bearing the name
of one of FIFA's major sponsors, was known by its historic name of Ellis
Park Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Corporate names are also
temporarily replaced during the Olympics.
Music venues
A Queen concert in Drammen, Norway in 1982, showing the scale and lighting of an arena rock
concert
From the 1960s stadiums began to be used as live music venues, giving
rise to the term "stadium rock", particularly for forms of hard
rock and progressive rock. The origins of stadium rock are sometimes
dated to when The Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York in 1965. Also
important was the use of large stadiums for American tours by bands in the
later 1960s, such as The Rolling Stones, Grand Funk Railroad and Led
Zeppelin. The tendency developed in the mid-1970s as the increased
power of amplification and sound systems allowed the use of larger and
larger venues.[16] Smoke, fireworks and sophisticated lighting shows
became staples of arena rock performances.[17] Key acts from this era
includedJourney, REO Speedwagon, Boston, Foreigner, Styx,[18] Kiss, Peter
Frampton[19] and Queen.[20][21] In the 1980s arena rock became dominated
by glam metal bands, following the lead of Aerosmith[22] and
including Mötley Crüe, Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P. and Ratt.[23] Since the 1980s
pop and folk stars including Madonna, Britney Spears, Lepa Brena, Taylor
Swift andLady Gaga have undertaken large-scale stadium based tours. [
Football Ground
A football pitch (also known as a football field[1] or soccer field) is the
playing surface for the game of football made of turf. Its dimensions and
markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of
Play".[2]
All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define. For
example, a ball on or above the touchline is still on the field of play; a ball
on the line of the goal area is in the goal area; and a foul committed over
the 16.5-metre (18-yard) line has occurred in the penalty area. Therefore a
ball must completely cross the touchline to be out of play, and a ball must
wholly cross the goal line (between the goal posts) before a goal is scored;
if any part of the ball is still on or above the line, the ball is still in play.
The field descriptions that apply to adult matches are described below.
Note that due to the original formulation of the Laws in England and the
early supremacy of the four British football associations within IFAB, the
standard dimensions of a football pitch were originally expressed inimperial
units. The Laws now express dimensions with
approximate metric equivalents (followed by traditional units in brackets),
Standard pitch measurements. Not all pitches are the same size, though the preferred
size for many professional teams' stadiums is 105 by 68 metres (115 yd × 74 yd) with
an area of 7,140 square metres (1.76 acres). Old Trafford is this size, with other pitches'
size a slight variation (Stamford Bridge, Santiago Bernabeu, La Bombonera)
but use of the imperial units remains common in some countries, especially
in the United Kingdom.
Pitch boundary
The Goal line at the Stretford End of Old Trafford in Manchester (1992)
The pitch is rectangular in shape. The longer sides are called touchlines.
The other opposing sides are called the goal lines. The two goal lines must
be between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) and be the same length.[3] The
two touch lines must also be of the same length, and be between 90 and
120 m (100 and 130 yd) in length.[3] However, in international matches, the
goal lines must be between 64 and 75 m (70 and 80 yd) long and the
touchlines must be between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd).[3] All lines
must be equally wide, not to exceed 12 centimetres (5 in).[3] The corners of
the pitch are demarcated by corner flags.[4]
In March 2008 the IFAB attempted to standardise the size of the football
pitch for international matches and set the official dimensions of a pitch to
105 m long by 68 m wide.[5] However, at a special meeting of the IFAB on 8
May 2008, it was ruled that this change would be put on hold pending a
review and the proposed change has not been implemented. [6]
Although the term goal line is often taken to mean only that part of the line
between the goalposts, in fact it refers to the complete line at either end of
the pitch, from one corner flag to the other. In contrast, the
term byline (or by-line) is often used to refer to that portion of the goal line
outside the goalposts. This term is commonly used in football
commentaries and match descriptions, such as this example from a BBC
match report; "Udeze gets to the left byline and his looping cross is
cleared..."[7]
Goals
A football goal
Goals are placed at the centre of each goal-line. [8] These consist of two
upright posts placed equidistant from the corner flagposts, joined at the top
by a horizontal crossbar. The inner edges of the posts must be 7.32 metres
(8 yd) apart, and the lower edge of the crossbar must be 2.44 metres (8 ft)
above the ground.[9] Nets are usually placed behind the goal, though are not
required by the Laws.
Goalposts and crossbars must be white, and made of wood, metal or other
approved material. Rules regarding the shape of goalposts and crossbars
are somewhat more lenient, but they must conform to a shape that does
not pose a threat to players. Since the beginning of the football there have
always been goalposts, but the crossbar wasn't invented until 1875, where
a string between the goalposts was used.[10]
A goal is scored when the ball crosses the goal line between the goalposts, even if a defending player last touched the ball before it crossed the
goal line (see own goal). A goal may, however, be ruled illegal (and void by
the referee) if the player who scored or a member of his team commits an
offence under any of the laws between the time the ball was previously out
of play and the goal being scored. It is also deemed void if a player on the
opposing team commits an offence before the ball has passed the line, as
in the case of fouls being committed, a penalty awarded but the ball
continued on a path that caused it to cross the goal line.
History of football goals and nets
Football goals were first described in England in the late 16th and early
17th centuries. In 1584 and 1602 respectively, John Norden and Richard
Carew referred to "goals" in Cornish hurling. Carew described how goals
were made: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote
asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelue [twelve] score off, other
twayne in like distance, which they terme their Goales". [11] The first
reference toscoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of
Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659). Similarly in a poem
in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to
the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". Solid crossbars were first
introduced by the Sheffield Rules. Football nets were invented
by Liverpool engineer John Brodie in 1891,[12] and they were a necessary
help for discussions about whether there had been scored. [13]
Penalty and goal areas
The penalty area is the large marked rectangular area. The smaller rectangle within it is the goal
area (here the yellow-shirted goalkeeper is the only player in the goal area). Thepenalty arc is
the curved line adjoining the "top" of the penalty area (here the red-shirted referee is standing
near the arc).
Two rectangular boxes are marked out on the pitch in front of each goal.
The goal area (colloquially the "six-yard box"), consists of the area formed
by the goal-line, two lines starting on the goal-line 6 yards (5 m) from the
goalposts and extending 6 yards (5 m) into the pitch from the goal-line, and
a line joining these. Goal kicks and any free kick by the defending team
may be taken from anywhere in this area. Indirect free kicks awarded to the
attacking team within the goal area must be taken from the point on the line
parallel to the goal line nearest where an incident occurred; they can not be
taken further within the goal-area. Similarly drop-balls that would otherwise
occur in the goal area are taken on this line.
The penalty area (colloquially "The 18-yard box" or just "The box") is
similarly formed by the goal-line and lines extending from it, however its
lines commence 18 yards (16 m) from the goalposts and extend 18 yards
(16 m) into the field. This area has a number of functions, the most
prominent being to denote where the goalkeeper may handle the ball and
where a foul by a defender, usually punished by a direct free kick, becomes
punishable by a penalty kick. Both the goal and penalty area were formed
as halfcircles until 1902.[14]
The penalty mark (or "penalty spot") is 11 metres (12 yd) in front of the very
centre of the goal; this is the point from where penalty kicks are taken.
The penalty arc (colloquially "the D") is marked from the outside edge of
the penalty area, 9.15 metres (10 yd) from the penalty mark; this, along
with the penalty area, marks an exclusion zone for all players other than
the attacking kicker and defending goalkeeper during a penalty kick.
Other markings
The centre circle is marked at 9.15 metres (10 yd) from the centre spot.
Similar to the penalty arc, this indicates the minimum distance that
opposing players must keep at kick-off; the ball itself is placed on
the centre spot.[14] During penalty shootouts all players other than the two
goalkeepers and the current kicker are required to remain within this circle.
The half-way line divides the pitch in two. The half which a team defends is
commonly referred to as being their half. Players must be within their own
half at a kick-off and may not be penalised as being offside in their own
half. The intersections between the half-way line and the touchline can be
indicated with flags like those marking the corners – the laws consider this
as an optional feature.[4]
The arcs in the corners denote the area (within 1 yard of the corner) in
which the ball has to be placed for corner kicks; opposition players have to
be 9.15 m (10 yd) away during a corner, and there may be optional lines
off-pitch 10 yards away from the corner on the goal- and touch-lines to help
gauge these distances.[8]
Turf[
Grass is the normal surface of play, although artificial turf may sometimes
be used especially in locations where maintenance of grass may be difficult
due to inclement weather. This may include areas where it is very wet,
causing the grass to deteriorate rapidly; where it is very dry, causing the
grass to die; and where the turf is under heavy use. Artificial turf pitches are
also increasingly common on the Scandinavian Peninsula, due to the
amount of snow during the winter months. The strain put on grass pitches
by the cold climate and subsequent snow clearing has necessitated the
installation of artificial turf in the stadia of many top-tier clubs in Norway,
Sweden and Finland. The latest artificial surfaces use rubber crumbs, as
opposed to the previous system of sand infill. Some leagues and football
associations have specifically prohibited artificial surfaces due to injury
concerns and require teams' home stadia to have grass pitches. All artificial
turf must be green and also meet the requirements specified in the FIFA
Quality Concept for Football Turf.
