St Mary's Stadium

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = St. Mary's Stadium
nickname = St. Mary's

UEFA
location = Southampton, England
coordinates = 50°54′20.99″N, 1°23′27.80″W
broke_ground = 2000
opened = August 2001
renovated =
expanded =
closed =
demolished =
owner = Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC
operator = Southampton F.C.
surface = Grass
Constructor = Barr
construction_cost = £32 million
architect =
former_names =
The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium
nicknames =
tenants =
Southampton
seating_capacity =
32,689 [cite web |url=http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/ClubsChampionship/0,,10794~692492,00.html |title=Southampton Club Profile |author= The Football League]
dimensions =
112 × 74 yards

St Mary's Stadium is the home of Southampton F.C. in the city of Southampton. It is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium and with a capacity of 32,689 is the largest football stadium in the south of England, outside of London.

Southampton were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2004-05 season and have remained at that division of English football since. This has seen a reduction in the average crowd size to around 23,500, although attendances have fluctuated from 17,500 to 32,000.

Brief History

After a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to build a new 25,000 seater stadium and leisure complex at Stoneham, on the outskirts of Southampton, the city council offered the club the chance to build a new ground on the disused gas work site in the heart of the city, about one and half miles from The Dell. The move was cited as the club returning home, due to the fact that 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 FC, and eventually Southampton FC.

Construction started in December 1999 and was completed at the end of July 2001, with work on the stadium itself and improvements to local infrastructure cost a total of £32 million.

The Saints have been in residence since August 1, 2001 when they moved from the The Dell, which for the final years of its life, 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 not scored by a Saints player, nor was it scored in a game involving Southampton FC. That honour goes to former Aldershot Town striker Stafford Browne, who scored three goals in the Shots' 3–1 victory over Havant & Waterlooville in the Hampshire Senior Cup final on 1 May 2002. [http://www.theshots.co.uk/uploads/documents/Aldershot12803Pages1.XLS]

Description

The stadium is a complete bowl, with all stands of equal height. There are two large 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, when looking from the centre circle. The main (east) stand is the Itchen Stand, and faces the River Itchen. The opposite stand 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 pitch. A large section of the roof at the Chapel Stand, at the southern end of the stadium is also translucent, for the same reason

At the rear of the Itchen Stand, there are 42 executive boxes, and a police control room. The stand also houses the club's offices, changing rooms, press facilities and corporate hospitality suites. The four main hospitality suites are named after some of Saints' greatest players:

* Terry Paine
* Mick Channon
* Bobby Stokes
* Matt Le Tissier

The Northam Stand is home to the majority of the more vocal supporters, as 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

The official ground name at opening was 'The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium'. Initially the club wanted the ground to be named purely after the sponsors, but fan pressure influenced the decision to include a non-commercial title, and hence the ground is now nearly always referred to simply as 'St Mary's'. It is a rare example of fans successfully influencing club stadium naming policy in recent years, and one which earned Southampton fans respect amongst many other football fans. In 2006 the new sponsor Flybe.com did not choose to purchase the naming rights to the stadium, meaning it reverted to the name 'St Mary's Stadium'.

Capacity

The ground has an all-seated capacity of 32,689, including the press and directors boxes. Because of the segregation between home and away fans in the Northam Stand, it is unlikely the full capacity will ever be reached for a competitive Southampton match.

The current record attendance was for the match between Southampton and Arsenal on December 29 2003, when 32,151 spectators attended.

The lowest crowd for a Southampton F.C. first team match came on Tuesday 11 March 2008 against Leicester City, when just 17,741 attended. [cite web |date = 12 March 2008|url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/saints/news/display.var.2112477.0.at_last_a_double_dose_of_hope_for_the_fans.php
title=At last, a double dose of hope for the fans ... |author=www.dailyecho.co.uk]

The Ted Bates Statue

On Saturday March 17 2007, the £102,000 statue to commemorate club stalwart Ted Bates was unveiled, outside the front of the Itchen Stand. The statue has been widely condemned by supporters due to it being out of proportion, and not an accurate likeness of the former club President.

Former chairman, Leon Crouch has since said that he will help fund any a replacement or remedial work, in association with the Ted Bates Trust, who were overseeing the collection of funds, commission and erection of the statue. The 11-foot statue was made by sculptor Ian Brennan.

The statue was removed less than a week after its unveiling. The replacement statue was unveiled on Saturday 22 March 2008. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7309651.stm|title= Second Ted Bates statue unveiled |accessdate=2008-03-13 |owner= www.bbc.co.uk ]

Notable matches

The St Mary's Stadium has hosted one full England international match, a 2-2 draw between England and FYR Macedonia in October 2002. David Beckham and Steven Gerrard scored for England. Alan Smith was sent off in the match.

There has also been an international between Japan and Nigeria.

The stadium hosted European football in September 2003, when the Saints faced Steaua Bucharest in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The stadium has hosted an England under-21 match. This was held on February 5,2008. When England played Republic of Ireland. England won 3-0.

The stadium has also hosted the Alan Ball Memorial Cup; part of the ITV 4 series The Legends. The game was between England Legends and Scotland Legends. The game was held on May 5,2008. The game ended 2-0 to England Legends who retained the cup.

Non-footballing use

As is common for modern day stadia, St Mary's is also used as a conference facility, with hospitality suites available for this purpose most days of the week.

In the Northam Stand the Saints Study Support Centre - a club run initiative to help school children outside of class - can be found, along with the offices of Southampton City Training, a quasi-council run organisation which helps young people get vocational training.

The stadium has also held film premières for movies such as Casino Royale, as well as music concerts by Elton John in 2005 and Bon Jovi in 2006. There was a tribute to Elvis Presley in August 2007 and Southampton fan Craig David played at St Mary's on 25 October 2007, although neither in the main bowl of the stadium.

Bon Jovi have announced that they will be returning to St Mary's on 11 June 2008. [cite web |url=http://www.bonjovi.com/bonjovi/blog.php?uf_item_id=1-104325&uf_system_id=0 |title= Bon Jovi Announce Tour|accessdate=2007-11-05 |format= www.bonjovi.com ]

Expansion

All stands bar the Itchen can be built upon and expanded if ever deemed necessary, which would give an approximate capacity of around 50,000. However this would cost a similar amount to how much it cost to build the stadium in the first place.

Location

Despite the name of the stadium, it is actually located in the Chapel area of the city - not St Mary's. The address of the stadium is:

"Southampton Football Club
"St. Mary's Stadium
"Britannia Road
"Southampton
"SO14 5FP"

Facts and Figures

Average Attendance:

2007-08: 22,253 (The Championship) [ [http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Attendance/0,,10794~200710280,00.html Football League official statistics 2007-08] ]
2006-07: 23,556 (The Championship)
2005-06: 23,614 (The Championship)
2004-05: 30,610 (The FA Premier League)
2003-04: 31,699 (The FA Premier League)
2002-03: 30,680 (The FA Premier League)
2001-02: 30,633 (The FA Premier League)
Record Attendance:
32,151 v Arsenal, December 29 2003

Biggest Saints win at St Mary's
6-1 v Tranmere Rovers, League Cup October 2 2002
4-0 v Hull City, Championship 8 December 2007

Biggest Saints defeat at St Mary's
0-4 v Manchester United, FA Cup March 12 2005
Highest Scoring Games at St Mary's
6-1 v Tranmere Rovers, League Cup October 2 2002
4-3 v Norwich City, Premier League April 30 2005
3-4 v Leeds United, Championship November 19 2005
5-2 v Yeovil Town, League Cup August 23 2006
4-3 v Birmingham City, Championship November 29 2006
5-2 v Barnsley, Championship February 17 2007
2-5 v Lazio, Friendly July 28 2007

References

External links

* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Britannia+Road,+Southampton&ie=UTF8&ll=50.905631,-1.390543&spn=0.003173,0.009377&t=k&om=1 Satellite image of St Mary's Stadium] from Google Maps
* [http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/park/yfh45/south.htm Review St Mary's] at the Football Ground Guide
* [http://www.upthesaints.com/stadiumIndex.asp Up The Saints] ' guide to St Mary's
* [http://www.saintsforever.com/stmarys.html Saints Forever] 's guide to St Mary's
* [http://www.saintsforever.com/map.html Saints Forever] 's Pub Guide
* [http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/home The Official Website] of Southampton FC.