Britannia Stadium

From English Premier

The Britannia Stadium is the home of Stoke City F.C., the club had played at the Victoria Ground until 1997 and the move was the brainchild of then-Chief Executive Jez Moxey. The club's manager at this time was Chic Bates. It was originally owned jointly by Stoke City F.C., Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd., however, Stoke City F.C. bought all shares in the stadium in a deal worth £6 million finalised in December 2007.

The new stadium holds 28,383 supporters, with the highest attendance being recorded for the sell out fixture against Everton in their FA Cup 3rd Round tie in 2002. The 'away end' holds a maximum of 4,800 visiting supporters. Due to the capacity being under 30,000, it is not eligible to be a UEFA 4 star stadium. If it was above this capacity it has all the specifications to be a UEFA 4 Star Stadium.[citation needed] The cantilever Stadium has four stands, but only one enclosed corner. The first goal in the stadium was scored by Graham Kavanagh for Stoke in a league cup game against Rochdale.

The first ever Premier League fixture on the ground will be played in August 2008 - after Stoke gained promotion to the top flight of English football.