St Mary's | |
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  St Mary's Stadium Location of St Mary's | |
| Former names | The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Britannia Rd, Southampton, England |
| Coordinates | 50°54′21″N 1°23′28″W / 50.90583°N 1.39111°W |
| Operator | Southampton |
| Capacity | 32,384[1] |
| Record attendance | 32,363 (Southampton v Coventry City, 28 April 2012) |
| Field size | 105 by 68 metres (115 yd × 74 yd)[1] |
| Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 2000 |
| Opened | August 2001 |
| Construction cost | £32 million |
| Tenants | |
| Southampton (2001–present) Southampton Women (2022–)
| |
St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384[1] and is currently the largest football stadium in South East England.
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 speculation about relocation continued, especially as an all-seater Dell had a capacity of just over 15,000; despite this, Southampton continued to defy the odds and survive in the new FA Premier League after 1992.
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, 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, and eventually Southampton. Construction started in December 1999 and was completed at the end of July 2001, with work on the 32,689[2] seat stadium itself and improvements to local infrastructure cost a total of £32 million.
The Saints have been in residence since August 2001 when they moved from 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 Espanyol, with the Spanish club 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]
In 2022, the stadium was used one of the venues to host the UEFA Women's Euro 2022. It was used to host Group A matches, which had the hosts England.[4]
- ^ a b c "Premier League Handbook 2020/21" (PDF). Premier League. p. 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
- ^ "Southampton City Council planning documents". Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ UEFA.com (2 August 2022). "Event guide: Southampton | UEFA Women's EURO 2022". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.