Etihad Stadium

History

The Etihad Stadium (formerly known as City of Manchester Stadium before being renamed for sponsorship reasons) is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 61,038, making it the 6th-largest football stadium in England and 8th-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. Built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the stadium has since staged the 2008 UEFA Cup final, England football internationals, rugby league matches, a boxing world title fight, the England rugby union team's final group match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and summer music concerts during the football off-season. The stadium, originally proposed as an athletics arena in Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, was converted after the 2002 Commonwealth Games from a 38,000 capacity arena to a 48,000 seat football stadium at a cost to the city council of £22 million and to Manchester City of £20 million. Manchester City agreed to lease the stadium from Manchester City Council and moved there from Maine Road in the summer of 2003.