Arsenal’s decision to move from their iconic Highbury Stadium in 2006 was a landmark moment in the club’s illustrious history.
The Emirates Stadium is now established as one of the finest venues in European football, providing a fitting arena for the team to showcase their talents.
Read on as we take a closer look at the Emirates Stadium including its history, the pitch, seating capacity and how to tour Arsenal’s home.
Emirates Stadium History
Arsenal were denied planning permission by Islington Council to expand Highbury in 1997, forcing them to search for a suitable location for another home.
The club subsequently purchased an industrial and waste disposal estate in Ashburton Grove and were given the approval to build a new stadium there.
The project to build the Emirates Stadium was completed in 2006, with the total cost coming in at a whopping £390 million.
Arsenal worked hard to secure finance for the project, making a profit on player trading, organising a bond scheme and securing new sponsorship deals.
Emirates bought naming rights for the stadium in 2004 for around £100m and have since agreed a new deal worth £150m.
The club announced renovation plans earlier this year which included the installation of new video boards and refurbishment of the stadium roof.
Emirates Stadium Pitch
The playing surface at the Emirates Stadium is one of the best in professional football and is loving maintained using sustainable methods.
The grounds team use modern football pitch line marking to ensure all the lines conform completely to Football Association regulations.
The club have ditched petrol-driven mowers for electric mowers which are powered in their entirety by renewable power from the club’s energy partner.
Arsenal utilise LED technology to supplement natural sunlight to ensure strong grass growth, while garlic is used to kill nematodes – a parasite that eats grassroots.
The club has several technology elements to monitor the pitch including an on-site weather station and temperature and moisture probes.
These provide detailed information about the best times to use irrigation or undersoil heating and have helped Arsenal reduce the amount of fertiliser they use.
Emirates Stadium Seating Capacity
Having used the latest football pitch line marking machine to mark out the playing surface, the club also ensure fans get a perfect view of the action from the stands.
The current seated capacity is 60,704, but the stadium has the scope to be expanded pending the appropriate approval from the local council.
The lower and upper parts of the stadium have standard seating, while the middle tier is the premium area which includes the director’s box.
There are more than 7,000 seats at this level, while another 2,200 fans can watch games from 150 boxes located immediately above.
Away fans are housed in the southeast corner of the lower tier, with the configuration allowing up to 4,500 seats to be allocated to them.
The club also has the same number of seats available in the nearby upper tier, thus allowing them to give more tickets to away fans where competition rules require them to do so.
Emirates Stadium Tour
Arsenal offer fans the opportunity to explore the Emirates Stadium courtesy of immersive tours throughout the year.
The standard tour includes access to the players’ entrance, director’s box, Diamond Club, dressing rooms and players’ tunnel.
You can also walk around the pitch, see the dugouts, check out the interview rooms and see where the media are situated on matchdays.
Fans are provided with a handset on their journey around the stadium which provides them with commentary from Lee Dixon, Charlie George or Nigel Mitchell.
The tour offers free entry to the Arsenal Museum, a free personalised tour certificate and free Arsenal-branded headphones.
With a Legend Tour, Matchday Tour and VIP Legend Experience also available, there are plenty of ways to enjoy a visit to the Emirates Stadium.
