February 28 – Manchester City has unveiled design concepts for the expansion of the Etihad Stadium capacity to more than 60,000, and the creation of an upgraded entertainment, sport and leisure centre on a widened footprint of the Etihad Campus.
The club said that it wants to create a year-round “destination” with best-in-class facilities making the wider area “globally relevant”.
The club announced in December last year that feasibility studies for the expansion were under way. The local community is now being invited to feedback on the concepts and designs with a deadline of March 26 for their submissions.
The core stadium development is an expanded North Stand with a larger, single upper tier above the existing lower tier increasing stadium capacity to over 60,000 from the current 53,000.
The club said several connected all-weather facilities would be fully integrated into the stadium.
Outside the stadium a covered City Square fan zone, with a capacity of 3,000, would provide a variety of food and drink outlets, new club shop, museum and hotel.
They are “all proposed in order to offer a broader range of dynamic matchday and non-matchday activities,” said the club.
The area would also provide “modest” workspace for use by start-up and medium-sized organisations “looking to co-locate and collaborate with the Club, City Football Group and Etihad Campus partners”.
The club said that City Football Group, its owners, has overseen more than £700 million of investment into the Etihad Campus and East Manchester since 2008. No figure was given for the cost of the proposed development but the club said that if a planning application goes ahead and is passed the build will take three years to complete.
The club emphasised the investment in creating local jobs in the past and that this “initiative would ensure that training, recruitment and employment opportunities are prioritised for local people.”
The Eithad Campus already has a range of facilities on-site, including City Football Academy, the Connell Co-op College, the Manchester Institute of Health & Performance and Co-op Live, the UK’s biggest and most sustainable arena, which opens in December 2023.
The new plans would further enhance the club and its stadium as a global football centre.
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