Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are a football club based in north London. They play in the FA Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football. Arsenal have won 13 First Division and Premier League titles (only Liverpool and Manchester United have won more), and 10 FA Cups (second only to Manchester United), although the team has yet to achieve similar success in the UEFA Champions League.

Stadium

Arsenal Stadium, widely referred to as Highbury, has been Arsenal's home since the club's move to north London in 1913. The original stadium was built by the renowned football architect Archibald Leitch, and had a design common to many football grounds in the UK at the time, with a single covered stand and three open-air banks of terracing. In the 1930s, the entire stadium was given a massive overhaul, with new Art Deco East and West stands constructed, and roofs added to the North Bank and Clock End terraces. At its peak, Highbury could hold over 60,000 spectators; this was greatly reduced when, in wake of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Taylor Report, the stadium was converted into an all-seater. Its current capacity is 38,500 (which is further reduced during Champions League matches to accommodate additional advertising hoardings), and expansion is restricted because the East Stand is now a Grade II listed building.

Related Topics:
Arsenal Stadium - 1913 - Archibald Leitch - Terracing - 1930 - Art Deco - 1989 - Hillsborough disaster - Taylor Report - Advertising - Grade II listed building

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These limitations in Highbury's capacity have prevented the club from maximizing the revenue their impressive domestic form could have brought in recent seasons. Although the club remains highly profitable, Arsenal are currently in the process of building Emirates Stadium, a new 60,000 seater stadium at Ashburton Grove, about 500m southwest of Highbury, towards Holloway Road. While this project has been delayed by red tape (including final approval of the necessary compulsory purchase orders by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott) and rising costs, construction is now well under way, and the stadium is slated to be ready for the start of the 2006-07 season. The stadium is named after its sponsors, the airline company Emirates, with whom the club signed the largest sponsorship deal in English football history, worth approximately £100 million over the term of the deal. As a part of the deal the stadium will be known as Emirates Stadium for at least the first 15 years, and the airline will be the club's shirt sponsor from 2006 until the end of the 2013-14 season.

Related Topics:
Emirates Stadium - Holloway Road - Deputy Prime Minister - John Prescott - 2006-07 - Emirates - 2006

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