Madejski Stadium
Encyclopedia
The Madejski Stadium is a stadium
in Reading
, Berkshire
, England
. The stadium is the home of Reading Football Club
and to the rugby union
club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon
. The stadium is named after Reading F.C.'s chairman John Madejski
.
. It was built on the site of a former household waste dump and the stadium is surrounded by methane
vents. The stadium cost more than £50m to build and the pitch incorporates a system of synthetic fibres interwoven with natural grass, installed at a cost of more than £750,000.
It was opened on 22 August 1998 when Luton Town
were beaten 3–0 with Grant Brebner
having the honour of scoring the first goal at the stadium. Plans for the stadium had first been unveiled some three years previously, when chairman John Madejski had decided that Elm Park
was unsuitable for redevelopment as an all-seater stadium and that relocation to a new site was necessary.
It was officially opened on 10 September 1998 by Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester.
For the first time in their history, Reading Football Club participated in the Premier League
in the 2006–07
season. As a result of the sell-out crowds for their first few fixtures of the season, the club announced their intention, in October 2006, to make a planning application to extend the ground to between 37,000 to 38,000 seats. The application was made on 24 January 2007, proposing initially the extension of the East Stand with a further 6,000 seats (raising capacity to around 30,000) and subsequently extension of the North and South Stands to reach the full proposed capacity. On Thursday 24 May 2007 it was announced that planning permission had been granted to extend the stadium to a capacity of 36,900. The first phase will expand the East Stand by 6,600 seats. Work was set to start in mid 2008, after the initial plan of extending in 2007 was scrapped due to spectator seats being affected, during the work, already being sold to season ticket holders. Reading's relegation from the Premier League in 2008 meant that all expansion plans were put on hold and are unlikely to resurface at least until promotion back to the Premier League is achieved.
In November 2004 the capacity was said to be 4946 including 39 spaces for wheelchairs. This stand is normally left unused for London Irish
games.
games. The initial allocation visiting teams receive is 2327 and is the half of the stand joining onto the East Stand. Under the terms of the original lease, London Irish only utilised the South Stand for the most popular matches. However, since the renegotiation and extension of the lease, the South Stand is used for all London Irish matches and season tickets have been sold for the stand since the 2008/2009 season. The stand has a large TV screen in the top corner of it which shows replays, team news, other scores etc.
The outside of the stand contains the Millennium Madejski Hotel
.
moved into the Madejski from the The Avenue
in Sunbury-on-Thames
in the year 2000.
On 11 January 2008 it was announced that London Irish reached an agreement to continue playing home games at the Madejski Stadium until 2026. Irish have seen their average crowds grow to more than 11,100 since moving to Reading in 2000, holding the record for the biggest Premiership attendance at a club ground, when 23,709 people saw Irish play Wasps
on March 16, 2008. This record stood until 19 Sept 2009, when Leicester opened their new stand to 24,000.
The Madejski Stadium topped a poll of rugby fans as the "best environment in which to watch rugby". The survey, conducted for Rugby World magazine, was completed by almost 1,500 rugby fans. The Madejski Stadium received nearly a quarter of all votes as the ground which offered supporters the best facilities on a match day.
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The stadium is the home of Reading Football Club
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
and to the rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon
Reading Half Marathon
The Reading Half Marathon is a half marathon road running event held on the streets of the English town of Reading. The race is normally held on a Sunday in March or early April of each year...
. The stadium is named after Reading F.C.'s chairman John Madejski
John Madejski
Sir John Robert Madejski OBE DL is an English businessman, with commercial interests, spanning property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing and football...
.
Overview
It is an all-seater bowl stadium with a capacity of 24,161 and is located close to the M4 motorwayM4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
. It was built on the site of a former household waste dump and the stadium is surrounded by methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
vents. The stadium cost more than £50m to build and the pitch incorporates a system of synthetic fibres interwoven with natural grass, installed at a cost of more than £750,000.
It was opened on 22 August 1998 when Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
were beaten 3–0 with Grant Brebner
Grant Brebner
Grant Ian Brebner is a Scottish association football player, who currently plays for Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory. Born in Edinburgh, Brebner joined Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 1994, and although he was a member of the club's successful youth side, he failed to break into...
having the honour of scoring the first goal at the stadium. Plans for the stadium had first been unveiled some three years previously, when chairman John Madejski had decided that Elm Park
Elm Park (stadium)
Elm Park was a football stadium in the West Reading district of the English town of Reading. It was the home of Reading Football Club from 1896 until 1998, when they moved to the new Madejski Stadium....
was unsuitable for redevelopment as an all-seater stadium and that relocation to a new site was necessary.
It was officially opened on 10 September 1998 by Birgitte, the Duchess of Gloucester.
For the first time in their history, Reading Football Club participated in the Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
in the 2006–07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
season. As a result of the sell-out crowds for their first few fixtures of the season, the club announced their intention, in October 2006, to make a planning application to extend the ground to between 37,000 to 38,000 seats. The application was made on 24 January 2007, proposing initially the extension of the East Stand with a further 6,000 seats (raising capacity to around 30,000) and subsequently extension of the North and South Stands to reach the full proposed capacity. On Thursday 24 May 2007 it was announced that planning permission had been granted to extend the stadium to a capacity of 36,900. The first phase will expand the East Stand by 6,600 seats. Work was set to start in mid 2008, after the initial plan of extending in 2007 was scrapped due to spectator seats being affected, during the work, already being sold to season ticket holders. Reading's relegation from the Premier League in 2008 meant that all expansion plans were put on hold and are unlikely to resurface at least until promotion back to the Premier League is achieved.
North Stand
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
games.
South Stand
The South Stand has a capacity of 4350 and is where visiting supporters sit for Reading F.C.Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
games. The initial allocation visiting teams receive is 2327 and is the half of the stand joining onto the East Stand. Under the terms of the original lease, London Irish only utilised the South Stand for the most popular matches. However, since the renegotiation and extension of the lease, the South Stand is used for all London Irish matches and season tickets have been sold for the stand since the 2008/2009 season. The stand has a large TV screen in the top corner of it which shows replays, team news, other scores etc.
East Stand
As of November 2004 this stand had a capacity of 7286 including 28 spaces for wheelchairs. The stadium's video screen is located in the corner of the stand joining onto the South Stand.West Stand
This stand contains a lower and an upper tier, but the upper level does not overhang the lower tier. Executive boxes are found between the two tiers. The tunnel and dugouts are on this side of the stadium.The outside of the stand contains the Millennium Madejski Hotel
Millennium Madejski Hotel
The Millennium Madejski Hotel is situated in the English town of Reading and just off the M4 motorway at junction 11. The hotel forms part of a complex that also includes the Madejski Stadium, home to both Reading Football Club and London Irish RFC, and the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre.The...
.
London Irish
London IrishLondon Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
moved into the Madejski from the The Avenue
The Avenue
The Avenue is a Rugby Union stadium at Sunbury-on-Thames that has belonged to the English club London Irish since 1931 when the team purchased eleven acres to establish a club there. While the team moved to Madjeski Stadium in 1999, the stadium survived the team's 2009 proposed redevelopment plan,...
in Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames
Sunbury-on-Thames, also known as Sunbury, is a town in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne, England, and part of the London commuter belt. It is located 16 miles southwest of central London and bordered by Feltham and Hampton, flanked on the south by the River Thames.-History:The earliest evidence of...
in the year 2000.
On 11 January 2008 it was announced that London Irish reached an agreement to continue playing home games at the Madejski Stadium until 2026. Irish have seen their average crowds grow to more than 11,100 since moving to Reading in 2000, holding the record for the biggest Premiership attendance at a club ground, when 23,709 people saw Irish play Wasps
London Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
on March 16, 2008. This record stood until 19 Sept 2009, when Leicester opened their new stand to 24,000.
The Madejski Stadium topped a poll of rugby fans as the "best environment in which to watch rugby". The survey, conducted for Rugby World magazine, was completed by almost 1,500 rugby fans. The Madejski Stadium received nearly a quarter of all votes as the ground which offered supporters the best facilities on a match day.
External links
- Stadium information from Reading FC official website