St Andrews (stadium)
Encyclopedia
St Andrew's is an association football stadium in the Bordesley
district of Birmingham
, England
. It has been the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club
for more than a century.
Constructed and opened in 1906 to replace the Muntz Street
ground, which had become too small to meet the club's needs, the original St Andrew's could hold an estimated 75,000 spectators, housed in one grandstand
and a large uncovered terrace
. The attendance record, variously recorded as 66,844 or 67,341, was set at a 1939 FA Cup
tie against Everton
. During the Second World War, St Andrew's suffered bomb damage and the grandstand, housing a temporary fire station, burned down in an accidental fire. In the 1950s, the club replaced the stand and installed floodlights
, and later erected a second small stand and roofed over the open terraces, but there were few further changes.
The ground became dilapidated: a boy was killed when a wall collapsed during rioting in the 1980s. When new owners took the club out of administration in 1993, they began a six-year redevelopment programme during which the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium
to comply with the Taylor Report
into safety at sports grounds, and all areas apart from the Main Stand were completely rebuilt. The seating capacity of the modern stadium is just over 30,000. It has function rooms suitable for business or social events and a club store selling Birmingham City merchandise. A 2004 proposal that the club should sell the ground and move into a multi-purpose
City of Birmingham Stadium
remains speculative.
St Andrew's has been the venue for England international football matches at all levels below the senior national team
, and for semifinal matches in the FA Cup and finals of lesser competitions. It has played host to events in other sports, including rugby union
and professional boxing
, and more recently has staged music concerts.
– played their first home games on waste ground off Arthur Street, in the Bordesley Green
district of Birmingham, very near the site where St Andrew's would be built. In 1876, they made a temporary move to a fenced-off field in Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook
, with an estimated capacity of 3,000 spectators; because the field was enclosed, admission could be charged. Interest in the team grew, and a year later they moved again, this time to a rented field in Small Heath
, situated on the eastern edge of Birmingham's built-up area, just north of the main road to Coventry
. This ground, which became known as Muntz Street
, had four sides of open terracing
, a small covered wooden stand, and a changing-room for the players. When first opened it could hold approximately 10,000 spectators. Over the years the height of the terracing was raised, which increased the capacity to around 30,000, but this became insufficient to cope with the demand. The attendance at a match in 1905 against local rivals Aston Villa
was officially recorded as 28,000 spectators, but several thousand more climbed walls or forced turnstiles to gain entry. The landlords refused to sell the freehold of the ground, nor would they permit major extensions to be made. As the board of directors estimated that staying at Muntz Street was costing the club £2,000 a year (£ at today's prices), they began the search for an alternative site.
identified a site for a new ground in Bordesley
, some three-quarters of a mile (1 km) from Muntz Street towards the city centre. Covering an area of 7.5 acres (3 ha), bounded by Cattell Road, Coventry Road, Tilton Road, Garrison Lane and the railway, and near St Andrew's church, the site was where a brickworks
had once operated. Though Morris described the land itself as "a wilderness of stagnant water and muddy slopes", the Sporting Mail considered it "very favourably situated for obtaining easy communication with the city and many of the suburbs, and will be served by an excellent service of electric cars, while the provision of a railway station close at hand is also considered as within the bounds of possibility."
The club took the land on a 21-year lease, and entrusted the role of surveyor and engineer to a local carpenter, Harry Pumfrey, who despite a lack of qualifications produced plans "which would have done credit to the most expensive professional architect". Club director Thomas Turley, a builder, acted as clerk of works, and it is estimated the club saved more than £2,000 in professional fees by keeping the work in-house. Tradition has it that gypsies, evicted from the site before work could begin, laid a 100-year curse
on the club; although gypsies are known to have camped nearby, there is no contemporary evidence for their eviction by the club, and construction began in February 1906.
Artesian springs
, which kept the land flooded, had to be drained and blocked off with tons of rubble before soil could be laid on top. To create height for the terracing
on the Coventry Road side of the ground, the club offered the site as a tip, local people paying a total of £800 (£ today)for dumping an estimated 100,000 loads of rubbish. This embankment was known from the beginning as the Spion Kop, stood 110 terraces high at its highest point, and had a reported capacity of 48,000 spectators, each paying 6d
(£ today). The Grandstand, on the Garrison Lane side of the ground, was 123 yards in length. It held 6,000 seats divided among six sections, priced from 1s to 2s
(£ to £ today), and all accesses were lit by electricity. In front of the stand was space for 5,000 to stand under cover. Beneath the stand were refreshment rooms, changing rooms, a training area with plunge bath, a billiard room donated by brewery magnate Sir John Holder, and the club's boardroom and offices, which hitherto had been maintained in premises in Birmingham city centre. Behind the goal at the railway end of the ground was space for a further 4,000 standing spectators, and access to the ground was gained via turnstiles on three sides of the ground. Total capacity was estimated at 75,000, and construction cost at £10,000 (£ today). The playing surface, at 115 by 75 yd (105.2 by 68.6 m), was one of the largest in the country, had a four-yard (3.7 m) grassed border, and was surrounded by a cinder
running track.
in a First Division
fixture. There had been heavy snowfall overnight, and dozens of volunteers, including members of the club's board, worked all morning to clear the pitch. The game finally kicked off an hour late, finishing goalless in front of 32,000 spectators. The Birmingham Daily Post
editorial next day suggested that "the fact that so many spectators attended under such adverse conditions augurs well for the step that the directors have taken", and that the directors were "to be congratulated in having provided their supporters with a ground second to none in the country".
The Football Association
chose St Andrew's to host the 1907 FA Cup
semifinal between Sheffield Wednesday
and Woolwich Arsenal
; Wednesday won 3–1, and went on to win the tournament. This was the first FA Cup
tie to be played at the ground, as Birmingham had lost their opening match away from home. Three more semifinals took place at St Andrew's before the Second World War
, in 1911
, 1924
and 1934
. The club bought the freehold of the ground in 1921 for a price believed to be less than £7,000 (£ today). In the 1930s, roofs were erected over the Kop and Railway End terraces, and in February 1939, the ground attendance record, variously recorded as 66,844 or 67,341, was set at the fifth-round FA Cup tie against Everton
.
, the club supported the war effort by allowing the ground to be used as a rifle range
for military training. On the outbreak of the Second World War
, all outdoor sport was banned by the Government until safety implications could be assessed. When football resumed a few weeks later, Birmingham's Chief Constable
ordered the ground's closure because of its proximity to probable air-raid targets such as the BSA
munitions factories. The matter was first raised in Parliament in November 1939, but the Home Secretary
felt unable to intervene. By March 1940, when St Andrew's had for some time been the only football ground in England still closed, the Chief Constable bowed to public pressure, and a crowd of 13,241 witnessed Birmingham's first home game in more than six months.
In 1941, St Andrew's suffered 20 direct hits from Luftwaffe
bombing, which destroyed the roof of the Kop, badly damaged the Railway End, and forced the team to play elsewhere. It was therefore a surprising choice of venue for a wartime international match between England and Wales; on safety grounds, spectators were required to purchase tickets in advance, and numbers were limited to 25,000. Three months later, the Main Stand, which was being used as a temporary National Fire Service
station, burned down, destroying the club's records and equipment – "not so much as a lead pencil was saved from the wreckage" – when a fireman mistook a bucket of petrol
for water when intending to damp down a brazier. The team returned to the ground in 1943.
roof design, which meant fewer pillars to block spectators' view of the pitch. Floodlights
were installed, and officially switched on for a friendly match
against Borussia Dortmund
in October 1956. By the early 1960s, a stand had been built at the Railway End to the same design as the Main Stand, a new roof erected over the Kop, and the Tilton Road end covered for the first time. A scoreboard and clock were installed at the City end of the ground in memory of Birmingham and England
player Jeff Hall
, who died of polio
during the 1958–59 season. In the 1970s, the Asda
chain proposed to share the cost of a new stand as part of a supermarket development on land behind the Kop made vacant by slum clearance; in the face of opposition from commercial rivals, the proposal fell through.
promotion season, against Leeds United
, was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him; this was on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and the events at St Andrew's were included in the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell
's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. In response to this and the later Taylor Report
, the capacity of St Andrew's was cut to 26,000, but it was accepted that the stadium had to be brought up to modern standards. Club chairman David Gold recalled his first visit in March 1993:
Though relegation to the Third Division
meant the club was no longer bound by the Taylor Report's 1994 deadline for conversion to all-seater, new owner David Sullivan continued the £4.5 million development as planned. After the last home game of the 1993–94 season, the Kop and Tilton Road terraces were demolished, helped by fans who took home a significant proportion as souvenirs, the land was cleared – the rubbish tip beneath the Kop which had earned the club £800 in 1906 (£ at 1994 prices) cost £250,000 to decontaminate – and by the start of the new season, 7,000 seats in the Tilton Road Stand were ready for use. On completion of the Kop Stand, the stadium was formally re-opened in November 1994 by Baroness Trumpington
, representing the Department of National Heritage
, who unveiled a commemorative plaque and presented a cheque for £2.5 million on behalf of the Football Trust; the ceremony was followed by a friendly match
against Aston Villa, attended by a crowd of 20,000. Planning permission for an all-seater Railway Stand was granted in March 1995, but work was delayed by a dispute over land owned by Railtrack
and the stand opened only in 1999.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jeff Hall
's death, the club commissioned a memorial clock to replace the original which did not survive the 1990s renovations. Placed centrally above the Main Stand, it was unveiled in September 2008 by Hall's teammates Alex Govan
and Gil Merrick
. However, adverse reaction to the clock's size and position provoked the club into ordering a larger replacement to be incorporated in a proposed big screen.
The Railway Stand, on the west side of the stadium nearest to Birmingham city centre, is also free-standing. It was opened in 1999 and holds some 8,000 spectators in two tiers; the upper tier, a small area known as the Olympic Gallery, overhangs the lower, at the back of which is a row of executive boxes. From the 2009–10 season, the Railway Stand was renamed the Gil Merrick Stand, in honour of the club's appearance record-holder and former manager. Visiting supporters are housed in the lower Railway Stand, segregated from home fans by plastic netting over the seats.
The Kop Main Stand (so renamed in 2010) and the Tilton Road Stand, opened in 1994, form a continuous L-shaped single-tier stand, with seating capacity for nearly 17,000 spectators, round the remaining half of the pitch. A walkway separates back and front sections. The Kop seating includes the directors' box and a row of executive boxes, within the stand are a number of function rooms and hospitality areas, and there are electronic perimeter advertising boards in front. The stadium has floodlight pylons only on the north side; the south side is lit by a row of lights along the front of the Kop roof. The Tilton Road Stand has 9,000 seats, and is the only one of the four without hospitality boxes.
The various function rooms and corporate boxes are available for hire for business or social events, and the stadium is licensed as a venue for civil weddings. There are wheelchair areas in all parts of the stadium, and commentary headsets for visually impaired spectators are likewise available throughout.
The pitch measures 100 by 66 m (109.4 by 72.2 yd). It was relaid three times in 2007. The first attempt, made because the surface had deteriorated to a dangerous condition, was unsuccessful because of freak rainfall which resulted in the postponement of the next match – the first time such an event had happened in senior English football. The work had to be repeated, and then done for a third time in the closed season. The postponement of an FA Cup-tie in January 2009 highlighted the lack of under-soil heating
; work started on its installation in May 2009.
, other sports and leisure facilities, and a super casino
. The project would be jointly financed by Birmingham City Council
, Birmingham City F.C. (via the proceeds of the sale of St Andrew's) and the casino
group Las Vegas Sands
. The feasibility of the plan depended on the government issuing a licence for a super casino as permitted under the Gambling Act 2005
, and Birmingham being chosen as the venue, but this did not happen. The club have planning permission to redevelop the Main Stand, and a derelict building behind the stand has been demolished, but club and council have continued to seek alternative sources of funding for the City of Birmingham Stadium project.
. In 1957, England B
defeated Scotland B
under floodlights in front of nearly 40,000 spectators. England's junior sides have played there on several occasions, at under-23, under-21 – the 4–0 defeat to Spain
in 2001 was England U-21
's worst home defeat – and youth levels. Before competitive football resumed after the First World War, a team representing the Scottish Football League
beat their English counterparts
, including Birmingham players Frank Womack
and Billy Morgan
, 3–1 at St Andrew's.
As of 2009, four FA Cup semifinals have taken place at St Andrew's, and the ground has hosted semifinal replays
on five occasions, most recently in 1961. It was the venue for the 1987 play-off final replay, in which Charlton Athletic
beat Leeds United
to gain promotion to the Football League First Division
, and for the final of the FA Vase
in 2004 and 2006.
The ground has also been used for other sports. Small Heath Harriers athletic club, whose headquarters had been at the Muntz Street ground, trained at St Andrew's until the 1920s. The 1960 South African
touring rugby union
team beat a Midland Counties XV by 16 points to 5 on a muddy St Andrew's pitch in front of a 17,000 crowd. In 1949, Dick Turpin
beat Albert Finch
on points to retain his British and Empire
middleweight
boxing
title; Turpin's brothers Jack and future world middleweight champion Randolph fought on the undercard. In 1965, Henry Cooper
defeated Johnny Prescott at St Andrew's to retain his British and Empire heavyweight
title; the fight took place two days after originally scheduled, having been rained off at the last minute, which prompted debate as to the feasibility of outdoor boxing promotions in light of the uncertain British weather.
St Andrew's was the location for the stadium rally scene in Peter Watkins
' 1967 film Privilege
. It has hosted a number of music concerts: events include UB40
, supported by The Pogues
, in 1989, Duran Duran
in 2005, and the 2002 Party in the Park
, featuring Westlife
and Sugababes
among others.
The record attendance at St Andrew's was set at the fifth-round FA Cup tie against Everton
on 11 February 1939; the actual figure is variously reported as 66,844 or 67,341. The highest attendance recorded for a league match is 60,250, against Aston Villa
in the First Division
on 23 November 1935. The highest average attendance over a league season, 38,821, was set during the 1948–49 First Division season, and the lowest, 6,289, was recorded in the Second Division
in 1988–89. Since the stadium was converted to all-seater
, the record attendance is 29,588, set against Arsenal
in the Premier League on 22 November 2003.
St Andrew's was the venue for the first use of a penalty shootout
to determine the winner of an FA Cup match. For five seasons, between 1970 and 1974, the losing FA Cup semifinalists were obliged to play off for third and fourth place
; Birmingham City finished third in the 1972 FA Cup by beating Stoke City
4–3 on penalties following a goalless 90 minutes.
, on the Birmingham to Stratford Line
between Moor Street
and Small Heath
stations, which has regular services only on match days. The stadium is a 20-minute walk from New Street station
, which is served by direct trains from most parts of the country, and slightly less far from Moor Street, which is served by Chiltern Railways
trains from London Marylebone
to Birmingham Snow Hill
. Digbeth Coach Station
, served by National Express
coaches
, is a 15-minute walk away, and bus
es run along the Coventry Road
past the ground. There is very limited parking at the stadium itself, but a secure outdoor car park is available at Birmingham Wheels
Park, less than 15 minutes walk away, and parking is permitted in the streets surrounding the ground.
Bordesley, West Midlands
Bordesley is an area of Birmingham, England and is part of the City's Nechells Ward.It is served by Bordesley railway station.It should not be confused with nearby Bordesley Green.-Notable residents :...
district of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, 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...
. It has been the home ground of Birmingham City Football Club
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
for more than a century.
Constructed and opened in 1906 to replace the Muntz Street
Muntz Street
Muntz Street is the popular name of a former association football stadium situated in the Small Heath district of Birmingham, England, taken from the street on which it stood. During its lifetime the ground was known as Coventry Road; the name "Muntz Street" is a more recent adoption. It was the...
ground, which had become too small to meet the club's needs, the original St Andrew's could hold an estimated 75,000 spectators, housed in one grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
and a large uncovered terrace
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
. The attendance record, variously recorded as 66,844 or 67,341, was set at a 1939 FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
tie against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
. During the Second World War, St Andrew's suffered bomb damage and the grandstand, housing a temporary fire station, burned down in an accidental fire. In the 1950s, the club replaced the stand and installed floodlights
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
, and later erected a second small stand and roofed over the open terraces, but there were few further changes.
The ground became dilapidated: a boy was killed when a wall collapsed during rioting in the 1980s. When new owners took the club out of administration in 1993, they began a six-year redevelopment programme during which the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium
All-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most soccer and American football stadiums in the United States and Canada are all-seaters, as are most baseball...
to comply with the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
into safety at sports grounds, and all areas apart from the Main Stand were completely rebuilt. The seating capacity of the modern stadium is just over 30,000. It has function rooms suitable for business or social events and a club store selling Birmingham City merchandise. A 2004 proposal that the club should sell the ground and move into a multi-purpose
Multi-purpose stadium
Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of stadium designed in such a way as to be easily used by multiple sports. While any stadium could potentially host more than one sport, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy that stresses multi-functionality over specificity...
City of Birmingham Stadium
City of Birmingham Stadium
The City of Birmingham Stadium is a proposed multi-purpose stadium in the Saltley area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England, originally for Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Birmingham City F.C., to replace the current St Andrews Stadium however the cricket club cancelled these plans and only...
remains speculative.
St Andrew's has been the venue for England international football matches at all levels below the senior national team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, and for semifinal matches in the FA Cup and finals of lesser competitions. It has played host to events in other sports, including 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...
and professional boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, and more recently has staged music concerts.
Former grounds
Small Heath Alliance – the original name of Birmingham City Football ClubBirmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
– played their first home games on waste ground off Arthur Street, in the Bordesley Green
Bordesley Green
Bordesley Green is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England about two miles south-east from the city centre. It also contains a road of the same name. It is also a ward in the formal district of Hodge Hill. Neighbouring areas include, Alum Rock, Saltley, Small Heath and Yardley.Heartlands Hospital...
district of Birmingham, very near the site where St Andrew's would be built. In 1876, they made a temporary move to a fenced-off field in Ladypool Road, Sparkbrook
Sparkbrook
Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.-Etymology:...
, with an estimated capacity of 3,000 spectators; because the field was enclosed, admission could be charged. Interest in the team grew, and a year later they moved again, this time to a rented field in Small Heath
Small Heath, Birmingham
Small Heath is an inner-city area within the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is situated on and around the A45 ....
, situated on the eastern edge of Birmingham's built-up area, just north of the main road to Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. This ground, which became known as Muntz Street
Muntz Street
Muntz Street is the popular name of a former association football stadium situated in the Small Heath district of Birmingham, England, taken from the street on which it stood. During its lifetime the ground was known as Coventry Road; the name "Muntz Street" is a more recent adoption. It was the...
, had four sides of open terracing
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
, a small covered wooden stand, and a changing-room for the players. When first opened it could hold approximately 10,000 spectators. Over the years the height of the terracing was raised, which increased the capacity to around 30,000, but this became insufficient to cope with the demand. The attendance at a match in 1905 against local rivals Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
was officially recorded as 28,000 spectators, but several thousand more climbed walls or forced turnstiles to gain entry. The landlords refused to sell the freehold of the ground, nor would they permit major extensions to be made. As the board of directors estimated that staying at Muntz Street was costing the club £2,000 a year (£ at today's prices), they began the search for an alternative site.
Construction
Director Harry MorrisHarry Morris Sr.
Harry Morris was an English professional footballer who spent all his playing career with Small Heath . He became a successful businessman, joining the club's board of directors in 1903, and was instrumental in the club moving to the St Andrews stadium.-Biography:Morris was born in Birmingham and...
identified a site for a new ground in Bordesley
Bordesley, West Midlands
Bordesley is an area of Birmingham, England and is part of the City's Nechells Ward.It is served by Bordesley railway station.It should not be confused with nearby Bordesley Green.-Notable residents :...
, some three-quarters of a mile (1 km) from Muntz Street towards the city centre. Covering an area of 7.5 acres (3 ha), bounded by Cattell Road, Coventry Road, Tilton Road, Garrison Lane and the railway, and near St Andrew's church, the site was where a brickworks
Brickworks
A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....
had once operated. Though Morris described the land itself as "a wilderness of stagnant water and muddy slopes", the Sporting Mail considered it "very favourably situated for obtaining easy communication with the city and many of the suburbs, and will be served by an excellent service of electric cars, while the provision of a railway station close at hand is also considered as within the bounds of possibility."
The club took the land on a 21-year lease, and entrusted the role of surveyor and engineer to a local carpenter, Harry Pumfrey, who despite a lack of qualifications produced plans "which would have done credit to the most expensive professional architect". Club director Thomas Turley, a builder, acted as clerk of works, and it is estimated the club saved more than £2,000 in professional fees by keeping the work in-house. Tradition has it that gypsies, evicted from the site before work could begin, laid a 100-year curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
on the club; although gypsies are known to have camped nearby, there is no contemporary evidence for their eviction by the club, and construction began in February 1906.
Artesian springs
Artesian aquifer
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. This causes the water level in a well to rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium has been reached. This type of well is called an artesian well...
, which kept the land flooded, had to be drained and blocked off with tons of rubble before soil could be laid on top. To create height for the terracing
Terrace (stadium)
A terrace or terracing in sporting terms refers to the traditional standing area of a sports stadium, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
on the Coventry Road side of the ground, the club offered the site as a tip, local people paying a total of £800 (£ today)for dumping an estimated 100,000 loads of rubbish. This embankment was known from the beginning as the Spion Kop, stood 110 terraces high at its highest point, and had a reported capacity of 48,000 spectators, each paying 6d
£sd
£sd was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the Kingdom of England, later the United Kingdom, and ultimately in much of the British Empire...
(£ today). The Grandstand, on the Garrison Lane side of the ground, was 123 yards in length. It held 6,000 seats divided among six sections, priced from 1s to 2s
£sd
£sd was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the Kingdom of England, later the United Kingdom, and ultimately in much of the British Empire...
(£ to £ today), and all accesses were lit by electricity. In front of the stand was space for 5,000 to stand under cover. Beneath the stand were refreshment rooms, changing rooms, a training area with plunge bath, a billiard room donated by brewery magnate Sir John Holder, and the club's boardroom and offices, which hitherto had been maintained in premises in Birmingham city centre. Behind the goal at the railway end of the ground was space for a further 4,000 standing spectators, and access to the ground was gained via turnstiles on three sides of the ground. Total capacity was estimated at 75,000, and construction cost at £10,000 (£ today). The playing surface, at 115 by 75 yd (105.2 by 68.6 m), was one of the largest in the country, had a four-yard (3.7 m) grassed border, and was surrounded by a cinder
Cinder
A cinder is a pyroclastic material. Cinders are extrusive igneous rocks. Cinders are similar to pumice, which has so many cavities and is such low-density that it can float on water...
running track.
Early years
St Andrew's was officially opened by Sir John Holder on 26 December 1906, when Birmingham played MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
in a First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
fixture. There had been heavy snowfall overnight, and dozens of volunteers, including members of the club's board, worked all morning to clear the pitch. The game finally kicked off an hour late, finishing goalless in front of 32,000 spectators. The Birmingham Daily Post
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
editorial next day suggested that "the fact that so many spectators attended under such adverse conditions augurs well for the step that the directors have taken", and that the directors were "to be congratulated in having provided their supporters with a ground second to none in the country".
The Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
chose St Andrew's to host the 1907 FA Cup
FA Cup 1906–07
The 1906–07 FA Cup was the 36th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup...
semifinal between Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
and Woolwich Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
; Wednesday won 3–1, and went on to win the tournament. This was the first FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
tie to be played at the ground, as Birmingham had lost their opening match away from home. Three more semifinals took place at St Andrew's before the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in 1911
FA Cup 1910–11
The 1910–11 FA Cup was the 40th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup . Bradford City won the competition for the first and only time, beating Newcastle United 1–0 in the replay of the final at Old Trafford in Manchester,...
, 1924
FA Cup 1923–24
The 1923–24 FA Cup was the 49th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup...
and 1934
FA Cup 1933–34
The 1933–34 FA Cup was the 59th season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup...
. The club bought the freehold of the ground in 1921 for a price believed to be less than £7,000 (£ today). In the 1930s, roofs were erected over the Kop and Railway End terraces, and in February 1939, the ground attendance record, variously recorded as 66,844 or 67,341, was set at the fifth-round FA Cup tie against Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
.
Wartime
During the First World WarWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the club supported the war effort by allowing the ground to be used as a rifle range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
for military training. On the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, all outdoor sport was banned by the Government until safety implications could be assessed. When football resumed a few weeks later, Birmingham's Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
ordered the ground's closure because of its proximity to probable air-raid targets such as the BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
munitions factories. The matter was first raised in Parliament in November 1939, but the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
felt unable to intervene. By March 1940, when St Andrew's had for some time been the only football ground in England still closed, the Chief Constable bowed to public pressure, and a crowd of 13,241 witnessed Birmingham's first home game in more than six months.
In 1941, St Andrew's suffered 20 direct hits from Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bombing, which destroyed the roof of the Kop, badly damaged the Railway End, and forced the team to play elsewhere. It was therefore a surprising choice of venue for a wartime international match between England and Wales; on safety grounds, spectators were required to purchase tickets in advance, and numbers were limited to 25,000. Three months later, the Main Stand, which was being used as a temporary National Fire Service
National Fire Service
The National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
station, burned down, destroying the club's records and equipment – "not so much as a lead pencil was saved from the wreckage" – when a fireman mistook a bucket of petrol
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
for water when intending to damp down a brazier. The team returned to the ground in 1943.
Improvements
The replacement Main Stand, built in the early 1950s, used a propped cantileverCantilever
A cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
roof design, which meant fewer pillars to block spectators' view of the pitch. Floodlights
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
were installed, and officially switched on for a friendly match
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
against Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football...
in October 1956. By the early 1960s, a stand had been built at the Railway End to the same design as the Main Stand, a new roof erected over the Kop, and the Tilton Road end covered for the first time. A scoreboard and clock were installed at the City end of the ground in memory of Birmingham and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
player Jeff Hall
Jeff Hall (footballer)
Jeffrey James "Jeff" Hall was an English footballer who played as a right back for Birmingham City and England....
, who died of polio
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
during the 1958–59 season. In the 1970s, the Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
chain proposed to share the cost of a new stand as part of a supermarket development on land behind the Kop made vacant by slum clearance; in the face of opposition from commercial rivals, the proposal fell through.
Modernisation
The last home game of the 1984–851984-85 in English football
The 1984–85 season was the 105th season of competitive football in England.-Bradford City disaster:56 spectators died and more than 200 were injured when a fire ripped through the Main Stand at Valley Parade during Bradford City's Third Division fixture with Lincoln City on 11 May...
promotion season, against Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
, was marred by rioting, culminating in the death of a boy when a wall collapsed on him; this was on the same day as the Bradford City stadium fire, and the events at St Andrew's were included in the remit of Mr Justice Popplewell
Oliver Popplewell
The Honourable Sir Oliver Bury Popplewell is a former British judge. He chaired the inquiry into the Bradford City stadium fire, presided over the libel case brought by Jonathan Aitken MP against The Guardian newspaper which eventually led to Aitkin's imprisonment for perjury, and was widely...
's inquiry into safety at sports grounds. In response to this and the later Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, the capacity of St Andrew's was cut to 26,000, but it was accepted that the stadium had to be brought up to modern standards. Club chairman David Gold recalled his first visit in March 1993:
Though relegation to the Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
meant the club was no longer bound by the Taylor Report's 1994 deadline for conversion to all-seater, new owner David Sullivan continued the £4.5 million development as planned. After the last home game of the 1993–94 season, the Kop and Tilton Road terraces were demolished, helped by fans who took home a significant proportion as souvenirs, the land was cleared – the rubbish tip beneath the Kop which had earned the club £800 in 1906 (£ at 1994 prices) cost £250,000 to decontaminate – and by the start of the new season, 7,000 seats in the Tilton Road Stand were ready for use. On completion of the Kop Stand, the stadium was formally re-opened in November 1994 by Baroness Trumpington
Jean Barker, Baroness Trumpington
Jean Alys Barker, Baroness Trumpington, DCVO, PC is a Conservative member of the House of Lords.Born Jean Alys Campbell-Harris to Major Arthur Campbell-Harris and Doris Robson, she was educated privately. During World War II, she worked in Naval intelligence at Bletchley Park...
, representing the Department of National Heritage
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
, who unveiled a commemorative plaque and presented a cheque for £2.5 million on behalf of the Football Trust; the ceremony was followed by a friendly match
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
against Aston Villa, attended by a crowd of 20,000. Planning permission for an all-seater Railway Stand was granted in March 1995, but work was delayed by a dispute over land owned by Railtrack
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
and the stand opened only in 1999.
Structure and facilities
The stadium has four stands. The Garrison Lane Stand, renamed from the Main Stand in 2010, a free-standing structure on the north side of the playing area, was completed in 1954 and has seating for fewer than 5,000 spectators. The upper tier contains the media area and an area of corporate seats as well as standard seating. The lower tier, known as the Paddocks, consists of a few rows of seats placed on the uncovered terraced area in front of the stand; the view from this area can be obstructed by the central tunnel and the dugouts. A row of executive boxes was added at the back of the Paddocks in the 1970s. The family area is divided between the eastern end of the Garrison Lane Stand and the Paddock beneath. The club planned £1.3 million worth of restructuring and refurbishment work on the Main Stand, which contains hospitality areas and offices, during the 2009 closed season, and seating was replaced in 2010. The broadcasting gantry is situated in the roof of this stand.To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Jeff Hall
Jeff Hall (footballer)
Jeffrey James "Jeff" Hall was an English footballer who played as a right back for Birmingham City and England....
's death, the club commissioned a memorial clock to replace the original which did not survive the 1990s renovations. Placed centrally above the Main Stand, it was unveiled in September 2008 by Hall's teammates Alex Govan
Alex Govan
Alexander "Alex" Govan is a Scottish former professional footballer who played at outside left. Most of his career was spent with Plymouth Argyle and with Birmingham City during their most successful period in the 1950s...
and Gil Merrick
Gil Merrick
Gilbert Harold "Gil" Merrick , was an English footballer and football manager. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of great Birmingham City keepers which included the likes of Johnny Schofield and Harry Hibbs...
. However, adverse reaction to the clock's size and position provoked the club into ordering a larger replacement to be incorporated in a proposed big screen.
The Railway Stand, on the west side of the stadium nearest to Birmingham city centre, is also free-standing. It was opened in 1999 and holds some 8,000 spectators in two tiers; the upper tier, a small area known as the Olympic Gallery, overhangs the lower, at the back of which is a row of executive boxes. From the 2009–10 season, the Railway Stand was renamed the Gil Merrick Stand, in honour of the club's appearance record-holder and former manager. Visiting supporters are housed in the lower Railway Stand, segregated from home fans by plastic netting over the seats.
The Kop Main Stand (so renamed in 2010) and the Tilton Road Stand, opened in 1994, form a continuous L-shaped single-tier stand, with seating capacity for nearly 17,000 spectators, round the remaining half of the pitch. A walkway separates back and front sections. The Kop seating includes the directors' box and a row of executive boxes, within the stand are a number of function rooms and hospitality areas, and there are electronic perimeter advertising boards in front. The stadium has floodlight pylons only on the north side; the south side is lit by a row of lights along the front of the Kop roof. The Tilton Road Stand has 9,000 seats, and is the only one of the four without hospitality boxes.
The various function rooms and corporate boxes are available for hire for business or social events, and the stadium is licensed as a venue for civil weddings. There are wheelchair areas in all parts of the stadium, and commentary headsets for visually impaired spectators are likewise available throughout.
The pitch measures 100 by 66 m (109.4 by 72.2 yd). It was relaid three times in 2007. The first attempt, made because the surface had deteriorated to a dangerous condition, was unsuccessful because of freak rainfall which resulted in the postponement of the next match – the first time such an event had happened in senior English football. The work had to be repeated, and then done for a third time in the closed season. The postponement of an FA Cup-tie in January 2009 highlighted the lack of under-soil heating
Under-soil heating
Under-soil heating is a method used in various sports stadia which heats the underside of the pitch to avoid any bad weather, such as snow and ice, from building up and ultimately helps the club avoid having to postpone any matches.The first ground in England to have under-soil heating installed...
; work started on its installation in May 2009.
Future
In 2004 a proposal was put forward to build a "sports village" comprising a new 55,000 stadium for the club, to be known as the City of Birmingham StadiumCity of Birmingham Stadium
The City of Birmingham Stadium is a proposed multi-purpose stadium in the Saltley area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England, originally for Warwickshire County Cricket Club and Birmingham City F.C., to replace the current St Andrews Stadium however the cricket club cancelled these plans and only...
, other sports and leisure facilities, and a super casino
Regional casino
A Regional Casino, more commonly known as a Super Casino , is the term given to the largest category of casino that was to have been permitted under UK law - equivalent in size to the larger casinos in Las Vegas...
. The project would be jointly financed by Birmingham City Council
Government of Birmingham
Birminghamshown within West MidlandsThis page is about the Government of Birmingham, England.-Civic history:Most of Birmingham was historically a part of Warwickshire, though the modern city also includes villages and towns historically in Staffordshire or Worcestershire.Until the 1760s, Birmingham...
, Birmingham City F.C. (via the proceeds of the sale of St Andrew's) and the casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
group Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands
Las Vegas Sands Corp. is an integrated resort company based in Paradise, Nevada, USA.-History:Founded in 1988, the company was the owner and operator of the Sands Hotel, which was demolished in 1996 to make room for The Venetian, which opened in 1999....
. The feasibility of the plan depended on the government issuing a licence for a super casino as permitted under the Gambling Act 2005
Gambling Act 2005
The Gambling Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It mainly applies to England and Wales, and to Scotland, and is designed to control all forms of gambling...
, and Birmingham being chosen as the venue, but this did not happen. The club have planning permission to redevelop the Main Stand, and a derelict building behind the stand has been demolished, but club and council have continued to seek alternative sources of funding for the City of Birmingham Stadium project.
Other uses
Teams representing England have played international matches at St Andrew's, though not at senior levelEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
. In 1957, England B
England B national football team
England B is a secondary football team run occasionally as support for the England national football team. At times they have played other nations' full teams; they have also played matches against 'B' teams from other football associations...
defeated Scotland B
Scotland B national football team
The Scotland B national football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is a secondary football team of Scotland, run occasionally as support for the Scotland national football team as a second string side to the first team....
under floodlights in front of nearly 40,000 spectators. England's junior sides have played there on several occasions, at under-23, under-21 – the 4–0 defeat to Spain
Spain national under-21 football team
The Spain national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of Spain and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita , competes in the biannual European Under-21 Football Championship.Following the realignment of UEFA's youth...
in 2001 was England U-21
England national under-21 football team
England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U21, is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team....
's worst home defeat – and youth levels. Before competitive football resumed after the First World War, a team representing the Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
beat their English counterparts
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, including Birmingham players Frank Womack
Frank Womack
Francis "Frank" Womack was an English association football player and manager born in Stannington, Sheffield, Yorkshire. He still holds the league appearances record for Birmingham City playing 491 games and holds the league record for most games by an outfield player without scoring a goal...
and Billy Morgan
Billy Morgan (association footballer born 1891)
William Albert L. "Billy" Morgan was an English professional footballer born in Old Hill, Cradley Heath, Staffordshire, who played either at outside or inside left. He played for Birmingham, Coventry City and Crystal Palace in the Football League, and was capped once for a Football League...
, 3–1 at St Andrew's.
As of 2009, four FA Cup semifinals have taken place at St Andrew's, and the ground has hosted semifinal replays
Replay (sports)
In sports, a replay refers to a second game between two teams after the first game's results were either nullified or ended in a draw. A game may be nullified if the game's result is protested and the organizers ruled to replay the game...
on five occasions, most recently in 1961. It was the venue for the 1987 play-off final replay, in which Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
beat Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
to gain promotion to the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
, and for the final of the FA Vase
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase is an annual football competition for teams playing below Step 4 of the English National League System...
in 2004 and 2006.
The ground has also been used for other sports. Small Heath Harriers athletic club, whose headquarters had been at the Muntz Street ground, trained at St Andrew's until the 1920s. The 1960 South African
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
touring 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...
team beat a Midland Counties XV by 16 points to 5 on a muddy St Andrew's pitch in front of a 17,000 crowd. In 1949, Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin (boxer)
Dick Turpin, was an English middleweight boxer. He was British and Commonwealth middleweight champion, reputedly being the first black fighter to win a British boxing title...
beat Albert Finch
Albert Finch
Albert Finch was a British boxer from Croydon in South London, who was active from 1945 to 1958. He fought as both a middleweight and light-heavyweight, becoming British middleweight champion in 1950....
on points to retain his British and Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
title; Turpin's brothers Jack and future world middleweight champion Randolph fought on the undercard. In 1965, Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper (boxer)
Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG was an English heavyweight boxer known for the effectiveness of his left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer", and his knockdown of the young Muhammad Ali...
defeated Johnny Prescott at St Andrew's to retain his British and Empire heavyweight
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
title; the fight took place two days after originally scheduled, having been rained off at the last minute, which prompted debate as to the feasibility of outdoor boxing promotions in light of the uncertain British weather.
St Andrew's was the location for the stadium rally scene in Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins
Peter Watkins is an English film and television director. He was born in Norbiton, Surrey, lived in Sweden, Canada and Lithuania for many years, and now lives in France. He is one of the pioneers of docudrama. His movies, pacifist and radical, strongly review the limit of classic documentary and...
' 1967 film Privilege
Privilege (film)
Privilege is a British film directed by Peter Watkins. It was released in 1967 being produced by John Heyman. Story: Johnny Speight. Script: Norman Bogner...
. It has hosted a number of music concerts: events include UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
, supported by The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, in 1989, Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
in 2005, and the 2002 Party in the Park
Party in the Park
Party in the Park is the generic name given to music concerts organised by various radio stations and local authorities in England and Wales, typically in large parks during the summer.-Leeds' Party in the Park:...
, featuring Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
and Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
among others.
Records
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
on 11 February 1939; the actual figure is variously reported as 66,844 or 67,341. The highest attendance recorded for a league match is 60,250, against Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
on 23 November 1935. The highest average attendance over a league season, 38,821, was set during the 1948–49 First Division season, and the lowest, 6,289, was recorded in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
in 1988–89. Since the stadium was converted to all-seater
All-seater stadium
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most soccer and American football stadiums in the United States and Canada are all-seaters, as are most baseball...
, the record attendance is 29,588, set against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in the Premier League on 22 November 2003.
St Andrew's was the venue for the first use of a penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...
to determine the winner of an FA Cup match. For five seasons, between 1970 and 1974, the losing FA Cup semifinalists were obliged to play off for third and fourth place
FA Cup Third-fourth place matches
The FA Cup Third-fourth place matches were played to determine the order of third and fourth place in the FA Cup. They were introduced in 1970 replacing the traditional pre-final match between England and Young England. They were generally unpopular and were only played for five seasons...
; Birmingham City finished third in the 1972 FA Cup by beating Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
4–3 on penalties following a goalless 90 minutes.
Transport
The nearest railway station to the stadium is BordesleyBordesley railway station
Bordesley railway station is a small railway station serving the area of Bordesley in Birmingham, England. It is served by London Midland services between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stratford-upon-Avon and is located between Birmingham Moor Street and Small Heath stations.The platforms are above...
, on the Birmingham to Stratford Line
Birmingham to Stratford Line
The Birmingham to Stratford Line, also known as the North Warwickshire Line is a commuter railway line predominantly in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom...
between Moor Street
Birmingham Moor Street railway station
Birmingham Moor Street railway station is one of three main railway stations in the city centre of Birmingham, England. The Grade II listed old station building has been partially renovated to its 1930s condition at a cost of £11 million....
and Small Heath
Small Heath railway station
Small Heath railway station serves the areas of Small Heath and Sparkbrook in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The station is managed by London Midland, which runs all the services....
stations, which has regular services only on match days. The stadium is a 20-minute walk from New Street station
Birmingham New Street Station
Birmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...
, which is served by direct trains from most parts of the country, and slightly less far from Moor Street, which is served by Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
trains from London Marylebone
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
to Birmingham Snow Hill
Birmingham Snow Hill station
Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
. Digbeth Coach Station
Digbeth Coach Station
Birmingham Coach Station is a major coach interchange in Digbeth, Birmingham, England offering services to destinations throughout Great Britain and also to Belfast, Dublin and Poland. National Express, the largest scheduled coach service provider in Europe, has its national headquarters on the site...
, served by National Express
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
coaches
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
, is a 15-minute walk away, and bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es run along the Coventry Road
A45 road
The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry...
past the ground. There is very limited parking at the stadium itself, but a secure outdoor car park is available at Birmingham Wheels
Birmingham Wheels
Birmingham Wheels Park is a dedicated motor sport park with short-track oval motor racing circuit and MSA approved kart circuit, based in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, England...
Park, less than 15 minutes walk away, and parking is permitted in the streets surrounding the ground.
External links
- Birmingham City F.C. official website
- Video tour of stadium focusing on 2009 improvements