Walkers Stadium
Encyclopedia
The King Power Stadium is a football stadium which hosts home matches of English
football club Leicester City
. The all-seater stadium, inaugurated in July 2002, holds 32,500 and has the 19th largest stadium capacity in England. The stadium is named after King Power
, a company owned by club owner Vichai Raksriaksorn
. Prior to this it was known as the Walkers Stadium, through a sponsorship deal with Walkers Crisps
.
, which had been their home since 1891. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report
in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate the possibility of building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but initially decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season
.
Filbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared that the 21,500 capacity would be adequate.
However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant that virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals Stoke City
and Derby County
.
Some parts of the ground — the East and North Stands in particular — were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill
to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.
In early 1998 plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season
, but these plans were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom
vowed that other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping that either option would have materialised by August 2002.
The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003-04
being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002-03 season
.Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed that the new stadium would be ready for the 2002-03 season.
The stadium was completed on time in mid 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30million in debt.
The stadium also has under-soil heating.
The record attendance for football is 32,188 for Leicester City against Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly game in the summer of 2011. The overall record attendance is 32,488 for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262.
on 23 July 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Spanish team Athletic Bilbao
, on 4 August 2002. The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart
scoring Leicester's first goal. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. Brian Deane
scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season
promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership
due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed.
meant that Leicester went into receivership
shortly after moving to the new stadium. Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from any further football ground construction. The main losers from this were, ironically, Leicester's local rivals Coventry City
, who were in negotiations with Birse to build their own new stadium.
As part of the deal which brought the club out of receivership, the ownership of the stadium reverted to American company Teachers Insurance
, who had supplied £28 million via a bond scheme towards the stadium's construction, with the club taking a long-term lease while the bond repayments were made.
reportedly offered £25 million to buy Leicester City. This was said to include £15 million to buy back the stadium from its current owners. Mandarić stated in the local newspaper
, The Leicester Mercury
, that he envisioned Leicester City becoming a powerful club and the stadium, possibly within the next few years, could have a capacity of 45,000. The stadium at full strength (if renovated to full potential) could hold up to 55,000. However, this would only happen if Leicester became a regular top-six Premier League side, according to LCFC.
In 2002, former Leicester City shirt sponsors Walkers signed a ten-year deal for naming rights. The agreement was superseded halfway through the period, in May 2007, when they again paid a "seven-figure sum" to extend their sponsorship of the stadium until 2017. Originally the ground was to have been called the "Walkers Bowl", but that name was dropped after a fans' petition against it. Fans criticised the name for having only the name of the sponsor in it, and no Leicester City reference, such as "Filbert", "Fosse" or "Foxes", while some fans objected to "Walker's Bowl" on the grounds that they thought it was ridiculous and too "American
". As a result of the petition, the name was quickly changed to the "Walkers Stadium"; however, some fans are still unhappy with the name, and it is still sometimes referred to (usually derogatively) as the "crisp bowl", in reference to Walkers best known products. Many fans refer to the stadium as Filbert Way after the grounds address, retaining a link with the past. The naming rights were sold to King Power
for the 2011–12 season.
, the England national football team
played a home friendly game against Serbia and Montenegro at the stadium on 3 June 2003. Goals from Steven Gerrard
and Joe Cole
gave England a 2–1 victory. On 12 October of the same year, the ground hosted an international friendly match between Brazil
and Jamaica
, with Roberto Carlos scoring the winner.
On 20 May 2006, the stadium hosted the Football Conference playoff final
between Hereford United
and Halifax Town
. A goal in extra time gave Hereford a 3–2 win and promotion to the Football League. Nine days later, the ground was also the venue for another international friendly, with Ghana
beating Jamaica 4–1.
On 12 October 2007, the England Under-21 side took on Serbia and Montenegro U21. The game ended with England winning 1–0 after a Matt Derbyshire
goal in the first half.
On 30 July 2011, Leicester city
played a strong Real Madrid
side in the Npower Cup, with stars such as Ronaldo
and Kaka
playing for the galacticos. Despite falling behind to a first-half goal from Jose Callejon and a second on the hour from Karim Benzema
, Eriksson's men showed remarkable resilience against the nine-time champions of Europe and pulled a deserved goal back a minute from the end through substitute Lloyd Dyer
.
considered sharing the stadium with Leicester City as their own 16,815-capacity ground at Welford Road
was considered too small to handle the growing popularity of rugby. The plan would have seen the two clubs form a jointly owned company to buy the stadium from Teachers. The deal was abandoned in 2005 as the clubs failed to fully agree terms. Because of the continued parlous state of the football club's finances, rumours that groundsharing was still being discussed continued to circulate, with some suggestions that Tigers were considering buying the stadium outright from Teachers. In 2007 a permanent groundshare seemed to be ruled out as Leicester Tigers received planning consent for a major expansion of their own Welford Road venue with a new 10,500-seat stand taking Welford Road to a capacity of 24,500.
However, Tigers have played six matches at the stadium, either to capitalise on the larger capacity with the greater interest in high-profile games or when competition rules demanded that the match be played away from their normal home ground. The first match was a Heineken Cup
semi-final on 24 April 2005, Tigers losing 27–19 to Toulouse
. This game attracted a near-capacity crowd of 31,883. On 1 April 2006 Tigers lost 15–12 to Bath
in a Heineken Cup quarter final, in front of a sell-out crowd of 32,500 which is the record attendance for the stadium. This is unlikely to be equalled for a football match, unless the stadium is expanded, because of crowd segregation requirements. The poor performances by the team in these matches led some Tigers supporters to complain that the stadium was "jinxed" and called for Tigers not to play there in future. However, the third Heineken Cup game there on the 21 April 2007, saw Tigers beat Llanelli Scarlets
33–17, at the European Cup semi final stage. With the expansion of Welford Road under way it is likely that the only rugby games to be played at the Walkers Stadium in future will be European Cup semi-finals when Leicester Tigers are drawn at "home" which enables them to propose a suitable English venue away from their home ground. The Tigers played their fourth game the Walkers Stadium on 11 April 2009, another Heineken Cup quarter final against Bath which they won. They also played the last home game of the 2008–09
season and the play off semi-final of the Guinness Premiership
due to the demolition of the old Caterpillar Stand at Welford Road.
On 3 December 2006 South Africa
played a game against a World XV to mark the centenary of the Springboks' first game abroad.
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...
football club Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
. The all-seater stadium, inaugurated in July 2002, holds 32,500 and has the 19th largest stadium capacity in England. The stadium is named after King Power
King Power
The King Power International Co., Ltd. is a Thai travel retail company based in Bangkok. Its current chairman and CEO is Vichai Raksriaksorn.The company is the leading travel retail in the country, with its own Duty Free shopping mall covering over 10,000 square metres and at Suvarnabhumi Airport...
, a company owned by club owner Vichai Raksriaksorn
Vichai Raksriaksorn
- Biography :Raksriaksorn is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 35th richest man in Thailand. He is the founder and CEO of King Power Duty Free, an operator of duty-free shops. In December 2009, King Power received the royal warrant from the King of Thailand in a ceremony attended by Raksriaksorn.In...
. Prior to this it was known as the Walkers Stadium, through a sponsorship deal with Walkers Crisps
Walkers (snack foods)
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
.
Background and construction
Leicester's previous stadium was at nearby Filbert StreetFilbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
, which had been their home since 1891. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of 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...
in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate the possibility of building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but initially decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season
1994-95 in English football
-Premiership:Blackburn Rovers ended their 81-year wait for the league title thanks to the strike partnership of Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton which scored a total of more than 50 league goals. Manchester United would have made it three league titles in a row if they had been able to turn a 1-1 draw...
.
Filbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared that the 21,500 capacity would be adequate.
However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant that virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals 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...
and Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
.
Some parts of the ground — the East and North Stands in particular — were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.
In early 1998 plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season
2000-01 in English football
The 2000–01 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Manchester United secured their 3rd Premiership title in succession and their 7th title in just nine seasons...
, but these plans were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom
John Elsom
John Elsom is a director of English association football club Grimsby Town and former chairman of Leicester City F.C. He served on the board of the Football League and is a member of the Football Association Council....
vowed that other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping that either option would have materialised by August 2002.
The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003-04
2003-04 in English football
The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....
being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002-03 season
2002-03 in English football
The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...
.Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed that the new stadium would be ready for the 2002-03 season.
The stadium was completed on time in mid 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30million in debt.
The stadium also has under-soil heating.
The record attendance for football is 32,188 for Leicester City against Real Madrid in a pre-season friendly game in the summer of 2011. The overall record attendance is 32,488 for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262.
Opening
The stadium was officially opened by former Leicester striker Gary LinekerGary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...
on 23 July 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Spanish team Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club, also known as Athletic Bilbao, is an association football club from Bilbao in Biscay, Spain. The club has played in the Primera División of La Liga since its start in 1928. They have won La Liga on eight occasions...
, on 4 August 2002. The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart
Jordan Stewart
Jordan Barrington Stewart is an English footballer, who currently plays for Millwall in the Football League Championship. He plays either as a left-back or left-winger, and if required, can play at centre-back....
scoring Leicester's first goal. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. Brian Deane
Brian Deane
Brian Christopher Deane is an English former footballer.Signed for £40,000 from Doncaster Rovers in the close season of 1988, Deane first played and scored for Sheffield United in an 8–1 victory against Skegness Town...
scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season
2002-03 in English football
The 2002-03 season was the 123rd season of competitive football in England.-Most Memorable rise:*Wigan Athletic marked their 25th season of Football League membership by winning the Division Two championship and reaching the league's second tier for the very first time.-Most Memorable...
promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed.
Ownership
The £37 million cost of the new stadium, combined with relegation from the Premiership, the collapse of the English transfer market due to the introduction of the transfer window and the collapse of ITV DigitalITV Digital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster, which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network as ONdigital in 1998 and briefly re-branded as ITV Digital in July 2001, before the service ceased in May 2002. Its main shareholders...
meant that Leicester went into receivership
Receivership
In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...
shortly after moving to the new stadium. Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from any further football ground construction. The main losers from this were, ironically, Leicester's local rivals Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, who were in negotiations with Birse to build their own new stadium.
As part of the deal which brought the club out of receivership, the ownership of the stadium reverted to American company Teachers Insurance
TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading retirement provider for people who work in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields...
, who had supplied £28 million via a bond scheme towards the stadium's construction, with the club taking a long-term lease while the bond repayments were made.
Future plans
In October 2006, Milan MandarićMilan Mandaric
Milan Mandarić is a Serbian-American business tycoon who has owned a string of successful businesses and football clubs including Portsmouth, Leicester City and Sheffield Wednesday. He currently is the chairman of Sheffield Wednesday...
reportedly offered £25 million to buy Leicester City. This was said to include £15 million to buy back the stadium from its current owners. Mandarić stated in the local newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, The Leicester Mercury
Leicester Mercury
The Leicester Mercury is a British regional newspaper, owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, for the city of Leicester and the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland...
, that he envisioned Leicester City becoming a powerful club and the stadium, possibly within the next few years, could have a capacity of 45,000. The stadium at full strength (if renovated to full potential) could hold up to 55,000. However, this would only happen if Leicester became a regular top-six Premier League side, according to LCFC.
Naming
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
". As a result of the petition, the name was quickly changed to the "Walkers Stadium"; however, some fans are still unhappy with the name, and it is still sometimes referred to (usually derogatively) as the "crisp bowl", in reference to Walkers best known products. Many fans refer to the stadium as Filbert Way after the grounds address, retaining a link with the past. The naming rights were sold to King Power
King Power
The King Power International Co., Ltd. is a Thai travel retail company based in Bangkok. Its current chairman and CEO is Vichai Raksriaksorn.The company is the leading travel retail in the country, with its own Duty Free shopping mall covering over 10,000 square metres and at Suvarnabhumi Airport...
for the 2011–12 season.
Football
During their absence from Wembley StadiumWembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, the England national football 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...
played a home friendly game against Serbia and Montenegro at the stadium on 3 June 2003. Goals from Steven Gerrard
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard MBE is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He also has 89 caps for the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfielder role, but he has also been used as a second striker and right winger...
and Joe Cole
Joe Cole
Joseph John "Joe" Cole is an English footballer who plays for Lille, on loan from Liverpool, and the England national football team as midfielder. He started his career with where he played more than 100 games during five years, until he left for Chelsea in 2003...
gave England a 2–1 victory. On 12 October of the same year, the ground hosted an international friendly match between Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
and Jamaica
Jamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...
, with Roberto Carlos scoring the winner.
On 20 May 2006, the stadium hosted the Football Conference playoff final
Conference National Playoff Final 2006
The 2005-06 Conference National Playoff Final took place on 20 May 2006 and was contested between Halifax Town and Hereford United. It was held at the Walkers Stadium, Leicester for the first time, the previous Playoff Finals having been held at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke...
between Hereford United
Hereford United F.C.
Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...
and Halifax Town
Halifax Town A.F.C.
Halifax Town Association Football Club were an English football team who most recently played in the Conference National, although prior to that they participated in the Football League for over eighty years...
. A goal in extra time gave Hereford a 3–2 win and promotion to the Football League. Nine days later, the ground was also the venue for another international friendly, with Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
beating Jamaica 4–1.
On 12 October 2007, the England Under-21 side took on Serbia and Montenegro U21. The game ended with England winning 1–0 after a Matt Derbyshire
Matt Derbyshire
Matthew Anthony "Matt" Derbyshire is an English footballer who plays for Nottingham Forest. He is a striker, who played for Blackburn Rovers for five years, and had loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Wrexham and Olympiacos, before joining the latter club on a permanent basis in 2009. He played for...
goal in the first half.
On 30 July 2011, Leicester city
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
played a strong Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
side in the Npower Cup, with stars such as Ronaldo
Ronaldo
Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima , commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer who last played for Corinthians. Ronaldo is widely considered to be the greatest 'pure' striker in the history of the modern game, and by some accounts, in the history of football. Ronaldo was one of the...
and Kaka
Kaka
The New Zealand Kaka, also known as Kākā, is a New Zealand parrot endemic to the native forests of New Zealand.-Description:...
playing for the galacticos. Despite falling behind to a first-half goal from Jose Callejon and a second on the hour from Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema is a French international footballer who currently plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. He primarily plays as a striker whose influence can extend out to the wings and is known for his technical ability, powerful style of play, and vast goal-scoring ability...
, Eriksson's men showed remarkable resilience against the nine-time champions of Europe and pulled a deserved goal back a minute from the end through substitute Lloyd Dyer
Lloyd Dyer
Lloyd Richard Dyer is an English footballer currently playing for Championship side Leicester City.-West Bromwich Albion:...
.
International matches
Rugby
In 2004, the United Kingdom's best supported rugby union club, Leicester TigersLeicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
considered sharing the stadium with Leicester City as their own 16,815-capacity ground at Welford Road
Welford Road Stadium
Welford Road is a rugby union stadium in Leicester, England and is the home ground for Leicester Tigers. It is located between Aylestone Road and Welford Road on the edge of the city centre...
was considered too small to handle the growing popularity of rugby. The plan would have seen the two clubs form a jointly owned company to buy the stadium from Teachers. The deal was abandoned in 2005 as the clubs failed to fully agree terms. Because of the continued parlous state of the football club's finances, rumours that groundsharing was still being discussed continued to circulate, with some suggestions that Tigers were considering buying the stadium outright from Teachers. In 2007 a permanent groundshare seemed to be ruled out as Leicester Tigers received planning consent for a major expansion of their own Welford Road venue with a new 10,500-seat stand taking Welford Road to a capacity of 24,500.
However, Tigers have played six matches at the stadium, either to capitalise on the larger capacity with the greater interest in high-profile games or when competition rules demanded that the match be played away from their normal home ground. The first match was a Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
semi-final on 24 April 2005, Tigers losing 27–19 to Toulouse
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...
. This game attracted a near-capacity crowd of 31,883. On 1 April 2006 Tigers lost 15–12 to Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
in a Heineken Cup quarter final, in front of a sell-out crowd of 32,500 which is the record attendance for the stadium. This is unlikely to be equalled for a football match, unless the stadium is expanded, because of crowd segregation requirements. The poor performances by the team in these matches led some Tigers supporters to complain that the stadium was "jinxed" and called for Tigers not to play there in future. However, the third Heineken Cup game there on the 21 April 2007, saw Tigers beat Llanelli Scarlets
Llanelli Scarlets
The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Llanelli, south-west Wales the team play at the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, as well as competing in the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup...
33–17, at the European Cup semi final stage. With the expansion of Welford Road under way it is likely that the only rugby games to be played at the Walkers Stadium in future will be European Cup semi-finals when Leicester Tigers are drawn at "home" which enables them to propose a suitable English venue away from their home ground. The Tigers played their fourth game the Walkers Stadium on 11 April 2009, another Heineken Cup quarter final against Bath which they won. They also played the last home game of the 2008–09
2008–09 in English football
The 2008–09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Hull City were all playing in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship last season. Stoke returned to the top flight after a 23-year absence, while...
season and the play off semi-final of the Guinness Premiership
Guinness Premiership
The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...
due to the demolition of the old Caterpillar Stand at Welford Road.
On 3 December 2006 South Africa
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...
played a game against a World XV to mark the centenary of the Springboks' first game abroad.
List of rugby matches
| Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 April 2005 | 2004-05 Heineken Cup 2004-05 Heineken Cup The 2004-5 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other... Semi-final |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
19 | Toulouse Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps... |
27 |
| 1 April 2006 | 2005-06 Heineken Cup 2005-06 Heineken Cup The 2005–06 Heineken Cup was the eleventh edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. 24 teams from 7 different countries took part, with the opening game played on Friday October 21, 2005... Quarter-final |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
12 | Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league... |
15 |
| 3 December 2006 | Exhibition match | World XV World XV A World XV is a rugby union team, typically composed of invited players from various countries. Various World XVs have been arranged from time to time, often to take part in celebration and testimonial games, usually against national teams; recent World XV games have generally not been considered... |
7 | South Africa XV 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... |
27 |
| 21 April 2007 | 2006-07 Heineken Cup 2006-07 Heineken Cup The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was the 12th edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. The pool draw took place on 21 June at Twickenham. The pool stages started on 20 October and concluded in January, going for six rounds... Semi-final |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
33 | Llanelli Scarlets Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Llanelli, south-west Wales the team play at the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, as well as competing in the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup... |
17 |
| 11 April 2009 | 2008-09 Heineken Cup 2008-09 Heineken Cup The 2008–09 Heineken Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield in Edinburgh... Quarter-final |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
20 | Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league... |
15 |
| 25 April 2009 | 2008-09 Guinness Premiership 2008-09 Guinness Premiership -Table:-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:-Round 5:-Round 6:-Round 7:-Round 8:-Round 9:-Round 10:-Round 11:-Round 12:-Rearranged fixtures:-Round 13:-Round 14:... , Round 22 |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
73 | Bristol Bristol Rugby Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'... |
3 |
| 9 May 2009 | 2008-09 Guinness Premiership 2008-09 Guinness Premiership -Table:-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:-Round 5:-Round 6:-Round 7:-Round 8:-Round 9:-Round 10:-Round 11:-Round 12:-Rearranged fixtures:-Round 13:-Round 14:... Semi-final |
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010... |
24 | Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league... |
10 |