The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, currently known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home ground of Manchester City Football Club and with a domestic football capacity of 55,097, the fourth-largest in the Premier League and eighth-largest in the United Kingdom.
Built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the stadium has since staged the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, England football internationals, rugby league matches, a boxing world title fight, the England rugby union team's last match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and summer music concerts during the football off-season.
The Etihad Stadium, also known as Eastlands, was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. After the Games, it was converted for use as a football ground and a further 10,000 seats were added to turn it into a very impressive stadium.
The stadium is bowl-shaped, with two tiers all the way around the ground and a third tier along the two side stands whilst offering unobstructed views from every seat. In 2015 an extra tier was added to the South Stand behind one of the goals increasing capacity to over 55,000.
Up to 3,000 away fans are allocated one side of the upper, middle and lower tiers of the South Stand behind one of the goals. This can be increased for cup games if there's enough demand.
As you would expect for such a new stadium, the view from all stands is unobstructed but be aware that leg room is a little less friendly for people over 6'0. Facilities are excellent and there's a fair range of food and drink available.
Of the pubs within the vicinity, the Stanley sports bar which is about 10 minutes’ walk away from the stadium does allow a small number of away fans in. It is just set back from the main A6010, going towards Ashburys train station.
A large Asda store behind one side of the stadium (there is also a McDonalds outlet next door to the store, plus there is a cafe located inside it). There aren't too many places to drink around the ground, most fans preferring to drink in the centre of Manchester before making the short walk to the stadium.
There is some parking available at the stadium itself which costs £10 per car, £20 per minibus, whilst motorcycles are free. The East Car Park is nearest to the away entrance. Please be aware that there is a resident only parking scheme in place in the streets near to the ground, which extends about a mile out from the stadium.
So, if you want to street park, it means parking further away and then walking to the stadium. Some unofficial car parks have sprung up mostly charging around £5 per car.
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