Former football stadium in Highbury, North London, England
For Arsenal ‘s stream stadium, see Emirates Stadium “ Highbury stadium ” redirects here. For the stadium in Fleetwood, see Highbury Stadium ( Fleetwood )

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as “ Highbury “ due to its localization and was given the affectionate nickname of the “ Home of Football ” by the baseball club. [ 1 ] It was primitively built in 1913 on the web site of a local anesthetic college ‘s diversion establish and was significantly redeveloped doubly. The first reconstruction came in the 1930s from which the Art Deco East and West Stands date. There was a irregular development ; the inaugural phase was completed in 1989 which added executive boxes to the Clock End, and afterwards in 1993 a raw North Bank Stand was constructed, both following the recommendations of the Taylor Report which replaced the terraces to make the stadium an all-seater with four stands. however, far attempts to expand the stadium were blocked by the community, and the resulting decrease in capacity and matchday tax income finally led to Arsenal opting to build a newly stadium, to become known as the Emirates Stadium in nearby Islington. After the club moved to their modern stadium upon the conclusion of the 2005–2006 season, Highbury was redeveloped as a residential exploitation known as Highbury Square, with the Clock End and North Bank stands being demolished ; parts of the East and West Stands remained and were incorporated into the raw development due to their listed status. The stadium besides hosted international matches – both for England and in the 1948 Summer Olympics – and FA Cup semi-finals, vitamin a well as packing, baseball and cricket matches. [ 4 ] Its presence besides led to the local London Underground place being renamed to Arsenal in 1932, making it the only station on the Underground net to be named after a football club. In accession to its architecture, the stadium was known for its modest but faultless cant [ 5 ] and for the clock which had been positioned in the southern side of the ground since its insertion in 1930. [ 6 ]

history [edit ]

The façade of the East Stand, on Avenell Road, in 2005. The original stadium was built in 1913, when Woolwich Arsenal moved from the Manor Ground in Plumstead, South East London to Highbury, leasing the refreshment fields of St John ‘s College of Divinity for £20,000. [ 7 ] The rent negotiation besides agreed that no matches were to be played on “ holy place days ” and that no “ heady liquor ” would be sold at the stadium ; however, these stipulations were dropped within a year. [ 8 ] The stadium was hurriedly built over the summer of that year, and was designed by Archibald Leitch, architect of many other football grounds of that era. It featured a single stand on the eastern side and the other three sides had banked terrace. The modern stadium cost £125,000. [ 7 ] It opened whilst not in full arrant, with Arsenal ‘s first couple of the 1913–14 season, a 2–1 irregular Division gain against Leicester Fosse on 6 September 1913. Leicester ‘s Tommy Benfield scored the first goal at the new crunch while George Jobey was the first Arsenal player to do therefore. [ 9 ] Highbury hosted its first base England match in 1920. The australian rugby league team suffered the first loss of their 1921–22 Kangaroo go of Great Britain at Highbury to an english side 4 points to 5 before approximately 12,000 spectators. [ 10 ] Arsenal bought the stadium web site outright in 1925, for £64,000. [ 7 ] No significant fortune of Leitch ‘s master stadium remains today following a series of bluff redevelopments during the 1930s. The mind was to create a ground for London that could capture the magnificence of Villa Park, home of Birmingham club Aston Villa. The Highbury plan was ambitious in its scale and achieve, the first stand completed being the West Stand, designed by Claude Waterlow Ferrier and William Binnie in the Art Deco dash which opened in 1932. [ 7 ] On 5 November the same year the local Tube station was renamed from Gillespie Road to Arsenal. Leitch ‘s independent point of view was demolished to make direction for a newly East Stand, matching the West, in 1936. The West Stand price £45,000 while the East Stand went far over budget and ended up costing £130,000, chiefly thanks to the expense of the facade. [ 11 ] The North Bank terrace was given a ceiling and the southern terrace had a clock fitted to its front, giving it the mention the Clock End .
During the 1948 Summer Olympics, the stadium hosted the football preliminaries. For the next 50 years, the stadium changed little, although during the second gear World War the North Bank terrace was bombed and had to be rebuilt ; the ceiling was not restored until 1956. [ 12 ] Floodlights were fitted in 1951, with the first floodlight peer being a friendly against Hapoel Tel Aviv on 19 September of that class. [ 13 ] The floodlights that adorn Dalymount Park, once stood at the Arsenal stadium. They were shipped to Dublin in 1962. The inaugural address floodlit catch saw Arsenal all in Bohemians 3–8. [ 14 ] Undersoil heat was added in 1964. Unlike at many other grounds, Arsenal refused to install perimeter fence, even at the height of vandalism in the 1980s, which made it ineligible for manipulation as an FA Cup semi-final venue. [ 15 ] Before the Taylor report and the earned run average of all-seater stadiums in Britain, both the North Bank and Clock End consisted of terrace, and the stadium often saw crowds of up to 60,000 or more ; its largest attendance was 73,295 on 9 March 1935 when Arsenal played Sunderland in the First Division ; the plot finished 0–0. [ 16 ] When the grind was initially constructed, it was to “ accommodate 90,000 spectators ”. [ 17 ] The Clock End was redeveloped in 1988–89 with the accession of a roof and 48 executive boxes, [ 18 ] while seating was fitted into the remaining standing area in 1993. [ 19 ]
Thierry Henry waiting to take a corner kick during the last game held at Highbury in 2006 In January 1990, the Taylor report on the Hillsborough disaster was published, which recommended that football stadia become all-seater. The North Bank, which had become dwelling of Arsenal ‘s most passionate supporters, was demolished at the end of the 1991–92 temper. During renovation, a giant mural of fans was placed behind the goal at that goal, to give the magic trick that the players were kicking towards a push rather than a construction locate. The mural initially attracted criticism for its absence of black fans, which was promptly rectified. The drawn-out process of rebuilding the North Bank meant that Highbury was trilateral for the integral 1992–93 season, which was besides the first temper of the new FA Premier League. Although a lack of goals meant that Arsenal lone finished 10th in the modern league, they won both of the domestic cup competitions that temper. [ 20 ] Populous ( then LOBB Partnership ) designed all-seater two-tier North Bank Stand, the last area of Highbury to be refurbished, which was opened in August 1993 at a cost of £20 million amid strong opposition from local residents. The new North Bank Stand contained a museum and a concourse with television arcades, bars, confectionery counters, keepsake shops and fast-food stands. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] While the all-seater North Bank was “ never the same as the antique Archibald Leitch stand ” that it replaced, it was “ much more like the future of Arsenal than the past ” with its add amenities and “ Gone were the days of pushing a petrify child through a pack push and placing them on a barrier from which they could only see a small section of the pitch ”. [ 23 ] The honest-to-god stand had received a fit mail off with a 5–1 get the better of of Southampton, though the new stand had a less auspicious start, the inaugural bet on being a surprise 0–3 kill to Coventry City with all three goals coming from striker Micky Quinn. The inaugural victory came 10 days belated against Leeds United. [ 24 ]

structure [edit ]

The Clock End, with administrator boxes above, in 2005 ; since demolished. At the time of its settlement, the stadium consisted of four separate all-seater stands ; the peddle was aligned north–south, with the North Bank Stand ( once the Laundry End ) and South Stand ( popularly known as the Clock End ) at the ends of the plain. The East and West Stands ran alongside the pitch and are two of the few examples of british football stands designed in the Art Deco dash. The East Stand incorporated the club ‘s offices and was well known for its marble halls ( though the floors were actually terrazzo ) which are often cited in media depictions of the stadium, [ 25 ] and the facade that faces onto Avenell Road. The East Stand is considered architecturally significant enough to have been designated a Grade II listed build. [ 7 ] The stadium ‘s main entrances were on Gillespie Road, Avenell Road and Highbury Hill. When it closed, Highbury had a capacity of 38,419 [ 26 ] ( approximately 12,500 in the North Bank, 11,000 in the West Stand, 9,000 in the East Stand and 6,000 in the Clock End ), all seated, and had Jumbotron screens in the southeast and northwest corners. Arsenal Stadium was well known for its identical small immaculately-kept sales talk, which measured alone 109×73 yards ( 100×67 metres ). [ 3 ] Arsenal ‘s groundsmen, Steve Braddock and his successor Paul Burgess, won the FA Premier League ‘s Groundsman of the Year prize several times for their work on the stadium. [ 27 ]

closure and renovation [edit ]

The final share of the stadium left stand in 2007 Flats in one of the converted Listed Stands The post-Taylor capacity of Highbury was limited to 38,419, while Arsenal ‘s success during the 1990s and 2000s mean that virtually every home meet was filled to near capacity. [ 28 ] Restrictions, such as the East Stand ‘s status as a list build and the fact the stadium was surrounded on all sides by a residential sphere, made any future expansion of Highbury unmanageable and expensive, although the club ‘s directors would have liked to have kept Arsenal at a modernized and inflate Highbury. [ 29 ] In October 1998, precisely after Arsenal started playing Champions League games at Wembley, the golf club made an abortive invite to buy the stadium and make it their permanent home to share with the England home football team. [ 30 ] In November 1999, Arsenal decided to leave Highbury and construct a new 60,000-seat stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove. [ 31 ] It was confirmed in October 2004 that the new stadium would be called the Emirates Stadium as region of a sponsorship conduct with Emirates Airlines. [ 32 ] The stadium opened in July 2006 ; Arsenal ‘s offices were moved to a new building, Highbury House, which was named in commemoration of the early stadium. [ 33 ] For their concluding season at Highbury ( 2005–06 ) Arsenal ran a series of promotions honouring the stadium ‘s bequest. A commemorative logo was designed featuring the cabaret ‘s traditional Art Deco cap from the 1930s, [ 34 ] and the club ‘s history at Highbury was celebrated through a series of theme matchdays. On the field, Arsenal temporarily set aside their traditional red shirts with white sleeves for the season and adopted a solid redcurrant shirt, the color they wore during their beginning season at Highbury in 1913–14.

Arsenal ‘s final game at the stadium was their FA Premier League pit on 7 May 2006 against Wigan Athletic, the stopping point game of the temper. The team needed to better the leave of neighbours Tottenham Hotspur to again secure qualification for the Champions League. Having been 2–1 behind, a hat magic trick by captain and all-time lead goal scorer Thierry Henry secured reservation, with Henry kneeling down to kiss the turf on scoring what proved to be the concluding goal seen at the stadium. [ 35 ] The survive goal scored in a rule plot at the stadium came in a Football Aid charity match when lifelong fan Alan Alger scored a penalty in the final minute of a repair played on Thursday 8 June 2006 ( precisely one calendar month and one day after Henry ‘s finish ). [ 36 ] After the stadium ‘s closure, Arsenal held an auction to sell off many of the stadium ‘s parts, including pieces of the pitch, the goalposts and former coach George Graham ‘s desk. [ 37 ] Sale of the stadium ‘s seats had to be cancelled after it was found they contained touch amounts of the toxic metal cadmium. [ 38 ] As of 2010, Arsenal Stadium was redeveloped and converted into flats in a project known as “ Highbury Square “, a scheme that had 711 properties built on the site. [ 39 ] The North Bank and Clock End stands were demolished. [ 40 ] The exteriors of the list Art Deco East Stand and the matching West Stand were preserved and incorporated into the new developments, while the rest of the stands ‘ structures were removed, and the peddle became a communal garden. In October 2005 the proposed flats went on sale ; as of May 2006 all properties in the North, East and West Stands had been taken. [ 41 ] Arsenal ‘s clock was moved from Highbury to the outer side of the new stadium, with a modern larger adaptation of the feature of speech added inside the footing in August 2010. At the same time as the unveil of the modern clock, the south stands at the venue were besides renamed Clock End in production line with the like name previously used at Highbury. [ 42 ] [ 43 ]

other roles [edit ]

A replica facade of the cannon made from polystyrene for the renovation vitamin a well as being home to Arsenal, it besides hosted games as home stadium for England matches ; 12 internationals were played at Highbury from 1920 to 1961, most of them being friendlies. These included both England ‘s first gear full dwelling international against opposition outside of Great Britain and Ireland ( Belgium in 1923 ), and the “ Battle of Highbury “, England ‘s 3–2 gain over World Champions Italy in 1934, where a record seven Arsenal players started the catch, the most players from a single baseball club to play in an England fastness. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] Highbury was besides used as a football venue for two matches in the 1948 London Olympics – a first-round match and a quarter-final. [ 46 ] It was besides provisionally named as one of London ‘s two host stadiums for the 1966 FIFA World Cup ( along with Wembley ), but was finally dropped with White City Stadium taking the role rather. [ 47 ] By the time of Euro 96, the pitch had been ruled excessively small for international football and the stadium would have been ineligible. Highbury was the venue for twelve FA Cup semi-finals as a neutral earth, the first in 1929 and the survive in 1997, although between 1984 and 1992 it was off the FA ‘s number of approved venues, after Arsenal ‘s refusal to install circumference fencing following a pitch invasion by Everton fans during their semi-final against Southampton. [ 15 ] It besides hosted the London XI ‘s dwelling branch against Lausanne Sports in the 1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup semi-finals ; London won 2–0 on the night and 3–2 on aggregate. [ 48 ] Arsenal did not constantly play their home matches at Highbury in the 93 years they were based there. During the second World War the stadium was used as an ARP station and was bombed ; Arsenal played their matches at White Hart Lane, home plate of North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, until Highbury re-opened in 1946. More recently, Arsenal ‘s home UEFA Champions League matches in the 1998–99 and 1999–00 seasons were played at Wembley Stadium, as Highbury ‘s already restrict capacity had to be reduced to accommodate advertise hoardings. [ 49 ] Arsenal ‘s record at Wembley ( P6 W2 D1 L3 ) was relatively poor, and after two seasons the club switched back to playing at Highbury, not least because since Wembley closed for rebuilding in October 2000, it would not have been able to host their 2000–01 campaign. Highbury has besides hosted respective cricket games and besides baseball matches involving american servicemen between 1916 and 1919. [ 50 ] It was the venue for the 1966 World Heavyweight boxing deed bout between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali, which Ali won. [ 51 ] It has featured on the silver screen adenine well, having been the backdrop for at least two movies : The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, and Fever Pitch. [ 52 ] [ 53 ] Highbury besides played host to an external rugby league match on 10 October 1921 as character of the australian rugby league team ‘s 1921–22 Kangaroo go of Great Britain. The match saw England frustration Australia 5–4 in front of 12,000 fans. [ 54 ]

record scorelines [edit ]

Arsenal ‘s biggest win at Highbury came on 9 January 1932, with an 11–1 victory over Darwen in the FA Cup. Their biggest defeats were 0–5 losses to Huddersfield Town in the First Division on 14 February 1925 and against Chelsea in the League Cup on 11 November 1998. [ 55 ]

Final record of results [edit ]

arsenal [edit ]

Arsenal ‘s complete competitive record at Highbury is as follows : [ 56 ]

Competition P W D L F A Win %
League[a] 1689 981 412 296 3372 1692 58%
FA Cup[b] 142 92 32 18 305 123 64.5%
League Cup 98 69 14 15 195 74 70%
Europe[c] 76 50 17 9 153 60 66%
Charity Shield 5 4 0 1 13 6 80%
Total 2010 1196 475 339 4038 1955 60%

England [edit ]

England ‘s record at Highbury is as follows : [ 57 ]

Competition P W D L F A Win %
World Cup Qualifiers 1 1 0 0 4 1 100%
British Home Championship 1 0 0 1 1 2 0%
Friendly matches[d] 10 8 2 0 42 12 80%
Total 12 9 2 1 47 15 75%

FA Cup semi-finals [edit ]

FA Cup semi-finals held at Highbury are listed below. Arsenal never played a semi-final at their own stadium. Teams in bold went on to win the competition that year

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]

further read [edit ]

  • Glanville, Brian (2006). Arsenal Stadium History: The Official Illustrated History of Highbury Stadium. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-61217-1.
  • Smith, Bruce (2005). Highbury: The Story of Arsenal Stadium. Mainstream. ISBN 1-84596-012-2.
  • Spurling, Jon (2006). Highbury: The Story of Arsenal in N5. Orion. ISBN 075287344X.
  • Highbury Square Official website of the redevelopment project