Manchester City unveils concepts for an entertainment destination at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City Football Club has unveiled concepts for a best-in-class fan experience and year-round entertainment and leisure destination at the Etihad Stadium, with fans and the local community invited to share their feedback from now up until Sunday 26th March.  

This follows the Club’s announcement in December last year that feasibility studies were underway to explore concepts that could form part of a future stadium development, consistent with the long-held vision to establish the Etihad Campus and the wider area as a globally relevant and competitive sport, leisure and entertainment destination. 

Several connected all-weather facilities, fully integrated into the stadium, are centred around an expanded North Stand with one larger, single upper tier above the existing lower tier, increasing stadium capacity to over 60,000.  

A covered City Square fan zone, with a capacity of 3,000 and a wide variety of food and drink outlets, new club shop, museum and hotel, are all proposed in order to offer a broader range  of dynamic matchday and non-matchday activities. 

ALSD International 2023 is being hosted at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium this October 9-10th, where optimising revenue through New Builds, Renovations and Service Expansions takes centre-stage at the leading event and 365 community for the Premium Seat & Hospitality industry.

Modest workspace has also been included for use by start-up and medium-sized organisations looking to co-locate and collaborate with Manchester City Football Club (MCFC), City Football Group and Etihad Campus partners.  

Matchday travel measures are currently being explored with partners from across the city, with a view to enhancing existing services. Alongside this, the Club is developing alternative methods for fans to travel to and from the stadium as part of its wider sustainable transport strategy.  

Since 2008, City Football Group has overseen over £700m of investment into the Etihad Campus and East Manchester. This investment has supported thousands of jobs, with CFG and its partners delivering a range of facilities, including the City Football Academy, Connell Co-op College, Manchester Institute of Health & Performance and Co-op Live, the UK’s biggest and most sustainable arena, which opens in December 2023. 

Community focus

In line with previous Club development proposals, the initiative would ensure that training, recruitment and employment opportunities are prioritised for local people.  

Opportunities would extend beyond the period of development works, with plans being explored for a long-term ‘skills academy’ programme designed to provide local people of all  ages with qualifications to secure permanent jobs at the Etihad Campus. 

Should a planning application be submitted and successfully approved, the construction programme would take place over a three-year period, with works staged to minimise disruption during the football season.  

Detailed information outlining the Club’s concepts are now available for fans and the local community to view at mancity.com/etihad-stadium-consultation where feedback and comments can also be submitted.  

Fans and the local community can also visit a temporary exhibition space in City Square at the Etihad Stadium, which will be open from Saturday 4th March – Sunday 26th March or attend one of three consultation events in East Manchester.  

Manchester City Football Club:  

Manchester City FC is an English Premier League club initially founded in 1880 as St Mark’s West  Gorton. It officially became Manchester City FC in 1894 and has since then gone onto win the European  Cup Winners’ Cup, eight League Championship titles, including six Premier League titles (2012, 2014,  2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), six FA Cups and eight League Cups. Manchester City FC is one of twelve clubs comprising the City Football Group and counts New York City FC and Melbourne City FC among  its sister clubs.  

Under manager Pep Guardiola, one of the most highly-decorated managers in world football, the Club  plays its domestic and UEFA Champions League home fixtures at the Etihad Stadium, a spectacular 53,500 seat arena that City have called home since 2003. Today, the stadium sits on the wider Etihad Campus, which also encompasses the City Football Academy, a state-of-the-art  performance training and youth development facility located in the heart of East Manchester. Featuring  a 7,000 capacity Academy Stadium, the City Football Academy is also where Manchester City Women’s Football Club and the Elite Development Squad train on a daily basis and play their competitive home games.  

Source & imagery, courtesy: Man City