Alexander Stadium

Alexander Stadium
Alexander Stadium
Location Perry Park, Perry Barr, Birmingham, England
Coordinates 52°31′49″N 1°54′20″W / 52.53033°N 1.90561°W / 52.53033; -1.90561Coordinates: 52°31′49″N 1°54′20″W / 52.53033°N 1.90561°W / 52.53033; -1.90561
Operator Birmingham City Council
Capacity 12,700 (proposed increasing for 50,000 and 25,000 permanently for 2022 Commonwealth Games)
Construction
Broke ground 1975
Opened 1976 (1976)
Expanded 2011, (proposed 2019-2021)
Tenants
Birchfield Harriers
England Monarchs (NFL Europe) (1998)
Website
www.birmingham.gov.uk/alexander

Alexander Stadium is an international athletics stadium located within Perry Park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at grid reference SP065925. It has staged the Amateur Athletics Association Championships, and was the venue of the 1998 Disability World Athletics Championships. It hosted one England Monarchs game in 1998 with an attendance of 8,000. It hosts the annual British Grand Prix and will be the main athletics venue of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The construction of the stadium began in 1975 and it opened in 1976. It is the home of Birchfield Harriers, one of the best known athletics clubs in the United Kingdom, replacing their former home at Alexander Sports Ground.[1]

Structure

It has an eight-lane synthetic surface track with a ten lane straight. There are 7,000 covered seats in 3 separate stands called Main, Knowles (after Dick Knowles) and Nelson (after Doris Nelson Neal OBE) and a 5,000 seater main stand in the rear straight.

Event typeCapacity
Sporting events12,700 (seated)
Live music eventsApprox 20,000

Music event

The stadium has held many music events, including a one-day festival called Party in the Park run by BRMB (now Free Radio Birmingham) radio that featured acts like Nelly Furtado, Westlife, Natasha Bedingfield, Blue, Sugababes, Girls Aloud and The Calling. The event was later moved to Cannon Hill Park where it was in a more central part of the city and so made it easier for people from south Birmingham to attend. This event, however, was later cancelled although it returned in 2010.

Expansion

In 2011 Alexander Stadium underwent a £12.5 million expansion and refurbishment, including the building of a 5,000 seater stand opposite the current main stand. This took the capacity to 12,700.[2] The new stand has also become home to the offices of UK Athletics.[3]

The stand was completed in June 2011, in time to host the Diamond League British Grand Prix in July 2011.[4]

The Stadium is also to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The city will serve as host. The stadium would undergo a renovation, with the stadium's capacity increased to 50,000 with 25,000 permanent seats. The venue will host athletics, opening and closing ceremonies.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Alexander, William O; Morgan, Wilfred (1988). The History of Birchfield Harriers 1877–1988. Birchfield Harriers. ISBN 0-9514082-0-8.
  2. ↑ "Alexander Stadium's bid to be UK Athletics base". BBC. 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  3. ↑ "UK Athletics heading for a grandstand view of the Alexander Stadium". Inside the Games. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  4. ↑ "Top athletes set for Birmingham Grand Prix Meeting". BBC. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2011-06-08.
  5. ↑ "Stadium expansion at heart of 2022 bid". 20 June 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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