Premier League football is a mix of the very modern with the very old, with stadiums up and down the country spanning more than 150 years of the sport’s history – from some of the very earliest in existence, to the newest state-of-the-art structures that have only recently been built.
Here’s a look at every current Premier League stadium, ranked by age from newest to oldest. The order might even surprise you!
All capacities (except Old Trafford) are according to the 2019/20 Premier League Handbook. Old Trafford isn’t disclosed in 2019/20 and is sourced from the 2018/19 Premier League Handbook.
20. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Capacity: 62,062
Opened: 2019
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was more than 10 years in the making by the time it was opened in April 2019, several months behind schedule. Spurs were initially supposed to move in for the 2018/19 season, only to spend most of a second year at temporary home Wembley.
The stadium was also specifically designed with NFL games in mind and effectively serves as the primary base for all NFL activity in the UK.
19. London Stadium
Club: West Ham United
Capacity: 60,000
Opened: 2012
West Ham won the controversial tenancy bidding process for London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium, moving from Upton Park in the summer of 2016 after a multi-year reconfiguration and redevelopment of the site at the heart of the Olympic Park.
Despite its primary function now as a football stadium, it has continued to host a number of others sports, including baseball and rugby, as well as retaining its athletics function.
18. Amex Stadium
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion
Capacity: 30,750
Opened: 2011
For 14 years, Brighton didn’t have a home of their own, briefly ground sharing with Gillingham and later spending more than a decade at the Withdean Stadium, a small athletics venue.
Brighton were evicted from their former Goldstone Ground in 1997, which had served as home for 95 years. But the Amex Stadium, named for sponsor American Express and originally known as the Falmer Stadium, was completed and opened in 2011.
17. Emirates Stadium
Club: Arsenal
Capacity: 60,704
Opened: 2006
Converting Highbury to an all-seater stadium in the early 1990s reduced capacity by nearly 20,000 and was one of the factors that led Arsenal to explore the possibility of a new home.
An initial plan to rebuild Highbury was not backed and the Gunners instead soon settled on the Ashburton Grove site which houses today’s stadium. Emirates bought the naming rights in 2004, two years before it opened, in a deal that currently runs until 2028.
16. Etihad Stadium
Club: Manchester City
Capacity: 55,017
Opened: 2002
Manchester City inherited what was then known as the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003, a year after the venue was the centrepiece for Manchester’s 2002 Commonwealth Games.
City left behind Maine Road to make the move to the new stadium, which actually retained its original name until 2010 when the naming rights were sold to Etihad Airways. The capacity has been increased by close to 15,000 since the Commonwealth Games.
15. King Power Stadium
Club: Leicester City
Capacity: 32,261
Opened: 2002
Leicester’s new home was opened by local legend Gary Lineker in July 2002, with the Foxes having bid farewell to former ground Filbert Street the previous season when they were relegated from the Premier League.
It was initially named for principal sponsor Walkers. King Power then assumed the naming rights in 2011, a year after the late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha completed his takeover.
14. St Mary’s Stadium
Club: Southampton
Capacity: 32,384
Opened: 2001
With The Dell unsuitable for an expansion project, Southampton moved to the brand new St Mary’s Stadium in 2001. The move was not only a serious upgrade, but also marked a return to the club’s roots near St Mary’s Church where the Saints had first been formed.
The naming rights to St Mary’s were initially sold to then principal sponsor Friends Provident, but the name has actually been commercial free since 2006.
13. Carrow Road
Club: Norwich City
Capacity: 27,359
Opened: 1935
Carrow Road is the third home of Norwich City, moving to the current site in 1935 when their former home, known as The Nest, was deemed unsatisfactory for large crowds – it was built on the site of a converted chalk pit and remedial building work failed.
The land on which the new Carrow Road ground would be built was owned by Colman’s, which kicked off a longstanding relationship between the club and the mustard makers.
12. Selhurst Park
Club: Crystal Palace
Capacity: 25,486
Opened: 1924
Crystal Palace have hit headlines with their claims they are the world’s oldest professional club. Whether they can ever really be considered the same club as the ‘Crystal Palace’ that were formed in 1861 and dissolved in 1876 will remain the subject of debate.
The current club initially played at the Crystal Palace venue that hosted many early FA Cup finals, before bouncing around a couple of temporary homes and building Selhurst Park in 1924.
11. Vicarage Road
Club: Watford
Capacity: 22,200
Opened: 1922
Watford moved to Vicarage Road in 1922, although the club never actually owned the ground until 2002 and had previously been paying rent to local brewery.
However, financial trouble forced the Hornets to almost immediately sell and lease it in order to raise cash. That was, until a fundraising effort, which included a concert from celebrity fan and former owner Elton John, helped buy it back in 2004.
10. Vitality Stadium
Club: Bournemouth
Capacity: 11,364
Opened: 1910
Currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, Bournemouth’s home is otherwise known as Dean Court. That name is a nod to a local businessman, J.E. Cooper-Dean, who granted the club a lengthy lease on a site to build a new ground in 1910.
The Vitality is currently by far the smallest stadium in the Premier League, holding a little over 11,000 people. It is the only top flight capacity under 20,000.
9. Old Trafford
Club: Manchester United
Capacity: 74,879
Opened: 1910
Manchester United moved to Old Trafford in 1910 because then chairman John Henry Davies considered their crumbling Bank Street ground not befitting a team that had recently won the First Division title. Indeed, Bank Street was badly damaged by a storm not long after.
Old Trafford saw major work in the 1990s and early 2000s to make it one of Europe’s leading venues, but underinvestment more recently has left it in a state of semi-disrepair.
8. Villa Park
Club: Aston Villa
Capacity: 42,095
Opened: 1897
Aston Villa began talks to take over Aston Lower Grounds in 1894, with the site located in the former grounds of Aston Hall, a Jacobean estate. The new football venue opened in 1897 at a time when Villa were reigning league champions and FA Cup winners.
It remains one of the more traditional Premier League stadiums, with the famed Holte End named for Sir Thomas Holte, who was the original builder of Aston Hall in 1618.
7. Goodison Park
Club: Everton
Capacity: 39,414
Opened: 1892
Everton are in the early stages of moving to a new waterside stadium at Bramley-Moore Docks, which is awaiting approved planning permission after successful public consultations. When the new venue is completed in 2023 or 2024, it will end more than 130 years at Goodison Park.
The Toffees have played more than 100 top flight seasons at Goodison, meaning it has hosted more top flight league games than any other ground in England.
6. Molineux Stadium
Club: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Capacity: 32,050
Opened: 1889
With Wolves one of England’s best club sides in the 1950s, Molineux was one of the first grounds in the country to host regular European football – Barcelona were an early visitor in the quarter-finals of the European Cup in the 1959/60 season.
Stands are named for legendary former player and manager Stan Cullis, who oversaw Wolves’ glory years, as well as ex-England captain Billy Wright and prolific striker Steve Bull.
5. Anfield
Club: Liverpool
Capacity: 53,394
Opened: 1884
Liverpool were not actually the original occupants of Anfield. That was Merseyside neighbours Everton, who leased the site from a local landowner by the name of John Orrell, who also a friend of a club board member, John Houlding.
Houlding eventually bought the site himself, only for a dispute with Everton to leave him with an empty facility in 1892. As a result, he decided to start a new club: Liverpool FC.
4. Turf Moor
Club: Burnley
Capacity: 21,944
Opened: 1883
Cricket was played on the Turf Moor site as early as 1833, but it wasn’t until 1883 that a football ground adjacent to the original cricket field, where cricket is still played, was created.
Burnley Football Club had only formed a year earlier, but were invited by Burnley Cricket Club to move to Turf Moor and share the land. Fans initially congregated at the sides of the pitch to watch until the first stand was constructed in 1885.
3. St James’ Park
Club: Newcastle United
Capacity: 52,305
Opened: 1880
St James’ Park predates Newcastle United, with Newcastle Rangers the first football club to play there in 1880. Newcastle West End arrived next and the current club as we know it was formed in 1892 when the merger with Newcastle East End came about.
The naming of the famed Gallowgate End has a slightly sinister backstory as it is thought to come from the stand’s proximity of the old city gallows last used in 1844.
2. Stamford Bridge
Club: Chelsea
Capacity: 40,834
Opened: 1877
Chelsea Football Club wasn’t founded until as late 1905, but Stamford Bridge that is now synonymous with the Blues had already existed as a sports facility for nearly 40 years.
Its initial purpose was for track and field athletics and was home to the London Athletic Club until 1904. It was at that time that brothers Gus and J.T. Mears acquired the lease and wanted to host professional football matches. Fulham turned it down so a brand new club was created.
1. Bramall Lane
Club: Sheffield United
Capacity: 32,125
Opened: 1855
Bramall Lane has played a hugely important role in football history. It was first opened as a cricket ground in 1855, with football first played there in 1862. It went on to hold the world’s first football tournament – played to Sheffield Rules – and the world’s first floodlit match.
Sheffield United eventually moved in when they were formed in 1889. Despite its primary function switching to football, cricket continued to be played there until the 1970s.
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Source : 90min