Filbert Street
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City Football Club from 1891 to 2002. The actual title of the stadium was "The City Stadium," but like many English football stadia, it was known almost exclusively by its address.
The club, then named Leicester Fosse, moved to Filbert Street in 1891, after playing at five other locations since the club was formed. It became all-seater in December 1993 on the completion of the Carling Stand, which held 9,500 seated spectators and cost £6million. The remaining terraces were filled with seats and this gave Filbert Street an all-seated capacity of 21,500. Following the success of the club under Martin O'Neill, the stadium's capacity was inadequate.. A new stadium was required for higher attendances and better facilities. Although expansion of Filbert Street was considered, the club made the decision to relocate to Filbert Way, only a few hundred metres from Filbert Street. Expansion of Filbert Street would have been very difficult, as two of the stands joined onto housing which would have been expensive to place under a compulsory purchase order in the event of expansion.
Work began on a 32,500 seater stadium named The Walkers Stadium (because of a sponsorship deal with long running sponsors Walkers Crisps) in June 2001. It was completed in August 2002, at a cost of £37 million. Demolition of Filbert Street was completed in 2003. The site is now home to the 'Filbert Village' development, built as accommodation for students for the nearby De Montfort University and University of Leicester.
The last game to be played at Filbert Street was the last game of the 2001/2002 season, a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Matthew Piper scored the winner, the last goal scored at the ground.
[edit] External links
- Filbert Street history
- Filbert Street Gallery and Information @worldstadia.com
- Demolition of Filbert Street
