Home of Leicester City FC
Opened 2002
Capacity 32,261
★★★★★
★★★★★
Decent away stand seat and view. I was fairly close to the pitch. We were allowed to stand. The stadium staff were friendly enough. I took the 88A Saffron bus from Haymarket bus station. The journey took about 15 minutes. Programs are sold outside the stadium. The atmosphere inside the stadium was a bit quiet, though there was a drum in one of the home stands. Overall, not a bad stadium at all.
a month ago
I took the tour with my wife on our honeymoon before Christmas and watched a game. The guide, John, was so knowledgeable and it was easy to tell he cares about the club. Not only did he make it a memorable experience for my wife and I but also for a few others that were celebrating birthdays. The connection between club and the community is amazing and I’m glad I got to experience it. I am looking forward to one day going back!
2 weeks ago
Recently took a tour of King Power Stadium in Leicester and would rate the experience 3.5 out of 5.The tour itself was okay, providing a decent look into the stadium and its facilities. While it covered the basics and gave some interesting insights, it lacked a bit of the excitement and in-depth stories that can make such tours truly memorable.On a brighter note, the fan store was impressive. It had a wide variety of merchandise, and the staff were friendly and helpful.Overall, while the tour was satisfactory, there’s definitely room for improvement to make it more engaging. I hope to see these enhancements on my next visit.
6 months ago
History (from Wikipedia)
Background and construction[edit]
Leicester's previous stadium was at nearby Filbert Street, which had been their home since 1891. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season.
Filbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared the 21,500 capacity would be adequate.
However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals Stoke City and Derby County.
Some parts of the ground – the East and North Stands in particular – were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.
In early 1998, plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season, but they were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom vowed other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping either option would have materialised by August 2002.[3]
The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003–04 being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002–03 season.[4] Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed the new stadium would be ready for the 2002–03 season.[5]
The stadium was completed on time in the summer of 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30 million in debt. The stadium is thought to have cost around £37 million to build.
The record attendance for football at the stadium is 32,242, for Leicester City's first home game of the 2015–16 season against Sunderland. The overall record attendance at the stadium is thought to be between 32,488-32,500, for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262.[6]
Opening[edit]
The stadium was officially opened by former Leicester striker Gary Lineker on 23 July 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Basque team Athletic Bilbao, on 4 August 2002. The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart scoring Leicester's first goal. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. Brian Deane scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed.
Ownership[edit]
The £37 million cost of the new stadium, combined with relegation from the Premiership, the collapse of the English transfer market due to the introduction of the transfer window and the collapse of ITV Digital meant Leicester went into receivership shortly after moving to the new stadium. Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from football ground construction.[7]
As part of the deal which brought the club out of receivership, the stadium's ownership reverted to American academic retirement fund TIAA–CREF, who had supplied £28 million via a bond scheme towards the stadium's construction, with the club taking a long-term lease while the bond repayments were made.
On 1 March 2013, Leicester City's Thai owners King Power bought the ground through their company K Power Holdings Co, Ltd.[8]
Plans[edit]
In 2015, vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha stated plans were in place to increase the ground's capacity to around 42,000.[9] Relocation to a bigger stadium has also been considered.[10] In April 2018, it was announced that initial planning for the expansion and development of the King Power Stadium is underway.[11]
Helicopter crash[edit]
Main article: 2018 Leicester helicopter crash
On 27 October 2018, club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter crashed in the car park outside the stadium, shortly after taking off from the pitch. Four other people were on the helicopter at the time. There were no survivors.[12]
Leicester's previous stadium was at nearby Filbert Street, which had been their home since 1891. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season.
Filbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared the 21,500 capacity would be adequate.
However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. Relocation was soon back on the cards; several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals Stoke City and Derby County.
Some parts of the ground – the East and North Stands in particular – were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand.
In early 1998, plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season, but they were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Chairman John Elsom vowed other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping either option would have materialised by August 2002.[3]
The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003–04 being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002–03 season.[4] Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed the new stadium would be ready for the 2002–03 season.[5]
The stadium was completed on time in the summer of 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30 million in debt. The stadium is thought to have cost around £37 million to build.
The record attendance for football at the stadium is 32,242, for Leicester City's first home game of the 2015–16 season against Sunderland. The overall record attendance at the stadium is thought to be between 32,488-32,500, for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262.[6]
Opening[edit]
The stadium was officially opened by former Leicester striker Gary Lineker on 23 July 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Basque team Athletic Bilbao, on 4 August 2002. The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart scoring Leicester's first goal. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. Brian Deane scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed.
Ownership[edit]
The £37 million cost of the new stadium, combined with relegation from the Premiership, the collapse of the English transfer market due to the introduction of the transfer window and the collapse of ITV Digital meant Leicester went into receivership shortly after moving to the new stadium. Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from football ground construction.[7]
As part of the deal which brought the club out of receivership, the stadium's ownership reverted to American academic retirement fund TIAA–CREF, who had supplied £28 million via a bond scheme towards the stadium's construction, with the club taking a long-term lease while the bond repayments were made.
On 1 March 2013, Leicester City's Thai owners King Power bought the ground through their company K Power Holdings Co, Ltd.[8]
Plans[edit]
In 2015, vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha stated plans were in place to increase the ground's capacity to around 42,000.[9] Relocation to a bigger stadium has also been considered.[10] In April 2018, it was announced that initial planning for the expansion and development of the King Power Stadium is underway.[11]
Helicopter crash[edit]
Main article: 2018 Leicester helicopter crash
On 27 October 2018, club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's helicopter crashed in the car park outside the stadium, shortly after taking off from the pitch. Four other people were on the helicopter at the time. There were no survivors.[12]
Things to do in Leicester.