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| Contents |
What's The
Emirates Stadium Like?
External
View (photo)
What
Is It Like For Away Supporters?
Looking
Towards The South Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
East Stand (photo)
How To Get
There By Car & Where To Park
North and East Stands (photo)
By
Train/London Underground Tube
A Closer Look At The North Stand (photo)
Local Rivals
Admission Prices
Ground
Layout
Fixtures 2011-2012
Programme & Fanzines
Disabled Facilities
Record & Average Attendance
Fans Ground
Reviews
Hotel Accommodation
Location Map
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| What's The
Emirates Stadium Like? |
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Arsenal moved the short
distance to the Emirates Stadium in 2006, after 93
years of playing at one of the most historic
grounds in the country; Highbury. The stadium
was designed by HOK Sport (who also designed
Stadium Australia in Sydney, which was used for
the Olympics) and built by Sir Robert McAlpine
Ltd. The stadium cost £390m to build. With a capacity of over
60,000 the stadium is huge in comparison to
Highbury and is the largest football ground in
London. It is the only stadium that I know of, in
this country that is four tiered. The lower tier,
is large and shallow, set well back from the
playing surface as a cinder track surrounds the
playing area. A small second tier, which is called
the Club tier, has seating, but is only eight rows
high. Inside it has a number of
lounges/restaurants, earning it the nickname the
'prawn circle'. This Club tier slightly overhangs
the bottom tier.
The third tier is even smaller, being entirely
comprised of executive boxes, some 150 in total
and fits entirely under the large fourth tier. This fourth tier, known as
the upper tier, has been designed in a semi
circular fashion and is topped by an impressive
looking roof, that includes a lot of visible white
tubular steelwork and perspex panels to allow more
light to get to the pitch. The roofs though do not
follow the semi circular shape of the stands but
in fact run across the top of them and even dip
down towards them giving them a strange look. Two
excellent looking large video screens situated in
the North West & South East corners, below the
roof line, complete the stadium.
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Emirates
Stadium External View
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| What
Is It Like For Away Supporters? |
Away
fans
at the Emirates Stadium are housed in the lower tier of the South East
corner. The normal allocation for away fans will be
3,000 tickets, but this can be increased for cup
games. Although fans will have big padded seats and
plenty of leg room, the lower tier of the stadium is
quite shallow (unlike the upper tiers which have
plenty of height between rows), meaning
that the view might not be as good as you would
expect from a new stadium.
Entrance to the stadium is by a 'smart
ticket', whereby rather than giving your ticket
to a turnstile operator, you enter it into a
ticket reader to gain entry. This always
confuses the away fans, as although more clubs
are installing this type of apparatus, it is
still in the minority. On my last visit, after
being searched on entry, the steward took my
ticket and inserted it into the ticket reader
for me, which speeded up the process (which made
sense as it is not clear on the ticket as to
which way it should be inserted).
The concourse inside is not that spacious, but
just about adequate. There is quite a choice of
food on offer. Although pricey it looks pretty
good and includes; Fish and chips (£5.90),
Scottish Cheeseburger (£4), Hot Dog
(£3.50), Balti Pie (£4), Minced Beef
& Onion Pie (£4), Roasted vegetables
and cauliflower pie (£4) and probably the
best value a slice of pizza for £2.50.
Alcohol is available in the form of Fosters or
John Smiths at £3.20 per pint. However the
crowd of fans that had formed into a scrum
around the kiosk put me off even trying to buy
anything. It would have been nice if a proper
queuing system had been put in place. There are
plenty of flat screen televisions on the
concourse to keep you entertained, plus there is
a Ladbroke betting facility.
I have been to the Emirates a couple of times
now. The first was for an international
friendly, where I had tickets for the upper tier
of the stadium. I was very impressed all round
with the stadium and had a great day out. The
second visit was as an away supporter seated in
the visiting section. On this visit I was less
impressed with the Emirates. The whole occasion
just seemed as it was one big corporate event
rather than a football match. Plus the view was
that not that great and afterwards you almost
questioned if the stadium did indeed hold
60,000, as the large gaps in the corners below
the stadium roof, gave the illusion that it is
smaller than what it is. The away fans are also
located very close to the home fans, which led
to a fair amount of rather unsavoury banter.
On the positive side the stadium is indeed one
of quality. It looks and feels that it has not
been 'built on the cheap' and is a 'cut above'
most other new stadiums built in this country.
The atmosphere is okay and the pitch even in
January looked immaculate. On a lighter note
look out for the rather odd looking mascot
called 'Gunnersaurus, which is not as you would
expect coloured red and white, but instead a
bright green, fluffy looking dinosaur.
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Looking
Towards The South Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
The traditional pub for
away supporters is the Drayton Arms, which is located
near to Arsenal tube station and Drayton Park railway
station. This Courage pub overlooks the new stadium
and is only a few minutes walk away. However as you
would expect it can get extremely busy on matchdays,
with drinkers spilling outside onto the pavements.
Mark Long recommends the Twelve Pins (formerly the
Finsbury Park Tavern) near Finsbury Park Tube Station.
‘Normally a good mix of home and away fans and about a
ten minute walk from the ground’. Whilst Guy McIntyre
adds; ‘The Blackstock opposite The Twelve Pins, also
welcomes away fans, plus it has a big screen showing
Sky Sports’. Otherwise alcohol is available inside the
stadium (Fosters, John Smith’s & Strongbow).
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East Stand
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| How To Get
There By Car & Where To Park |
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Leave the
M1 at Junction 2 and onto the A1, following the
signs for City (Central London). Keep going on the
A1 for around six miles, until you see Holloway Road
Tube Station on your right.
Take the next left at the
traffic lights into Hornsey Road and the stadium
is about a 1/4 of a mile further down this road.
There is little parking at the stadium itself or
in nearby streets. An extensive residents
only parking scheme operates
around the stadium on matchdays.
It's probably
better to park further out of London around a tube
station such as Cockfosters and
get the tube to the ground.
Tony Attwood
adds; 'Cockfosters underground station is the
obvious station for fans travelling from the north
- it is only about 4 miles south of the M25.
It has its own car park but this can be full by as
early as 12.30pm. What's more it can be
difficult to exit after the game, with most
drivers seeking to come out and cross the main
road to head north. Unless you have an
encyclopaedic knowledge of the streets around the
general area of the Emirates, it really isn't
worth trying to find some street parking. Football
fans on matchdays are easy pickings for the
traffic wardens, who contrary to popular belief,
do work on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.'
Map showing the location of the
Emirates Stadium (at the bottom of this page).
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North and East
Stands
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| By Train or
London Underground |
The nearest
London Underground tube station to
the Emirates Stadium is Holloway Road on the
Piccadilly line. However,
this is closed on matchdays as it relies
mostly on lifts to transport passengers to and
from street level and this could cause problems
when large crowds are in attendance. Fans should
therefore alight at the next stop on the
Piccadilly line which is Arsenal
tube station. It is only a few minutes walk from
here to the stadium. On exiting the station turn
right and follow Drayton Park Road around to the
left. Then take one of the large bridges over the
railway line to the stadium. Other tube
stations in walking distance of the stadium are Finsbury Park on
the Piccadilly Line and Highbury & Islington on
the Victoria Line.
Otherwise you can take an
overland train to Finsbury Park Railway Station
from London Kings Cross. It is then about a 10 to
15 minute walk from Finsbury Park to the stadium.
Drayton Park Station which is situated right by
the stadium is closed at weekends.
Tim Sansom adds; 'After the game we had to walk a
fair
distance to find an underground
station that had not
been shut due to overcrowding. We found that the Arsenal
underground had been shut
by the police and so had
to undertake a fairly long walk to Finsbury Park which was also shut
by station staff. We were recommended by the police to take the
mainline train into
Kings Cross, which we did with no problems and
were back in central London within 10
minutes'.
Unless you are team are being stuffed and you
are leaving the game a little early, then
Arsenal tube station should be fine. If though
you are staying to the final whistle, then you
are better off walking to Finsbury Park,
rather than wait in the long queues at Arsenal
tube. To get to Finsbury Park, simple walk
past Arsenal tube station on your left and
then take a left into St Thomas's Road. The
station is at the end of the road. The Police
also do a good job of controlling the flow of
the numbers of fans onto the station.
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A Closer Look
At The North Stand
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| Local Rivals |
| Tottenham
Hotspur.
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| Admission Prices |
The Club operate a category system for
ticket prices (A + B), whereby the most popular
games cost more to watch. Category A games are:
Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur & Manchester City.
Category B prices are shown below in brackets.
Home Fans:
Centre
Upper £100 (£70)
Centre Upper Back £75 (£53)
Next To Centre Upper £75 (£53)
Next To Centre Upper Back £66 (£47)
Wing Upper £66 (£47)
Wing Upper Back £59 (£41)
Corner Upper £66 (£47)
Goal Upper £71 (£50)
Goal Upper Back £59 (£41)
Centre Lower £56 (£38)
Wing Lower £51 (£35)
Corner Lower £51 (£35)
Goal Lower £51 (£35)
Family Enclosure (Upper tier):
Adult £66 (£47), Senior Citizen £27
(£20), Junior Gunner £25
(£18)
Family Enclosure (Lower tier):
Adult £51 (£35), Senior Citizen £22
(£15), Junior Gunner £19
(£14)
Away
Fans:
Adults £51 (£35), Over 65's/Under
16's (£25.50) £17.50.
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| Emirates
Stadium Layout |
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For a
stadium plan showing the individual block numbers
please visit the official Arsenal website.
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| Fixtures 2011-2012 |
| Arsenal
FC
fixture
list (takes you to the BBC
Sports Website).
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| Programme and Fanzines |
Official Programme £3
The Gooner Fanzine £2
Up The A**e Fanzine £1
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| Disabled
Facilities |
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details of disabled facilities and club contact at
the ground please visit the relevant page on the Level Playing
Field website.
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
At The Emirates:
60,161 v Manchester United
Premier League, November 3rd 2007.
At Highbury:
73,295 v Sunderland
Division One, March 9th, 1935.
Average Attendance:
At The Emirates:
2010-2011: 60,025 (Premier League)
2009-2010: 59,927 (Premier League)
2008-2009: 60,027 (Premier League)
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| Fans Reviews
Of The Emirates Stadium |
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Harry Williamson
(Chelsea) 21/4/12
Ben Buckingham
(Queens Park Rangers) 31/12/11
Cameron Ormerod
(Bolton Wanderers) 24/9/11
Josh Grainger (Leeds
United) 7/01/11
Peter Radford (Doing
the 92) 20/01/10
Andy Fleet
(Portsmouth) 2/9/07
Duncan Ratcliffe
(Manchester City) 17/4/07
Ryan Howling (Sheffield
United)
23/09/06
Gary Longden
(Aston Villa) 19/8/06
Craig Kemp
(Aston Villa) 19/8/06
Colin Peel (Ground Hopper)
23/8/06
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| Hotel
Accommodation |
If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late
Rooms. They offer all types of
accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from;
Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed &
Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and
Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site
will earn a small commission if you book through
them, but it will go to help with the running
costs of keeping the Guide going. The Hotels
listing includes details of how far they are away
from the ground.
Access their Arsenal and
Central London page.
Remember that you
can also use the above link or the panel
below to book any other hotels that you
may need for business or leisure, either
in the UK or abroad.
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Of Page
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| Map
showing the location of the Emirates
Stadium, Stations and Listed Pubs |
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Instructions
for using the map:
- Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in /
out using the + / - keys.
- Click and drag an area of the map to move around
or use the up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the Satellite button to see aerial view
photograph.
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| Feedback |
| If
anything
is incorrect or you have something to add, please
e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide. |
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