<\/p>\n

Key facts<\/h3>\n

Club: Manchester City FC | Opening: 2002 | Capacity: 55,000 seats<\/p>\n

History and description<\/h3>\n

Etihad Stadium, also known as Eastlands, was built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Following the games, the stadium was converted into a football stadium as to provide Manchester City with a modern replacement for Maine Road<\/a>. The club moved into Etihad Stadium at the start of the 2003-04 season.<\/p>\n

In 2008, Etihad Stadium hosted the UEFA Cup final<\/a> between Zenit St Petersburg and Rangers FC (2-0). The stadium was initially called City of Manchester Stadium, but was renamed Etihad Stadium in 2011 following a 10-year sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways.<\/p>\n

At around the same time, Manchester City started to conduct feasibility studies into expanding the stadium, first considering ambitious plans to raise the roof and add a complete third tier, but eventually settling on just adding additional tiers to the stands behind the goals.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2014, works started on expanding the South Stand with an additional tier, which boosted capacity with 6,000 seats. At the same time, the club announced plans to add a further 3 rows of seating pitchside, which brought total capacity to over 55,000 seats for the start of the 2015-16 season.<\/p>\n

If there is sufficient demand, the club may add a third tier to the North Stand as well, which will raise capacity to an approximate 61,000 seats.<\/p>\n

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