Alexander Stadium

For the Washington & Jefferson College stadium, see Ross Memorial Park and Alexandre Stadium.
Alexander Stadium

Alexander Stadium
Location Perry Park, Perry Barr, Birmingham, England
Coordinates 52°31′49″N 1°54′20″W / 52.53033°N 1.90561°W / 52.53033; -1.90561Coordinates: 52°31′49″N 1°54′20″W / 52.53033°N 1.90561°W / 52.53033; -1.90561
Operator Birmingham City Council
Capacity 12,700
Construction
Broke ground 1975
Opened 1976 (1976)
Expanded 2011
Tenants
Birchfield Harriers
England Monarchs (NFL Europe) (1998)
Website
www.birmingham.gov.uk/alexander

Alexander Stadium is an international athletics stadium located within Perry Park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at grid reference SP065925. It has staged the Amateur Athletics Association Championships, and was the venue of the 1998 Disability World Athletics Championships. It hosted one England Monarchs game in 1998 with an attendance of 8,000. It hosts the annual British Grand Prix.

The construction of the stadium began in 1975 and it opened in 1976. It is the home of Birchfield Harriers, one of the best known athletics clubs in the United Kingdom, replacing their former home at Alexander Sports Ground.[1]

Structure

It has an eight-lane synthetic surface track with a ten lane straight. There are 7,000 covered seats in 3 separate stands called Main, Knowles (after Dick Knowles) and Nelson and a 5,000 seater main stand in the rear straight.

Event type Capacity
Sporting events 12,700 (seated)
Live music events Approx 20,000

Music event

The stadium has held many music events, including a one-day festival called Party in the Park run by BRMB radio that featured acts like Nelly Furtado, Westlife, Natasha Bedingfield, Blue, Sugababes, Girls Aloud and The Calling. The event was later moved to Cannon Hill Park where it was in a more central party of the city and so made it easier for people from south Birmingham to attend. This event, however, was later cancelled although it returned in 2010.

It has also played host to the well known BBC Radio 1's One Big Week End with acts such as Joss Stone, Razorlight and Natasha Bedingfield.

Expansion

Alexander Stadium has recently undergone a £12.5 million expansion and refurbishment, including the building of a 5,000 seater stand opposite the current main stand. This has taken capacity to 12,700.[2] The new stand has also become home to the offices of UK Athletics.[3]

The stand was completed in June 2011, in time to host the Diamond League British Grand Prix in July 2011.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Alexander, William O; Morgan, Wilfred (1988). The History of Birchfield Harriers 1877–1988. Birchfield Harriers. ISBN 0-9514082-0-8.
  2. ↑ "Alexander Stadium's bid to be UK Athletics base". BBC. 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  3. ↑ "UK Athletics heading for a grandstand view of the Alexander Stadium". Inside the Games. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  4. ↑ "Top athletes set for Birmingham Grand Prix Meeting". BBC. 2010-10-22. Retrieved 2011-06-08.

External links

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