Manchester City’s plans to extend the Etihad Stadium’s capacity to more than 60,000 have moved a step closer.
The reigning Premier League champions have announced they are to share concepts with fans and neighbours as they seek to turn the ground, and its surroundings, into a leading global sports and entertainment area.
Should a planning application be submitted and successfully approved, the construction programme would take place over a three-year period, with works staged to minimise disruption during the football seasons.
City are proposing a new, two-tier North Stand (currently home to the Family Stand) with a large single upper tier increasing total capacity beyond 60,000.
Concept designs also include a covered City Square fan zone with a capacity for 3,000 people. Currently this is an open air entertainment space where music, chat and big-screen entertainment are available free before games.
There are also plans for a club shop, a museum, food and beverage outlets and a hotel — all fully integrated into the work.
Fans and the local community have until Sunday, March 26, to comment on the concepts, which will be available to view at several places around Manchester.
This latest stage of the process follows the club’s announcement in December last year that feasibility studies were under way.
Recent financial charges laid by the Premier League, and now in the hands of lawyers, have not derailed the ambitious scheme. The current champions are determined that it is business as usual.
City moved from their much-loved, iconic Maine Road home in 2003 after an 80-year stay. The Etihad Stadium was converted from an athletics arena used in the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games into a 48,000-capacity football ground.
A previous expansion of the Etihad came in 2015, when 7,000 seats were added to the South Stand with a new third tier added behind the goal. The stand houses the away support alongside home fans.
Since then capacity has been reduced slightly by the arrival of double-sized perimeter advertising boards.
A larger match day capacity is seen as vital for City to keep up with rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Spurs, who all enjoy bigger home grounds and have substantially more match day revenue as a result. Liverpool, too, are due to increase the capacity at Anfield.
City’s Abu Dhabi owners have already put in excess of £700 million worth of investment into the wider Etihad Campus — home to the first-team training facilities for both men and women, a mini stadium with a capacity of 7,000, and the vaunted Academy — and the wider East Manchester area.
Their money has supported thousands of jobs, with City Football Group and its partners delivering a range of non-football facilities, including the Connell Co-op College, the Manchester Institute of Health & Performance, and Co-op Live, the UK's biggest and most sustainable arena, which is currently under construction and on course to open in December 2023.
In line with previous club development proposals, the North Stand initiative would ensure that training, recruitment and employment opportunities are prioritised for local people.
Opportunities would extend beyond the period of development works, with plans being explored for a long-term “skills academy” programme designed to provide local people of all ages with qualifications to secure permanent jobs at the Etihad Campus.
Detailed information outlining the club’s concepts are now available for fans and the local community to view at mancity.com/etihad-stadium-consultation, where feedback and comments can also be submitted.
Interested parties can also visit a temporary exhibition space in City Square at the Etihad Stadium, which will be open from Saturday, March 4 until Sunday, March 26.
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Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
List of alleged parties
- May 15 2020: Boris Johnson is said to have attended a Downing Street pizza party
- 27 Nov 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
- Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
- Dec 13 2020: Mr Johnson and his then-fiancee Carrie Symonds throw a flat party
- Dec 14 2020: Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative Party headquarters
- Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
- Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
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4. Change passwords periodically as a precautionary measure
5. Never share authentication data such as passwords, card PINs and OTPs (one-time passwords) with third parties
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What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a way of cleaning your blood when your kidneys fail and can no longer do the job.
It gets rid of your body's wastes, extra salt and water, and helps to control your blood pressure. The main cause of kidney failure is diabetes and hypertension.
There are two kinds of dialysis — haemodialysis and peritoneal.
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In peritoneal dialysis, the inside lining of your own belly acts as a natural filter. Wastes are taken out by means of a cleansing fluid which is washed in and out of your belly in cycles.
It isn’t an option for everyone but if eligible, can be done at home by the patient or caregiver. This, as opposed to home haemodialysis, is covered by insurance in the UAE.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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