Hillsborough Stadium
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Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club in Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,814 capacity all-seater stadium,[1] making it the largest stadium in the city. The vast majority of the seats are covered. It is located in the Sheffield suburb of Owlerton, but takes its name from the parliamentary constituency in which it lies. Although the ground has received little investment since Euro 1996, it is still regarded as "a beautiful ground oozing character."[2] It has two large separate two tiered stands and two large single tiered stands, all of which are covered. All four stands are of a similar size in terms of capacity, but with the South stand being the largest and the West stand (used for away fans) the smallest. Only one corner of the ground is filled, between the West and North Stands. This area, known as the North West terrace, is uncovered and is only used for visiting supporters when the West stand upper and lower tiers are full. On the other corner of the West stand is an electronic scoreboard.
HistoryImage:Hillsborough panorama.jpg
Panoramic view of the stadium
Hillsborough Stadium shown in Sheffield
Search for a new homeDuring the 1898-99 season Sheffield Wednesday were told that the land rented at Olive Grove would be needed for railway expansions.[3] They were allowed to remain there for the rest of that season but had to find a new ground for the next season. Several locations were considered but fell through for various reasons. An alternative was offered by the Midland Railway Company but it did not meet the requirements of the club. Finally James Dickison, owner of the Silversmiths Dick's, offered a 10 acre site at Owlerton, a sparsely populated area of land to the northwest of the city. It was successfully bought for £5,000 GBP plus costs. The 2,000 capacity stand at Olive Ground was then transported to the new site and was joined by a newly constructed 3,000 capacity stand for the start of the next season.[4] The first match to be played was on 2 September 1899 against Chesterfield. It was a Chesterfield player, Herbert Munday, who scored the first goal at the new stadium but Wednesday came back to win the game 5-1. Despite the location of the ground several miles outside the city boundaries and a poor public transport service the new ground averaged 3,000 supporters for the first three months.[3] Early yearsThe ground was known as the Owlerton Stadium until 1914, when it was renamed Hillsborough to coincide with a series of ground improvements. The ground took its new name from the newly created parliamentary constituency.[1] The ground proved to be lucky for Wednesday with the first 8 years proving to be their most successful so far. They included their first league wins in the 1902-03 and 1903-04. This was followed by a second FA Cup in 1907. The first FA Cup semi-final to be held at the stadium was a replay between West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers on 3 April 1912.[5] A crowd of 20,050 saw an extra time goal give West Brom the win. This was followed by its first international on 10 April 1920. A match between England and Scotland was watched by 25,536. The game ended with England winning 5-4. The following two seasons saw Hillsborough host two more FA Cup semi-finals, both between Preston North End and Tottenham Hotspur. The crowds for these matches were 43,320 and 49,282 respectively. The highest ever attendance was 72,841 on February 17 1934 for an FA Cup 5th round game against Manchester City. After the end of the 1912-13 season a record profit was announced by the club.[6] The money was invested in a replacement for the Olive Grove stand on the south side of the stadium. The banking on the Spion Kop was also increased in size. The new south stand was completed in time for the first round of the FA Cup on 1 October 1913 against Notts County. It cost £18,000 and included 5,600 seats plus terracing at the front. New offices, dressing rooms, refreshment rooms and a billiard room were also part of the new stand. The second round tie went to a replay on 4 February 1914, which was held in front of a record home crowd of 43,000.[6] However the match was remembered for the collapse of the new retaining wall at the Penistone Road end. It caused 70 injuries and caused the match to be suspended while the casualties were taken to the infirmary. Post warDuring the post war era Hillsborough rose to be one of the top stadiums in the country. It hosted a total of 27 FA Cup semi-finals. In 1966, the stadium was selected as one of the venues for the Football World Cup, hosting first round matches involving West Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, and Spain, as well as a quarterfinal in which West Germany beat Uruguay 4-0. Demolition of the North Stand began in 1960 and work began on a new £150,000 stand.[7] The new stand, designed by local firm Husband & Co, was 360 feet (110 m) in length. It was only the second stand in the country, after one at Scunthorpe United's Glanford Park, to be build with a cantilever roof and the first to run the full length of the pitch.[8] It was opened on 23 August 1961 by Stanley Rous, secretary of the Football Association. The 10,008 capacity all-seater stand almost doubled the seating capacity of Hillsborough from 9,000 to 16,000. The ground held its first national cup final when it played host to Everton and Aston Villa for a Football League Cup final replay. A crowd of 52,135 watched a 1-1 draw leading to another replay. At the end of the 1980s the ground held three successive FA Cup semis ending with the tragic events that changed the nature of football grounds throughout the country. 
Hillsborough disasterOn 15 April 1989, the ground was the scene of one of the worst sporting tragedies of all time when 94 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an FA Cup semi-final in the infamous Hillsborough disaster. The final death toll was 96. This prompted a series of improvements to safety at the ground; the terraced stands were converted to all seated accommodation over the following four years, and the fences around the pitch were replaced with low safety-barricades to allow incursion onto the playing surface in case of emergency. Outside the ground, near the main entrance on Parkside Road, is a memorial to the 96 fans that lost their lives at Hillsborough in 1989, during the FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. All-seater eraIn 1996, Hillsborough was host to several fixtures at the Euro 96 competition and in particular was host to the Danish squad. The Danish fans endeared themselves to the local population with their fanatical support and exemplary behaviour, and were particularly popular amongst local landlords - a number of Sheffield public houses had to order emergency supplies of beer and cigarettes In 1997 Hillsborough hosted its first major domestic match since the disaster. The League Cup final replay between Leicester City and Middlesbrough was played at the ground. It was won by Leicester by one goal to nil. Later the same year Middlesbrough returned to Hillsborough for an FA Cup semi-final replay in which they beat Chesterfield by three goals to nil. Image:Hillsborough Stadium Plan.png
Plan of Hillsborough Stadium and the surrounding area (Click to enlarge)
The record attendance since the ground was made all-seated was on February 2 2000 in a Premier League game against Manchester United and was watched by 39,640 fans. In recent years average attendances at Hillsborough have remained high despite Wednesday's relatively poor league position:
The 25 June 2007 FloodsOn 25 June 2007, the River Don burst its bank during a period of severe weather in the area, and the whole ground was flooded with several feet of water. The changing rooms, restaurants and kitchens and boardroom were all flooded, as well as the ticket office and superstore; many local houses were also affected. StandsNorth StandImage:North stand.jpg
The North Stand (Cantilever) at Hillsborough
Capacity: 9,255 (seated) Sponsored by www.MySheffieldJobs.co.uk[9] The original North Stand was built between 1899 and 1903. In the early sixties this was replaced by the current North Stand which runs along the long north edge of the pitch, and was the second football stand in Britain to have a cantilever roof (thus amongst some fans, it is known as "the cantilever"). It was however the first in the country to run the entire length of the pitch; the first cantilever stand in English football at Scunthorpe United's Old Show Ground only covered the centre of the pitch. When opened, the stand held 10,000 but the capacity has been reduced more recently to make room for disabled spectators and also to widen the exit aisles for safety reasons. The stand was part funded by the issue of £100 preference shares in 1961, 'debentures' paying 6.25% interest over a 30 year period. Hillsborough is the only football ground to be mentioned in Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England due to this stand. At the time of opening the stand was the best new stand to be built since Arsenal's East Stand at Highbury in the thirties.
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