OLYMPIC STADIUM

Manchester, England

City of Manchester Stadium (also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship purposes) in Manchester, England, is the home ground of Manchester City Football Club, the fifth-largest stadium in the Premier League and the twelfth-largest in the United Kingdom, with a seating capacity of 47,805.

The SportCity location but with a larger stadium, had been proposed for the main athletics arena in Manchester's failed bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics. In the 2002 Commonwealth Games bid, the capacity for the Games was to be 38,000, and after the games it would be converted to be 48,000. The stadium was built by Laing Construction at a cost of £112 million from a design by architectural consultants Arup Associates.

The stadium, rated an elite stadium by UEFA, has hosted several major football matches in addition to Manchester City's home fixtures. It became the 50th stadium to host an England international football match when the English and Japanese national teams played on 1 June 2004. In June 2005 the stadium hosted England's opening game in the UEFA Women's Championship, setting an attendance record of 29,092 for the competition. The stadium also hosted the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, in which Zenit St Petersburg defeated Rangers 2–0.

Unused 4" x 6" continental size chrome postcard.

Dist. by Gustavo Ramirez