agreed to lease the stadium from Manchester City Council and moved there from Maine Road in the summer of 2003. The stadium, originally proposed as an athletics arena in Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, was converted after the 2002 Commonwealth Games from a 38,000 capacity arena to a 48,000 seat football stadium at a cost to the city council of £22 million and to Manchester City of £20 million. īuilt to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the stadium has since staged the 2008 UEFA Cup final, England football internationals, rugby league matches, a boxing world title fight, the England rugby union team's final group match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and summer music concerts during the football off-season. The City of Manchester Stadium (currently known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest football stadium in England and ninth-largest in the United Kingdom.
(initial construction), Laing O'Rourke (stadium conversion & later expansion)
