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Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is one of the best places to watch football in the Premier League; its brilliant location, modern amenities, and all-important padded seats make for a fantastic experience for fans, both home and away.
The ground may have lacked an identity for much of its 17-year existence to date, but that has been changing under the management of Mikel Arteta, and with his young, exciting team, the Emirates could be about to welcome a new golden era for Arsenal Football Club.
With this in mind, Football FanCast has outlined everything you need to know about the Gunners’ impressive home before making your way to Islington.
Emirates Stadium history
For younger fans, it’s hard to image Arsenal playing anywhere other than at the Emirates; after all, the club have been playing games there since the summer of 2006, meaning there will be adults today who have no recollection of the Gunners at Highbury – feel old yet?
That said, for the vast majority of their history, Arsenal were based at Highbury, and so when plans were announced for a new 60,000-seater modern arena in 1999, there was some understandable scepticism among the supporters.
The club pushed ahead anyway, and with funding secured, work began in 2004, and just two years later, the ground was officially opened.
The first game took place on 22nd July 2006 and was a testimonial for Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp. With the ground completed, the team moved in, and while it was an undeniably impressive place to watch football, it forced the club to restrain itself in the transfer market for years to come.
It wasn’t quite love at first sight for the fans, though, and a decade and a half of underwhelming results certainly didn’t help in that regard.
Still, in the last couple of years, under Mikel Arteta and with this set of players, the stadium has found a genuine voice of its own and has started to finally feel like home.
Emirates Stadium capacity
The Emirates Stadium might have seen some other grounds leapfrog it in terms of capacity in the last 10-15 years, but it still comes in as the fourth-biggest in the Premier League and the fifth-biggest football-specific stadium in all of England.
It also comes in as the fourth-largest in London, behind Wembley Stadium, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the London Stadium.
The Emirates is significantly larger than its predecessor, though, as Highbury had a capacity of around 38,500 when Arsenal left.
Related
Every Premier League stadium ranked by capacity
Football FanCast runs down all 20 stadiums in the Premier League by capacity.
|
Stadium |
Capacity |
Opened |
|---|---|---|
|
Wembley Stadium |
90,000 |
2007 |
|
Old Trafford |
74,031 |
1910 |
|
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium |
62,850 |
2019 |
|
London Stadium |
62,500 |
2012 |
|
Emirates Stadium |
60,704 |
2006 |
How to get to the Emirates Stadium
By train
Three London Underground stations serve the area around Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, two of which serve National Rail lines, with one of those also using the London Overground:
- Arsenal (Piccadilly Line): Arsenal is the closest station to the Emirates, and as such, it will almost always be the busiest on matchdays. That said, walking to the stadium should take you approximately five minutes, making it worth the crowds for convenience.
- Finsbury Park (Victoria, Piccadilly Lines and Great Northern Rail): If you are walking to the stadium from Finsbury Park station, it should take you approximately 16 minutes to reach the Emirates at an average pace.
- Highbury & Islington (Victoria Line, Norther London Line, and Great Northern Rail): If you are walking to the stadium from Highbury & Islington station, it should take you approximately 15 minutes to arrive at the Emirates.
If you want to avoid using the train on matchdays, there are plenty of buses that serve the area. The closest bus stops are on Holloway Road, Nag’s Head, Seven Sisters Road, Blackstock Road and Highbury Corner.
By car
Driving to the Emirates on matchdays will likely cause more headaches than it is worth, and as such, the club themselves have even advised against it.
The area around the stadium is residential, meaning there are even fewer parking options than other grounds in the country and cars parked illegally will be towed.
That said, sometimes you have to drive, and if that’s the case, your best bet for parking would be to either try and book a parking space through the club. Failing that, you’ll have to pay the huge cost of parking in one of the surrounding private spaces, or using the Kingsland Shopping Centre which is situated two miles from the ground.
The away end at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal usually accommodate up to 3,000 away fans in the lower southeast corner of the stadium, right next to the Clock End.
The proximity to the Gunners’ most passionate fans can help to create an exciting atmosphere, and the vicinity to the pitch means that should your team score, the players can easily reach the fans.
Away fans get a brilliant view from their seats, and while the stadium is approaching its 20th birthday, it still has a lot of modern amenities to make it a pleasant experience for the fans.
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