ASHTON GATE

'Ashton Gate Stadium' is a stadium in Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol City F.C. Located in the south-west of the city, just south of the River Avon, it has an all-seated capacity of 21,497, with an effective capacity for football matches (depending on how many away tickets are allocated, and how they are segregated) of around 19,500, with an average league game's attendance of 12,818 (2006/07 campaign).

Contents

History and arrangement

Planned Expansion

Travelling to the stadium

External links

History and arrangement

Ashton Gate was the home of Bedminster F.C. until their 1900 merger with Bristol South End who played at St Johns Lane, and the merged team altrernated between the two grounds until Ashton Gate become the permanent home of Bristol City in 1904.

The ground has also played a part in the history of rugby in the city. Bristol Rugby have played there on a number of occasions since the 1920s, the most recent being on the 27th of december 2006 when they defeated local rivals Bath Rugby 16-6 whilst selling out the stadium for an all time record Premiership crowd outside of Twickenham. Several rugby internationals have been held, starting with England versus Wales in 1899. One hundred years later, the All Blacks took on Tonga in a 1999 Rugby World Cup pool match.
In mid 2006 it was announced that Bristol Rugby would be taking two games of the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership to Ashton Gate, the matches against Bath Rugby and the Leicester Tigers, the stadium is also to be used to house Gloucester RFC, for their match against Bristol Rugby, whilst Kingsholm Stadium is being redeveloped.
Visiting fans for the football are housed in the 'Wedlock Stand' at the south-east end of the ground, which was built as a covered terrace in 1928, converted to seats in the 1990s and was the traditional home fans' end until 1994. It is known as the 'East End' to City fans. The 'Williams Stand' on the south-west side, which includes the directors' box and press box, was built in 1958. The lower part of the stand was a terrace known as the Grand Enclosure until it was converted to seating in the 1990s. The 'Dolman Stand', which lies opposite it, was built in 1970. At that time it had a small, flat Family Enclosure in front of it, which was later built up and converted to seating. The most recent addition to the stadium is the 'Atyeo Stand', which was built in 1994 to replace an open terrace, and contains new dressing rooms and a large gymnasium.
In 2005 the club announced that the Wedlock Stand, the oldest part of the ground, would be redeveloped at a cost of £7 million during the 2005-06 season, with some funding from the Football Foundation's Football Stadia Improvement Fund. Football capacity would have dropped from 19,000 to 15,000 during the work and increased to 21,000 when the new stand opened. The new stand was to include 5,200 seats, some reserved for long-term debenture holders, 16 corporate hospitality boxes and a new bar. The work was scheduled to begin in early July, but on 12 July City announced that planning permission and contracts for construction and for catering and bar concessions (which were central to funding the stand) were still not concluded, and that work would be delayed until after the start of the season. On 9 November the club decided that they were unable to go ahead with redevelopment of the stand until the summer of 2006 (work has still not proceeded), though refurbishment work in other parts of the ground, partly funded by the Football Foundation, would go ahead.

Planned Expansion

After promotion to the championship in 2006/2007, Bristol City resurrected plans to rebuild the Wedlock Stand at Ashton Gate, two years after the project was first proposed, taking the next step towards having a stadium which holds 29,000 fans.
Planning permission was granted in 2005 to redevelop that end of the ground, which currently houses away supporters. Work was due to start in the July of that year. It was put back 12 months and then, mainly due to a lack of funds, was postponed indefinitely. After having won promotion to the Championship, City are to press ahead, with the builders moving in to start work at the end of the 2007/2008 season.
The back of the Wedlock stand will become the main entrance to the stadium and according to chief executive Colin Sexston, "will have a fantastic concourse and 16 executive boxes." It will be even taller than the Dolman Stand. Although no images are yet available for the Wedlock design, the club say it will be very similar to the single-tier construction proposed two years ago. The new stand, which will cost in the region of £7 million to build, will house 5,300 fans, taking the capacity of Ashton Gate to 21,000 when segregation is used. Away fans will be moved to another part of the ground, although it is yet to be decided where.
The club were also granted permission to redevelop the Williams Stand in 1998, and have consistently renewed that so it still applies today. They plan to rebuild the stand completely and then fill in one of the corners, providing more than 13,000 seats, taking the total capacity up to 29,000.

Travelling to the stadium

''By Road:'' There is limited parking available at the ground, or you can seek on-street parking nearby. The club recommends that you approach via M5 junction 18, then down the Portway (A4) and follow signs for Bristol Airport/Taunton (A38) over the Brunel Way swing bridge. Fork left into Winterstoke Road, and the stadium is on the your left. If arriving from the east, it is also possible to go down the M32 and through the city centre, but there is a danger of congestion.
''By Train:'' Bristol Temple Meads is nearly two miles from the ground. On match days a special bus service runs from Temple Meads to Ashton Gate, departing one hour before kick-off, and returning from Ashton Road, behind the Atyeo Stand.
''By Bus or Coach:'' Bristol Bus Station is also well over a mile from the ground. The match day bus service runs from nearby Haymarket (near the House of Fraser department store).

External links

★ Official Ashton Gate Stadium Website

★ Football Ground Guide profile