Pride Park Stadium : Attraction of Derby
Pride Park Stadium : Attraction of Derby
Pride Park Stadium is a football (soccer) stadium in the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby city centre in the UK. It is the home of Derby County F.C. and holds 33,597 spectors.
The stadium was completed in 1997 and replaced Derby County’s previous stadium, The Baseball Ground. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on July 18, with a friendly against Sampdoria following on August 4.
The first competitive match to be played there was against Wimbledon (now Milton Keynes Dons). The floodlights failed part way through the match and it had to be abandoned.
The stadium has been used for three England under-21s international matches and one full international, a 4-0 friendly victory for England over Mexico on May 27, 2001. That match also holds the record for the highest attendance at the stadium: a full-house of 33,597.
F.C.Derby have only scored 5 goals there twice - a 5-1 win over Preston which practically saved the club from relegation and a 5-1 win over Crewe in which the fans used the match to express their anger angainst the board of directors.
Capacity
One of the corners was left open originally but a year later it was completed which is why one section of the roof isn’t level.