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Arsenal started looking to develop a larger stadium during the later part of the 1990s, as their existing ground at Highbury had a capacity of 38,542
when it became all-seater in 1993, which is lower than the grounds of almost all other European football clubs of comparable stature. There was little
room for expansion as the East Stand is built right up alongside a public road and the other three back onto housing; in addition the East Stand is
a Grade II listed building. Arsenal had a season ticket waiting list which had been closed for some time with over 20,000 members, and were missing
out on a great deal of potential revenue. However, finding a site for a new stadium in London was extremely difficult.
The club were willing to consider a location close to the M25 motorway if necessary, but had a strong preference for a location in the London Borough
of Islington close to Highbury. At one stage they had considered moving to Wembley Stadium (Arsenal had played Champions League games at Wembley
during the 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons) but in the end pulled out of the plans. When the Wembley revamp was given the go-ahead in 2002, there
was speculation that Arsenal and Tottenham would move into the new stadium when it was finished, even though the club was pressing ahead with the
Ashburton Grove project by this stage.
Eventually the club selected a site, an industrial estate at Ashburton Grove, which was just five hundred metres from Highbury as the crow flies.
The plan was announced in November 1999, with a scheduled opening date of August 2003; this later slipped back to summer 2006 due to planning and
financial difficulties. The Ashburton Grove site had many occupants, the most significant being Islington Council's recycling plant and the Royal
Mail Holloway Delivery Office. In order to develop the site, it was necessary to buy out the existing occupants, and pay for their relocation
(Arsenal purchased 10 acres (40,000 m²) of former railway land on Lough Road, off Caledonian Road, to house a new recycling plant, while the Royal
Mail moved to Hamilton Park); this proved to be very expensive.
The cost of the stadium (£390m) is a significant sum, even for a construction project of this size. Arsenal had difficulty obtaining finance for
the project, and work ceased just after it had begun, before starting again when a £260m loan package was obtained from a consortium of banks.
Arsenal are also relying on additional sources of funding; the remainder of the Lough Road site is being used for new housing, as are the surplus
areas around the stadium at Ashburton Grove. Highbury will also be converted into apartments after the club leaves. In total, more than 2,000
homes will be built at the three sites, and the club is counting on the profit from these developments to make a major contribution towards
the costs of the new stadium. Other sources of finance include a £15m contribution towards the capital costs of the stadium's catering
facilities from catering firm Delaware North, which has a 20-year exclusive contract to run the stadium's catering operation, and up-front
payments from sponsorship deals with Nike and Emirates.
In August 2005 Arsenal announced plans to replace most of the bank debt taken on to finance the stadium with £200 million of bonds and a £60 million
loan note. The club's chief executive commented that the new stadium is expected to increase Arsenal's turnover from around £115 million to around £170
million.
The club has announced that all of the hospitality boxes have been taken, and by June 2006 all of the club level seats had been sold. The first seat
in the new stadium was ceremonially installed on 13 March 2006 by Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby. The stadium's floodlights were successfully tested
for the first time on 25 June, and a day later the goalposts were erected.
Words by Fabster
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