Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the Athletic Grounds.
The current stadium, looking north, as visitors Fulham kicked off the first-ever Premier League match at Bloomfield Road on 28 August 2010 | |
Bloomfield Road Location in Blackpool | |
| Full name | Bloomfield Road Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Gamble's Field (1887–1899) |
| Location | Seasiders Way Blackpool FY1 6JJ |
| Coordinates | 53°48′17″N 3°2′53″W |
| Owner | Rose 123 Investments Ltd. |
| Executive suites | 12+ |
| Capacity | 16,616 |
| Record attendance | 38,098 (1955; pre-redevelopment) 16,116 (2010; during redevelopment) |
| Field size | 112 x 74 yards (102.4 x 67.7 metres) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Scoreboard | Yes |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 28 October 1899 |
| Renovated | 1999–2002 (North and West Stands) 2003 (East Stand) 2009–2010 (South Stand) 2010 (East Stand) 2011–2012 (South East Corner Stand) |
| Architect | TTH Architects, Gateshead, UK |
| Tenants | |
| South Shore F.C. (1899) Blackpool F.C. (1900, 1901–present) Blackpool Borough (1987) Blackpool Panthers (2004–2006) | |
Largely unchanged since the 1960s, the stadium began a redevelopment phase in the early 2000s. A temporary East Stand was erected before the start of the 2010–11 season, the club's debut in the Premier League. It is still in place today. The three permanent stands are named the Stan Mortensen North Stand (denoted by the acronym "B.F.C." spelled out in white seats, the Jimmy Armfield South Stand (with "ARMFIELD" spelled out in white seats) and the Sir Stanley Matthews West Stand (with one of the club's nicknames, "SEASIDERS", spelled out in white seats).
The record attendance at Bloomfield Road is 38,098, when Blackpool played Wolverhampton Wanderers on 17 September 1955.
The stadium hosted three matches of the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship. It has also been the venue for the final of the Northern Rail Cup, a rugby league tournament.