Other uses[edit]
Football[edit]
Elland Road has hosted FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue on nine occasions, the first being a tie between Barnsley and Everton on 26 March 1910 and the last on 9 April 1995 in a game between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. Other FA Cup semi finals to have taken place at Elland Road had included Arsenal v Hull City in 1930, Birmingham v Sunderland in 1931, West Bromwich Albion v Bolton Wanderers in 1935, Charlton Athletic v Newcastle United in 1947, Newcastle United v Blackburn Rovers in 1952, Leicester City v Sheffield United in 1961 and West Ham United v Everton in 1980. In addition when Sheffield Wednesday faced Sheffield United in the 1993 FA Cup Semi Final the venue was originally planned to be Elland Road but was switched to Wembley Stadium following protests from both clubs and their supporters that the stadium was too small to host such a fixture, the risk of crowd trouble were the fixture to be played at Elland Road and due to London clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal having their semi final at Wembley it was perceived the London clubs would receive an unfair advantage for the FA Cup final.[34]
The ground has hosted two England international fixtures. On 8 June 1995, England drew 3–3 with Sweden. This was the first England home international played away from Wembley in 22 years, and the first time since 1946 that a new ground had hosted an England international game. The second game was a friendly match against Italy on 27 March 2002 while the new Wembley was being built.[5] When England were picked to host Euro 96, the most recent international tournament held in the country, Elland Road was selected as one of the eight venues. It staged Group B of the qualifying rounds, which included Spain, Romania, France and Bulgaria and hosted three matches of the tournament which included Spain v Bulgaria on 9 June 1996, France v Spain on 15 June 1996 and Romania v Spain on 18 June 1996.[6]
Two of Leeds' West Yorkshire rivals have also used Elland Road as their temporary "home". The first club to benefit from the facilities was Huddersfield Town, when a fire struck their ground on 3 April 1950.[35] Leeds offered its services and Huddersfield played the last two games of the 1949–50 season there before returning to Leeds Road the next season, following extensive work to revamp the burnt main stand. Bradford City used Elland Road for three matches after 11 May 1985 when a fire consumed a stand at Valley Parade during a match against Lincoln City.[36] Two months after the Bradford City stadium fire, the 1966 World Cup Final teams from England and West Germany met in a rematch at Elland Road and raised £46,000 for the Fire Disaster Fund, with England winning the game, 6–4.[37]
When non-League team, Farsley Celtic, reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1974, the game was played at Elland Road. Farsley's opposition was Division Three side Tranmere Rovers and a crowd of 10,337 saw the League club win, 2–0.[38]
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once said that Elland Road was "the most intimidating venue in Europe".[39]
Rugby League[edit]
Hunslet Hawks, a local rugby league club, shared the stadium in the mid-1980s after the ground at the greyhound stadium in Parkside had been demolished.[7] The 1982 Challenge Cup Final Replay between Widnes and Hull FC was played there. Rugby League was played at international level when a Great Britain v New Zealand test match was staged on 9 November 1985. The stadium hosted the Tri-Nations final in 2004, when a capacity crowd saw Australia beat Great Britain, 44–4,[40] and again in 2005,[41] in a match where 26,534 people watched New Zealand beat Australia 24–0.[42] The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations final between England and Australia was played there with a 16–46 win for Australia. On 19 November 2011 the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations final between England and Australia was also played at the stadium resulting in a 8–30 win for Australia.
Leeds Rhinos have played several matches at Elland Road. In the 1988 Yorkshire Cup final they beat Castleford RLFC, 33–12, and won the World Club Challenge twice. On 4 February 2005, they beat Australian side Canterbury Bulldogs, 39–32, in front of 37,028 spectators[43] and on 29 February 2008, they were 11–4 winners over Melbourne Storm in the 2008 World Club Challenge in front of a crowd of 33,204.[44] The ground played host to the 2009 World Club Challenge, the third time in five years that the ground has held the game, on 1 March 2009.[45] The Manly Sea Eagles won its first WCC title by defeating Leeds, 28–20, in front of 32,569 spectators. The stadium hosted the World Club Challenge on 28 February 2010, when Leeds Rhinos lost to Melbourne Storm, 10–18, in front of 27,697 fans.
Rugby Union[edit]
Elland Road is one of the venues that was selected for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and will host 2 pool matches including Scotland v Americas 2 and Italy v Canada.
In addition a rugby union match between the South Africa national rugby union team and the North of England rugby union team was played at Elland Road in 1992 with an audience of 14,000.[46][47][48]
Other Sports[edit]
American football made a brief appearance at the ground when the Leeds Cougars, members of the British American Football League, switched from their old ground at Bramley to play at Elland Road in May 1986.[49] The following year they had to relocate because improvements to the stadium were required. The ground hosted a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Mayo, organised by the Yorkshire County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in 1987.[50]
There was a greyhound stadium to the south-west of Elland Road which opened on 16 July 1927. It was owned by the Greyhound Racing Association and they eventually sold it to the Totalisators and Greyhound Holdings (T.G.H) who were bought out by Ladbrokes in 1974.
In 1979 the track kennels were closed followed by the track itself on March 1st 1982.[51]
There was also a speedway track known as Fullerton Park, which operated between the two world wars, attracted audiences in the range of 10,000–20,000 people.[52] Fullerton Park also held greyhound racing from 1927–1938.
Elland Road was to host a Twenty20 cricket game on 31 July 2009. The game was to be competed between a Leeds United International XI and the Lashings World XI,[53] however was cancelled when a suitable artificial pitch could not be found.[54]
Film[edit]
Older parts of the stadium were used in the 2009 film The Damned United, which was centred around the 44-day reign of Brian Clough (played by Michael Sheen) at the club in 1974. Some shots of the 1974 Elland Road were shot at other locations to make the film look more in keeping with that era.[55]
In December 2010, the stadium was used as a backdrop in an episode of the ITV drama series A Touch Of Frost, creating huge interest in the area with the local chamber of commerce suggesting a hotel could be built on the site to deal with the expected hoards of sightseers.
Elland Road was used as a substitute for the old Wembley Stadium for scenes in the 2010 film The King's Speech,[56] which was nominated for 12 Oscars, 3 of which were for its stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.[57]
Concerts[edit]
The Kaiser Chiefs stage in front of the South Stand for their concert on 24 May 2008.
The ground has been used as a concert venue on a number of occasions, the first on 29 May 1982, when Queen played in front of a packed audience as part of their Hot Space Tour, supported by Heart, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts and The Teardrop Explodes.[58] Another rock concert took place on 1 July 1987 when Irish rock band U2 played to a packed house as part of the Joshua Tree Tour, supported by World Party, The Fall, The Mission and The Pretenders,[9] Lead singer Bono said during the gig of kids in Dublin City talking with stars in their eyes about Leeds United, "I didn't myself but, ... you know".[59] The alternative band Happy Mondays, supported by The Farm, Stereo MCs, and The La's, played a gig at the stadium on 1 June 1991, which was later released as a live album.[10] Leeds-based band the Kaiser Chiefs played a homecoming gig at the stadium on 24 May 2008, with support from The Enemy, Kate Nash, Friendly Fires and Young Knives.[60] On Friday 3 June 2011 Rod Stewart played a concert at the stadium.[61]
Religious events[edit]
In 1987 15,000 Jehovah's Witnesses held a three-day convention at Elland Road stadium.[50] Elland Road hosted the annual Jehovah's Witness conventions[62] until 2013 when they moved to the new Leeds Arena.[63]
Transport[edit]
The nearest railway station is Cottingley, although fans travelling will be more likely to arrive at Leeds Station, which is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the stadium.[64] This is around a 35-minute walk, but taxis and buses run from outside the station to the ground. Visitors travelling by car can park in the ground's nearby car parks or make use of limited space in surrounding streets. On match days there are special bus services direct to and from the stadium, usually departing from Sovereign Street near Leeds Station as well as regular local bus services.
Leeds City Council have raised plans for a railway station on the Wakefield Line serving Elland Road but there are no time frames since capacity issues on the Wakefield Line and funding for a new station would need addressing.[19]
Attendance[edit]
Leeds City[edit]
During Leeds City's brief history, attendances were among the worst in the league. The club competed in the league for 15 years, from the 1905–06 season until its expulsion in the 1919–20 season. The club was poorly financed throughout that period. Association football was a new concept in the area, which as traditionally a rugby league region. Nonetheless, the club were, until the 2009 relegation of Luton Town,the highest-placed team not currently in the league in the all time average attendance figures for the Football League & Premier League. In total, 1,944,365 people attended Elland Road for all the matches played by the club, giving an average figure of 10,234.[65]
Leeds United[edit]
Leeds United was formed shortly after City's dissolution and entered the league in the 1920–21 season. By this time, football had established itself and in its first season the average attendance was over 16,000. As of the 2005–06 season, 42,339,944 have attended all of Leeds United's matches combined, which gives an average of 25,689. This figure is the 10th highest average in England.[65] The table gives a summary of the attendance figures of all Leeds United's league games in every season since the turn of the century.
Season League Lowest Highest Average
2000–01 Premiership 35,552 40,055 38,974
2001–02 38,237 40,287 39,784
2002–03 35,537 40,205 39,121
2003–04 30,544 40,153 36,666
2004–05 Championship 24,585 34,496 29,207
2005–06 18,353 27,843 22,354
2006–07 16,268 31,269 21,613
2007–08 League One 19,095 38,256 26,546
2008–09 18,847 37,036 23,813
2009–10 17,635 38,234 24,817
2010–11 Championship 20,747 33,622 27,299
2011–12 19,469 33,366 23,379
2012–13 11,447 33,816 21,572