c/o Wiki ......... St. Mary's Stadium in Southampton, England, has been the home stadium of Premier League club, Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,505 and is currently the largest football stadium in South East England.
The stadium is a complete bowl, with all stands of equal height. There are two large screens at either end that can be seen from any seat.
The stadium has four stands, which are named after the areas of Southampton they face. The main (east) stand is the Itchen Stand, and faces the River Itchen. The opposite stand is called the Kingsland Stand. Behind the south goal is the Chapel Stand, and to the north is the Northam Stand.
At the rear of the Chapel, Kingsland and Northam Stands, there is a continuous, translucent 'panel' that is designed to allow light to access the pitch. A large section of the roof at the Chapel Stand, at the southern end of the stadium is also translucent, for the same reason.
At the rear of the Itchen Stand, there are 42 executive boxes, and a police control room. The stand also houses the club's offices, changing rooms, press facilities and corporate hospitality suites. The four main hospitality suites are named after some of Saints' greatest players:
Terry Paine
Mick Channon
Bobby Stokes
Matt Le Tissier
The Northam Stand is home to the majority of the more vocal supporters, as well as visiting fans. Visitors can be given up to 4,250 seats (15 per cent of the capacity) for cup games, and up to 3,200 for league matches.
Non-footballing use
As is common for modern day stadia, St Mary's is also used as a conference facility, with hospitality suites available for this purpose most days of the week.
In the Northam Stand the Saints Study Support Centre – a club-run initiative to help school children outside class – can be found, along with the offices of Southampton City Training, a quasi-council run organisation which helps young people get vocational training.
It is also used as a prom setting for many local schools of Southampton, including St. Anne's and St. George's.
The stadium has also held film premieres for movies such as Casino Royale, as well as music concerts by Elton John in 2005 and Bon Jovi in 2006. There was a tribute to Elvis Presley in August 2007 and Southampton fan Craig David played at St Mary's on 25 October 2007, although neither in the main bowl of the stadium. Bon Jovi returned to St Mary's on 11 June 2008. and on the 6 June 2017 Robbie Williams had The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour. On 29 May 2018, The Rolling Stones performed at the stadium as part of their No Filter European tour. Alongside the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, St Mary's was the smallest venue on the UK leg of the tour. Additionally, St Mary's also houses the head office of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance since its founding in 2007.
St Mary's was one of the seventeen venues short-listed for use in the 2015 Rugby World Cup but was not selected for the final list.
