The Hillsborough Stadium is located in Yorkshire, England. It is exactly located on a north-western suburb of Sheffield. Here are 9 interesting facts about this stadium.
Construction
This stadium was built in 1899 and has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since. Sheffield Wednesday currently play in League One of England.
Ownership of the Stadium
The ownership of most stadiums of Europe belongs to the clubs but that’s not the case here because Hillsborough Stadium is owned by Dejphon Chansiri – A Thai Businessman, who also owns Sheffield Wednesday.
Capacity
The capacity of Hillsborough Stadium is 39,739. This capacity is further reduced to 34,854 due to safety reasons.
Former name
The former name of Hillsborough Stadium is Owlerton Stadium. This name was kept from 1899 till 1914 and after it was named Hillsborough Stadium and has not changed since.
Record Attendance
The record attendance in the history of Hillsborough Stadium was 72,841. This attendance came on 17 February, 1934 in a FA Cup Quarter-final. The match was against Manchester City.
Highest average attendance
The highest average attendance happened in the 1952-53 season. In this season, an average of 42,520 people attended every match which is still a record to be broken.
International matches
The Hillsborough Stadium was used by England’s national team before the Wembley Stadium was built. This stadium was also used for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and 1996 UEFA European Championships.
Hillsborough Disaster
The famous tragedy Hillsborough disaster happened on 15 April, 1989 when 97 Liverpool fans were crushed to death. This happened during FA Cup semi-final.
Origin of Hillsborough Stadium
The ground where Sheffield Wednesday used to play was needed for the railway construction and Sheffield Wednesday was allowed to play there till the end of the season but after that they started finding new places and that’s when a 10 acre land was provided by Silversmiths James Dixon & Sons owner James Willis Dixon. The land was part of Hillsborough Housing estate and the site was called Owlerton and that’s from where the former and later name of the stadium came.
