Etihad Stadium — Attraction in Manchester

This was the jewels in the crown for our 13 year old during our visit to Manchester. Not only did he get invited to use the sensory room facilities but we had also booked him a stadium tour.

I will start with the City v Burnley match that we were invited to attend. My son has sensory processing difficulties and as much as he adores football he cannot be in a regular stadium crowd for more than a few minutes at a time before he becomes overloaded. Therefore I requested to join the waiting list for the Etihad Stadiums Sensory room. The wait was not as long as I imagined although maybe longer now. Lucy got in touch 2 weeks before the game and can I just say Lucy is amazing! Such quick responses to any questions I had and it wasn't as if I gave a list of questions and let her respond. I'd message randomly with any questions that popped up and she was very quick and knowledgeable on her response.

PK, Bet, Grace and Ross (the accent now has myself and partner in debate whether it was Ross or Russ sorry!) We're all amazing. pK rang me in advance and we made arrangements to meet. I even messaged him on the day to reconfirm everything and ask questions and like when we spoke he was incredibly helpful.

We arrived shockingly early due to not knowing the area, arriving on public transport as we would rather be very early than late. Unfortunately the amount of rain falling that night was crazy by the time we arrived we were soaked through. By our meeting point that happened to be an entrance so we asked the staff if we could wait inside and they were so lovely and helpful. Everyone throughout our entire experience was just so happy, lovely, kind warming people. The staff who were greeting guests would come over in-between and speak with my son and ourselves. They said to go over to the reception area screen and he got to watch his hero's arrive to the stadium on there which was amazing for him.

The sensory room and team who coordinate it are just the best, everything had been though about accessibility is visible throughout the stadium for those who cannot manage the stairs, allergies catered for. My son is known for autistic masking and the staff seemed to acknowledge that but not make a show of it. The entire time there was based on how my son was, how he felt and what he would like to do, if he wanted to experience the stadium outside there were seats available and he did go out a few times including to see the final whistle he did tell us it was so loud he was struggling but knew to come back inside before everything became too much as he was too frightened to miss a second. The staff, the club did everything and more. The sensory room itself my son was gutted he didn't have more time for because he was just bowled over by the size of the stadium, the amount of people and then ofcourse the match and the players. Thankfully they won! We all got food at half time and before the game the mascots came in and were cheeky and very entertaining a feature we weren't expecting. Moonchester and Moonbeam were a huge hit with my son. The light show prior to the game was something else. My son warmed to the whole experience and said it was the best day of his life. I could go on and on about the whole experience everyone was met, spoke to and spent time with at the game was an absolute pleasure. Our time there was one of the best experience of our lives not just our son.

The next day we went on the stadium tour. We arrived late due to getting lost but staff kindly put us on the next tour as there was availability so we did not miss out on anything. We were given lanyards to keep (my son loves a lanyard and now has 2 Man City ones which he thinks is awesome) we had a photo taken with some of the trophies and given a card for other photo opportunities around the tour. We felt the prices for the photos were very reasonable. Our tour guides Steve and Julie were just so much fun they love their job as it visibly shows. Very funny people with what seems like a similar sense of humour to ourselves. They made the experience...

The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons,3] and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53,600,[2] making it the 7th-largest football stadium in England and 11th-largest in the United Kingdom.Built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games,[5] the stadium has since staged the 2008 UEFA Cup final,[6] England football internationals,[7] rugby league matches,[8] a boxing world title fight,[6 the England rugby union team's final group match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup10] and summer music concerts during the football off-season. A lot of matches has been played on this stadium.

The stadium, originally proposed as an athletics arena in Manchester's bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics,[11] was converted after the 2002 Commonwealth Games from a 38,000 capacity arena to a 48,000 seat football stadium at a cost to the city council of £22 million and to Manchester City of £20 million.[12 Manchester City agreed to lease the stadium from Manchester City Council and moved there from Maine Road in the summer of 2003.14] The stadium was built by Laing Construction at a cost of £112 million[15] and was designed and engineered by Arup,[13] whose design incorporated a cable-stayed roof structure and supported entirely by twelve exterior masts and cables.

The stadium design has received much praise and many accolades, including an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2004 for its innovative inclusive building design and a special award in 2003 from the Institution of Structural Engineers for its unique structural design.[5 In August 2015, a 7,000-seat third tier on the South Stand was completed, in time for the start of the 2015–16 football season.[18] A £300 million redevelopment programme of the existing North Stand entailing the construction of a new hotel with 400 rooms, covered fan park for 3,000 people and increased net capacity to approximately 61,000 commenced in July 2023 and is projected to be completed by the end of 2026. This has been one of the best stadium...

While my review will be biased as a city fan, I will do my best to be honest.

Firstly,I have only been to a few stadiums. Namely CBSA (Formerly Ricoh arena) , villa park, old Trafford and the Emirates (Not including other sports or venues such as Wembley).

The Etihad , in my opinion is the best in terms of hospitality. It feels modern and looks stunning.

Parking takes a while to get out ( as with all stadiums if you use Thier car park, which I don't anymore, better to park 15 minutes away and walk).

Getting in is very easy and stewards are super helpful and knowledgeable.

My only criticism for this stadium is (apart from the south stand), the crowd can feel flat. There are individuals and groups who only celebrate goals, and simply sit silent for the rest of the game. While this is understandable for low stake games, I think the other clubs I've been to were more vocal in games of similar stake. The fans who are vocal however, are exceptional. In the south stand, chants pick up very frequently it's better than the other stands I've sat in. If it's atmosphere you enjoy, try to sit with the south stand, and avoid the family stand. Have no experience with the Colin bell stand.

The east stand is somewhere in between and offers the best views. (I assume Colin bell stand will be very similar)

Haven't used the food services or merchandise services but aware both are available. Toilets are best used well before the game and should be avoided at half time if possible. Urinals pool and long queues form outside. Best to only use if you are desperate. However this seems to be the case with all stadiums and in fairness, the floor has always been free of urine in my experience (not the case with other stadiums in this city!!!).

Ultimately the Etihad is the nicest stadium I've been to, and easily the best football is played here. The atmosphere isn't the issue (the Madrid 4-0 SF 2nd leg game was absolutely surreal, when we score the noise is deafening), its more consistency and having a lively atmosphere in all games...