Stoke were based at the Victoria Ground at the time that the council decided to push a "community stadium" in which they would hold events aswell as it being the main home of the football club.
Both Stoke City and Port Vale were offered the stadium originally which began all types of speculation over whether a
A view from the (now) bridge looking up
ground-share was going to mean a Potteries United FC. Vale rejected all offers by the council to help out and Jez Moxey, the Chief Executive of Stoke City at the time (1995) pushed on and worked with the council in getting the stadium built. The football league and St Modem also invested in the community stadium which was soon to be sponsored by Britannia.
The footbridge over the A50
A visitors office was made with a "computer generated stadium" where you could have tour all around the stadium using the mouse and it even included inside the stands. St Modem and Stoke on Trent Regeneration were quickly building the stadium and it only took 18 months to build.
The Main Stand takes shape
On August 27th 1997 the stadium got it's safety certificate and 5 hours later played the first ever game against Rochdale.
Below are some more pictures of the construction of the stadium.
All pictures on this web-site are Copyright Stoke City MAD