Alexander Stadium

Capacity

The stadium currently has a seating capacity of 18,000. Seating capacity is split between Lower, Upper and VIP Box Level seating of the West stand, Lower and Upper seating in the East Stand and Lower Seating stands in the North and South.

Before redevelopment, there were 7,000 covered seats in three separate stands called Main, Knowles (after Dick Knowles), and Nelson (after Doris Nelson Neal OBE), and a 5,000-seater stand on the rear straight.

Commercial Venue

Since May 2023 Alexander Stadium has offered a wide range of rooms to hire for corporate, community and sporting events.

Private Hire is available for the following spaces:

Hire can be organised by via the Stadium Website

Leisure Facilities

Alexander Stadium is open to the public as a Birmingham City Council run Leisure Centre. Alexander Stadium offers a range of activities such as Fitness Classes, Martial Arts, Athletics and Gymnastics. Leisure access is available:

Monday to Friday: 7:00am to 9:00pm Saturday and Sunday: 8:30am to 5:00pm Classes can be booked via the website or contacting the Stadium directly. Birmingham City Council also offer a variety of memberships and free activity sessions inline with government initiatives such as Be Active and Passport to Leisure for lower income households within Birmingham

Diamond League

From 2011 Alexander Stadium hosted the prestigious world athletics Diamond League tour until 2019 ahead of the redevelopment. Birmingham held an event of the 2022 tour on 21 May 2022.

Music events

The stadium has held many music events, including a one-day festival called Party in the Park run by BRMB (now Hits Radio Birmingham) radio that featured acts including Nelly Furtado, Westlife, Natasha Bedingfield, Blue, Sugababes, Debbie McGee, Girls Aloud and The Calling. The event was later moved to Cannon Hill Park where it was in a more central part of the city and so made it easier for people from south Birmingham to attend.

Expansion

2011

In 2011 Alexander Stadium underwent a £12.5 million expansion and refurbishment, including the building of a 5,000-seater stand opposite the current main stand. This took the capacity to 12,700. The new stand has also become home to the offices of UK Athletics. The stand was completed in June 2011, in time to host the Diamond League British Grand Prix in July 2011.

2017–present

In June 2017, during the preparation of the Birmingham bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the Birmingham bid committee proposed to renovate Alexander Stadium and use it for hosting the athletics and ceremonies of the Games.

On 11 April 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced that £70 million (approx. USD $90 million) of investment would be earmarked to transform the Alexander Stadium into a world-class athletics venue for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, during which it will seat 40,000 spectators. In October 2018, British engineering and designing firm Arup was chosen by the Birmingham City Council to redesign the stadium. British construction firm Mace was chosen to manage the stadium renovation project.

On 21 June 2019, Birmingham City Council released the images and plans for renovating the Alexander Stadium and claimed that it would create a legacy asset for the Perry Barr area.

On 30 January 2020, Birmingham City Council's planning committee approved the renovation plans of the Alexander Stadium which would cost £72 million. After the games, the temporary stands around the track bends were removed, leaving the two permanent stands seating 18,000, with the option of extending to 40,000 for major events. In March 2020, the city council chose the Northern Irish firm McLaughlin & Harvey to redevelop the stadium.

2022 Commonwealth Games

Alexander Stadium was the main venue for athletics, para-athletics as well as holding the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The redeveloped stadium included temporary seating and facilities to accommodate the Games.

2026 European Athletic Championships

Following the awarding of the 2026 European Athletics Championships to Birmingham, Alexander Stadium will serve as the venue for the championships.

Incidents

On 22 March 2016 fell-runner Lauren Jeska from Lancaster attacked UK Athletics official Ralph Knibbs at the stadium, stabbing him multiple times. Jeska had feared her records in women's events would be quashed due to her transgender identity. She later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. She was also convicted of causing actual bodily harm to two bystanders who tried to defend Knibbs.

References

References

1. "Homepage".
2. Council, Birmingham City. "Gymnastics & Martial Arts Centre (GMAC)".
3. Eastside, Birmingham. (2022-11-30). "New performance centre for elite athletes to open at the Alexander Stadium".
4. "History of Alexander Stadium".
5. Anjum, Husna. (2022-01-03). "From POWs to Tom Jones - the colourful history of Alexander Stadium".
6. Council, Birmingham City. "Alexander Stadium".
7. Anjum, Husna. (2022-05-10). "Alexander Stadium officially handed over to Birmingham 2022 organisers".
8. "Alexander Stadium".
9. DHD. "Alexander Stadium, Birmingham".
10. Harriers, Birchfield. "Stadium - Birchfield Harriers".
11. "UK ATHLETICS AND BIRMINGHAM TO HOST EUROPEAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2026".
12. "Diamond League {{!}} World Athletics".
13. (2010-09-22). "Alexander Stadium's bid to be UK Athletics base". [[BBC]].
14. (2011-07-15). "UK Athletics heading for a grandstand view of the Alexander Stadium". Inside the Games.
15. (2010-10-22). "Top athletes set for Birmingham Grand Prix Meeting". [[BBC]].
16. (2017-06-20). "Stadium expansion at heart of 2022 bid". BBC News.
17. "PM announces £70 million to transform Birmingham stadium for 2022 Commonwealth Games".
18. Marshall, Jordan. (2018-10-25). "Arup wins design contract for £70m revamp of Commonwealth Games stadium".
19. "Mace to project manage Birmingham Commonwealth Games stadium".
20. (21 June 2019). "Birmingham targets taking athletics off London as £70 million Alexander Stadium redevelopment plan for 2022 Commonwealth Games unveiled".
21. (2020-01-30). "Alexander Stadium revamp gets green light".
22. (2020-01-30). "Commonwealth Games stadium revamp approved". BBC News.
23. (2020-01-31). "Birmingham approves proposals for Alexander Stadium redevelopment".
24. Rogers, Dave. (2020-03-13). "Winner emerges on 2022 Commonwealth Games stadium".
25. "Alexander Stadium".
26. "UK ATHLETICS AND BIRMINGHAM TO HOST EUROPEAN ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2026".
27. (14 March 2017). "Lauren Jeska jailed for Alexander Stadium stabbings". BBC News.
28. (22 September 2016). "Fell-runner Lauren Jeska tried to kill British athletics official because she feared the body would revoke her titles over transgender status". The Telegraph.