Galpharm Stadium

Galpharm Stadium
Full name	Galpharm Stadium
Former names	Alfred McAlpine Stadium
Location	Huddersfield, England
Coordinates	53°39′15″N 1°46′6″W / 53.65417°N 1.76833°W / 53.65417; -1.76833Coordinates: 53°39′15″N 1°46′6″W / 53.65417°N 1.76833°W / 53.65417; -1.76833
Built	1994
Opened	1994
Owner	consortium
Operator	KSDL (Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd.)
Surface	Grass with Under-soil heating
Capacity	24,500
Field dimensions	115 x 76 yards
Tenants
Huddersfield Town and Huddersfield Giants

The Galpharm Stadium (formerly the Alfred McAlpine Stadium) is a multi-use sports stadium located in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of the football team Huddersfield Town and Super League side, Huddersfield Giants.

The Stadium

The Galpharm Stadium seats 24,499 people along with hospitality boxes and conference rooms. There are four stands. The Direct Golf UK 'main' Stand (often referred to as the Riverside Stand) incorporates two-tiers, with a row of 26 executive boxes running between the two tiers. This stand houses the offices and suites of the stadium. The Britannia Rescue Stand, across from the Riverside and commonly referred to as the Kilner Bank Stand, is a large, single-tiered stand which seats over 7,000. It was previously sponsored by John Smith's and is still called this by many today. The John Smith's South Stand is usually allocated to away fans and seats 4,054. This is built into natural banking and is the most basic of the stands. The Fantastic Media North stand is the tallest stand with two tiers, 16 hospitality boxes and a viewing room for players' guests, built into the leisure centre. The lower tier consists of temporary seating that can be removed for events such as concerts.

Construction

View into the Galpharm stadium

During planning and construction, the stadium was referred to as the Kirklees Stadium. It was built by Alfred McAlpine,^[1] designed by HOK Sport and was awarded the RIBA Building of the Year award for 1995,^[2]

The decision to build a new stadium for Huddersfield Town was made in August 1992, with construction beginning the following year and being completed in time for the 1994-95 season, enabling the Terriers to move to their new base after 86 years at Leeds Road.

When the stadium first opened only the two side stands (the Riverside and Kilner Bank stands) were ready. The South Stand was opened four months later in December 1994. Construction on the North (Panasonic) Stand began in 1996 and it was completed in 1997, bringing the overall capacity of the stadium to approximately 24,500. The estimated cost of construction was £40 million.

Ownership

Initially, the stadium was owned by a consortium made up of Kirklees Metropolitan Council, Huddersfield Town F.C. and Huddersfield Giants in a 40:40:20 proportion. Following the purchase of Huddersfield Town F.C. from the administrators Ken Davy became chairman of both sports clubs, which are owned by companies that he controls.^[3] The present details of the ownership of the stadium is Ken Davy's company Huddersfield Sporting Pride 60% and Kirklees Metropolitan Council 40%. The current Managing director of the stadium company is Ralph Rimmer. On December 24th 2009, Huddersfield Town F.C. announced that 40% of the shares owned by Huddersfield Sporting Pride would be transferred to the current chairman Dean Hoyle, with the deal expected to be completed in the New Year.

Sponsorship

From 1994 until 2004 it was known as the Alfred McAlpine Stadium. Alfred McAlpine had been the main construction contractor and had the name built into the payment contract for ten years. The company elected not to renew their sponsorship and this was taken up by Galpharm Healthcare, leading to the new title. Individual stands are sponsored by local businesses.

Sporting venue

Players warming up at the Galpharm Stadium

The venue is home to Huddersfield Giants RLFC and Huddersfield Town FC.

The stadium hosted its first match in August 1994 when Huddersfield Town were beaten 1–0 by Wycombe Wanderers in Football League Division 2. Former Blackburn Rovers player Simon Garner scored the goal for the visitors.

Other important matches in Rugby League and Rugby Union have been held here.

Rugby League World Cup matches have been held at the stadium in 1995 and 2000. Here are the matches below:

Date	Competition	team		team
14 October 1995	1995 Rugby League World Cup,Group 1	Australia	66	Fiji	0
22 October 1995	1995 Rugby League World Cup, Semi Final	Australia	30	New Zealand	20
19 November 2000	2000 Rugby League World Cup, Semi Final	Australia	46	Wales	12

The stadium has held World Club Challenge matches along with several semi-finals of the Challenge Cup. The final of the now defunct Regal Trophy competition in 1995 and 1996 were also held here. Wigan Warriors being the winners on both occasions.

Despite not being a strong rugby union grassroots area, the stadium has also been used for four full cap international rugby union matches. It hosted three qualifying matches for the 1999 Rugby World Cup and one pool match in the group itself. Half of the matches have seen century scores; by England against Netherlands (110-0) and by the All Blacks versus Italy (101-3).^[4]

Date	Competition	Home team		Away team
14 November 1998	1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2	England	110	Netherlands	0
18 November 1998	1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2	Italy	67	Netherlands	7
22 November 1998	1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying Europe Round C Pool 2	England	23	Italy	15
14 October 1999	1999 Rugby World Cup, Pool 2	Italy	3	New Zealand	101

Concerts

Artists that have performed at the stadium include Bryan Adams, The Beautiful South, Blue, Bon Jovi, The Eagles, Elton John and R.E.M., among others.

References

1. ^ Galpharm Stadium at AJ Specification database
2. ^ Engineering giant Stadia Ingenia Magazine, March 2005
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ http://stats.scrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;ground=621;template=results;type=team

External links

• Official site
• Galpharm Healthcare