Member Article

Up and away for Etihad Stadium’s Third Tier

Manchester City FC officially unveiled the new third tier at their Etihad Stadium at their game against Chelsea on Sunday.

Local apprentices and trainees joined players from the football club’s Elite Development Squad to secure the final few seats in place in time of the first home game of the 2015/16 season, which City duly won 3-0.

Local residents were also invited for an exclusive tour the new stadium which has seen a new third tier added to the South Stand of the ground as well as a further three rows pitch side, taking the overall capacity of the stadium to more than 55,000.

Pete Bradshaw, Head of CSR and Infrastructure Development for Manchester City Football Club said: “It has been a privilege to see the apprentices and trainees grow throughout the stadium expansion project.

“They are having such a positive impact on all aspects of the business but they are also developing their own skills and building a career for themselves in Manchester.”

Cllr Bernard Priest, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said: “The Etihad Stadium has been at the heart of east Manchester’s transformation since the 2002 Commonwealth Games – and it’s been fantastic to see the continued regeneration in the years since.

“This expansion will create one of the largest capacity stadiums in the UK, which is fantastic for the club – but importantly, local people have been given the opportunity to gain invaluable employment and training opportunities during the development, and gain skills that will help to support them in to future employment.”

For the stadium expansion project, 45% of employees were from Greater Manchester, with 39 apprenticeships and trainees, 1,400 local students and 21 work experience placements involved.

The club says that 21 trainees have achieved full time employment as a result of the project.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .