Manchester City outline opening date for £300 million Etihad Stadium redevelopment | OneFootball

Officials at Manchester City are working on plans to expand the capacity of the Etihad Stadium to over 60,000 by the start of 2026, according to new comments.

The home of the four-in-a-row Premier League champions has seen a series of redevelopments after moving to the Etihad Stadium in 2003 following a spell of 80 years at Maine Road and off the back of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

There has been significant investment into the stadium, its surrounding areas, and Manchester as a city by the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership, which has been a huge source of pride continually driving a stark contrast on and off the pitch between City and rivals Manchester United.

The men’s first team is set to witness major upheaval in the summer after an underwhelming season on the pitch for the Blues, who are set to miss out of a fifth straight league title to runaway leaders Liverpool.

Manchester City also suffered a disappointing, early exit from the UEFA Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid, losing 6-3 on aggregate over two-legs to Carlo Ancelotti’s side and exiting before the last-16 stage for the first time since the 2012/13 campaign.

The FA Cup and a top-four finish remain the sole glimmers of hope for Pep Guardiola between now and the end of the season, with an influx of fresh blood expected in the summer when Manchester City get rid of much of their deadwood.

And excitement off the pitch continues to heighten too, with a report from Simon Bajkowski, of the Manchester Evening News outlining the belief that Manchester City will open their expanded North Stand to take the Etihad Stadium’s capacity over 60,000 by January, 2026.

That is according to the club’s head of operations Danny Wilson, who said via the Forever Blue podcast that the Etihad Stadium capacity expansion will be ready to open by the aforementioned date as long as everything continues to go to plan.

The Manchester Evening News’ report also quotes City’s director of infrastructure development, Ed Dalton, who said on the project, “It’s an exciting moment in our building programme for the new steel structure to be attached and bolted to the existing North Stand.”

He continued, “Fans and visitors can see the extended upper tier progressing which really gives a sense of the scale of the expansion and how the inclusion of 3,000 new rail seats will add to the electric atmosphere on matchdays.”

The Blues will also build a hotel and accompanying attractions to drive tourist appeal and aid their involvement with entertainment venue Co-Op Live, partnered by the City Football Group (CFG).

An additional tier in the North Stand is expected to help the atmosphere and take the Etihad Stadium’s capacity to over 60,000 from just over 53,000, with uncertainty lingering over the season ticket strategy that will be put in place for the new available sections of the arena.