The Galpharm Stadium (formerly the Alfred McAlpine Stadium) is a multi-use sports stadium located in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.

The Stadium

The Galpharm Stadium seats 24,500 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. The Britannia Rescue Stand, across from the Riverside, 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 Pink Link 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. The lower tier consists of temporary seating that can be removed for events such as concerts.

Construction

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

Sponsorship

From 1994 until 2004 it was known as the Alfred McAlpine Stadium. The company had been the main construction contractor and had the name built into the payment contract for ten years. Alfred McAlpine 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

The venue is home to Huddersfield Giants RLFC and Huddersfield Town FC, hosting Bradford Bulls' World Club Challenge matches along with several semi-finals of the Challenge Cup. 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.

The stadium has also been used for international rugby union. It hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup match between New Zealand and Italy, which New Zealand won 101-3.

Concert venue

In the summer of 1995, R.E.M. played two concerts at the venue which, over the course of two days, some 70,000 people attended. Elton John, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Eagles, The Beautiful South and Blue have also performed concerts in the stadium.

References

1. Galpharm Stadium at AJ Specification database
2. Engineering giant Stadia Ingenia Magazine, March 2005
3. [1]

External links

• Official site
• Galpharm Healthcare