Alexander Stadium

About

Alexander Stadium is an athletics stadium in Perry Barr, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is the largest athletics stadium in the United Kingdom. The stadium has four stands with a total seated capacity of 18,000. The stadium site has four buildings which include the Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre (GMAC), High Performance Centre, East Stand and the curved-roofed West Stand. Original construction began in 1975, and the stadium opened in 1976. It is owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. In May 2020, the stadium underwent a £72 million redevelopment which was completed in April 2022 ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The venue hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics and para-athletics competitions of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The main stadium has a nine lane category 1 World Athletics certified track, and adjoining the stadium is a six lane warm-up track and throws field. The West Stand offers six hospitality boxes and a 450-capacity hospitality lounge with track views, and a multitude of track-level spaces for hire. Other events held there include the annual British Grand Prix between 2011 and 2019 and in 2022, the Amateur Athletics Association Championships, the 1998 Disability World Athletics Championships, and the English Schools' Athletics Championships. The Stadium also hosted Midlands Hurricanes rugby league team from 2023 to 2025. It is the home Stadium of Athletics Club Birchfield Harriers replacing their former home at Alexander Sports Ground. The stadium hosted the 2026 European Athletics Championships, the first time the continental championships have been held in the United Kingdom.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.