Pride Park Stadium - Derby County Stadium Guide

Pride Park Stadium, currently known as the iPro Stadium for sponsorship reasons is a purpose built football stadium located in a business park within the outskirts of the city of Derby.

Home to Derby County F.C since first opening in 1997, the ground has a current capacity of 33,597.

Derby County Stadium Guide

Stadium Facts

Pride Park Stadium History

Pride Park was officially opened on 18th July 1997 by The Queen in a ceremony which attracted 30,000 spectators, however it wasn’t until two weeks later on the 4th August that the inaugural football match was played.

Aiming to kick-start a new pre-season tradition which would see the club invite European teams to Pride Park, the club played Italian side Sampdoria who spoiled the party with a narrow 1 nil win courtesy of a goal by future Fiorentina manager, Vincenzo Montella.

Previously The Rams had played their football at The Baseball Ground, but since the publication of the Taylor Report after Hillsborough, the 1895 built ground was no longer adequate.

Attracting a record crowd of 41,826 for a game against Tottenham in 1969, by the time the ground was converted to all-seating in its final season, the capacity was just under 17,500. This failed to match the ambition of Derby, and a new stadium was immediately sought.

In addition to fears that terracing could lead to crushing, there had also been grave concerns for the old stadium ever since the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985. Like Valley Parade, The Baseball stadium was mostly comprised of wood, although this is somewhat of a gross simplification of the causes of the fire.

After identifying a plot of land on the up and coming Pride Park retail park, the club announced the proposed move on 21st February 1996 just before kick-off against Luton Town.

Estimated to cost £16 million, the stadium was set to have a capacity of 35,000 and was designed by The Miller Partnership who were responsible for the look of Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.

Although there are some similarities in the designs such as the use of a large, asymmetrical stand which was connected to a horseshoe-shaped bowl, Derby made over 30 unique changes to the concept in order to give the ground an identity of its own.

When it came to naming the new football stadium, Derby’s Management originally flirted with the idea of calling it The New Baseball Ground, however it was eventually decided that it should be called Pride Park Stadium.

Named after the retail and business park in which it resides, Derby’s ground is currently known as the iPro Stadium for reasons of sponsorship after the global sports drinks company signed a £7 million sponsorship deal starting on the 7th December 2013.

View of Pride Park Stadium

Derby County F.C. Info