2006 expansion - Old Trafford

Old Trafford's most recent expansion, which took place between July 2005 and May 2006, saw an increase of around 8,000 seats with the addition of second tiers to both the north-west and north-east quadrants of the ground. Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier League record^. The record continued to be pushed upwards before reaching its current peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw United beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1, meaning that just 114 seats (0.15% of the total capacity of 76,212) were left unoccupied. In 2009, a reorganisation of the seating in the stadium resulted in a reduction of the capacity by 255 to 75,957, meaning that the club's home attendance record would stand at least until the next expansion^.


Old Trafford during a match at the 2012 Summer Olympics Old Trafford celebrated its 100th anniversary on 19 February 2010. In recognition of the occasion, Manchester United's official website ran a feature in which a memorable moment from the stadium's history was highlighted on each of the 100 days leading up to the anniversary. From these 100 moments, the top 10 were chosen by a panel including club statistician Cliff Butler, journalist David Meek, and former players Pat Crerand and Wilf McGuinness. At Old Trafford itself, an art competition was run for pupils from three local schools to create their own depictions of the stadium in the past, present and future^. Winning paintings were put on permanent display on the concourse of the Old Trafford family stand, and the winners will be presented with awards by artist Harold Riley on 22 February. An exhibition about the stadium at the club museum was opened by former goalkeeper Jack Crompton and chief executive David Gill on 19 February. The exhibition highlights the history of the stadium and features memorabilia from its past, including a programme from the inaugural match and a 1:220 scale model hand-built by model artist Peter Oldfield-Edwards.Finally, at Manchester United's home match against Fulham on 14 March, fans at the game received a replica copy of the programme from the first Old Trafford match, and half-time saw relatives of the players who took part in the first game – as well as those of the club chairman John Henry Davies and stadium architect Archibald Leitch – taking part in the burial of a time capsule of Manchester United memorabilia near the centre tunnel^.Only relatives of winger Billy Meredith, wing-half Dick Duckworth and club secretary Ernest Mangnall could not be found.
Old Trafford was used as a venue for several matches in the football competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics^. The stadium hosted five group games, a quarter-final and a semi-final in the men's tournament, and one group game and a semi-final in the women's tournament, the first women's international matches to be played there.

Old Trafford

Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 75,765, Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom after Wembley and the ninth-largest in Europe. The stadium is approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from Old Trafford Cricket Ground and the adjacent tram station.
The ground, nicknamed the Theatre of Dreams by Bobby Charlton, has been United's permanent residence since 1910, with the exception of an eight-year absence from 1941 to 1949, following the bombing of the stadium during the Second World War. During this period, the club shared Maine Road with local rivals Manchester City. The ground underwent several expansions in the 1990s and 2000s, including the addition of extra tiers to the North, West and East Stands, which served to return the ground almost to its original capacity of 80,000. Future expansion is likely to involve the addition of a second tier to the South Stand, which would raise the capacity to over 90,000. The stadium's record attendance was recorded in 1939, when 76,962 spectators watched the FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town.
The ground has frequently hosted FA Cup semi-final matches as a neutral venue and several England international fixtures while the new Wembley Stadium was under construction. It also hosted matches at the 1966 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1996, as well as the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final. Aside from football-related uses, Old Trafford has hosted rugby league's Super League Grand Final since the league's adoption of playoffs in 1998 and the final of the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. The stadium hosted football matches during the 2012 Summer Olympics, including women's international football for the first time in its history.

Last matches - Wembley

On 20 May 2000 the last FA Cup final to be played at the old Wembley saw Chelsea defeat Aston Villa with the only goal scored by Roberto Di Matteo.The last competitive club match the was 2000 First Division play-off final on 29 May between Ipswich Town and Barnsley, a 4–2 win resulting in promotion to the Premier League for Ipswich The last club match of all was the 2000 Charity Shield in which Chelsea beat Manchester United 2–0. The last international match was on 7 October in Kevin Keegan's last game as England manager. England were beaten 1-0 by Germany, with Dietmar Hamann scoring the last goal at Wembley. On that day Tony Adams made his 60th Wembley appearance, a record for any player. Adams also claimed England's final goal at the stadium, having scored in the previous home fixture against Ukraine on 31 May.

History - Wembley

The stadium's first turf was cut by King George V, and it was first opened to the public on 28 April 1923. First known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or simply Empire Stadium, it was built by Sir Robert McAlpine for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 (extended to 1925).
The stadium cost £750,000, and was constructed on the site of an earlier folly called Watkin's Tower. The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and the Head Engineer Sir Owen Williams. It was originally intended to demolish the stadium at the end of the Exhibition, but it was saved at the suggestion of Sir James Stevenson^{[citation needed]}, a Scot who was chairman of the organising committee for the Empire Exhibition. The ground had been used for football as early as the 1880s
At the end of the exhibition, an entrepreneur Arthur Elvin (later to become Sir Arthur Elvin) started buying the derelict buildings one by one, demolishing them, and selling off the scrap. The stadium had gone into liquidation, after it was pronounced "financially unviable". Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127,000, using a £12,000 downpayment and the balance plus interest payable over ten years.
After complications following the death of James White the original Stadium owner, Elvin bought Wembley Stadium from the new owners, (Wembley Company) at the original price, since they honoured Elvin's original deal. They then immediately bought it back from Elvin, leaving him with a healthy profit. Instead of cash he received shares, which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium and he became chairman.
The electric scoreboard and the all encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963.

The Royal Box in 1986.

The stadium's distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname. Also well known were the thirty-nine steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy (and winners'/losers' medals). Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as "Hallowed Turf", with many stadia around the world borrowing this phrase. In 1934, the Empire Pool was built nearby. The 'Wembley Stadium Collection' is held by the National Football Museum. The stadium closed in October 2000, and was demolished in 2003 for redevelopment. The top of one of the twin towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the Saint Raphael's Estate.

Wembley Stadium (1923)

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007.
It was famous for hosting the annual FA Cup finals, five European Cup finals, the 1948 Summer Olympics, the 1966 World Cup Final, the final of Euro 96, Queen's Magic Tour, and the 1985 Live Aid concert. Of Wembley Stadium, Pelé said, "Wembley is the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football" in recognition of its status as the world's best-known football stadium.
The twin towers were once an icon for England and Wembley before their demolition in 2003 which upset many members of the public. Debris from the Old Wembley Stadium was used to make the award-winning Northala Fields in Northolt, Ealing.

F.C Vardar history,fans and stadium

                                                                  






                                                               
               
     FK Vardar was created with the merger of city rivals FK Pobeda and FK Makedonija, in the hall of cinema "Vardar" on 22 July 1947. The foundation assembly had decided the club color to be blue and it was, but already at the next assembly the decision was changed to red and white. The present recognizable red and black color was adopted after the 1963 Skopje earthquake. That same year, after a qualifying match against FK Sloga from Novi Sad, Vardar becomes member of the Yugoslav First League.      
The club won its first major trophy in the 1961 Yugoslav Cup. Many famous players from the region started their careers at Vardar, and their triumph in the Yugoslavian Cup was a highlight. The leader of that particular generation of players was Andon Dončevski, who would later find success as coach of the 1987 title winners. Due to massive irregularities during the last 34th week of fixtures, the 1985-86 Yugoslav First League season ended notoriously. Yugoslav Football Association headed by Slavko Šajber voided the last week results ordering a replay of all 9 fixtures. Twelve clubs were docked 6 points due to alleged participation in the match-fixing scandal. All teams agreed to replay their games with the exception of FK Partizan who refused. That decision would eventually cost them the championship. The league title was awarded to FK Crvena Zvezda. What followed is a series of lawsuits on behalf of FK Partizan and the case was taken to the Yugoslav Constitutional Court. The following 1986-87 Yugoslav First League season saw 10 teams starting with -6 points. Vardar would go on to win the league title that year with 38 points. After the completion of the 1986-87 season, the court ruled that there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the week 34 of the previous season. The title was given back to FK Partizan and that also meant that there was no merit for the 6-point docking thus the final standings were re-counted. Partizan became the new champion with 42 points. Nevertheless, Vardar represented SFR Yugoslavia in the 1987-88 European Cup. The 1987 championship team brought together a group of wonderful players, led by the talented Darko Pančev and including Ilija Najdoski, Dragan Kanatlarovski and Vujadin Stanojković. FK Vardar went on to spend 34 seasons in the Yugoslav top flight from 1947 to 1992 and is ranked 11th on the all time table.       
     

 FK Vardar supporters are known as Komiti (Macedonian: Комити). 
 Komiti are the first organized supporters group of Vardar and they were founded on 4 June 1987 in Skopje, at the match between  Vardar and Crvena Zvezda. Throughout   their

24/7 Dedicated to Vardar

 existence, they left significant seal in the history of Vardar and with their support becoming the 12th player of the team. FK Vardar as a club is supported by most Macedonians worldwide. The team has always been a symbol of the Macedonians 

Ultras Gelsenkirchen and Komiti Skopje

and Macedonia in the world. Komiti have great relations with Teteks fans Vojvodi and Schalke 04 fans Ultras Gelsenkirchen.                
           
                           
                                                                                     Stadium    
                                                                                     

Philip II Arena

FK Vardar's home venue is Philip II Arena. Its current capacity is 33,460  spectators which puts it among 10 largest stadiums on the Balkans. The pitch is 105 x 68 m. Two big scoreboards, 18 x 6 m are installed on both East and West stands. There are 494 VIP boxes and 386 media seats, all of them on the North stand. Philip II Arena is an all-seater ground with 80% of the seats covered from inclement weather.            

Vardar in Europe

Vardar's first competitive European match was a 0-5 loss against Dunfermline Athletic in the 1961–62 European Cup Winners' Cup. Muarem Zekir holds the record for most appearances in Europe for the club with 21. Top scorer in UEFA club competitions is Wandeir with 13 goals. The biggest win in UEFA competition was against Ethnikos Achnas in the 2004 Intertoto Cup, defeating them twice by the score of 5-1 and 10-2 on aggregate. 
Current position on EUFA  ranking list is 365 place with 2.050 points.
        

Vardar current squad 2013

12 GK Kostadin Zahov GK Igor Pavlović 4 DF Radenko Bojović 5 DF Zlatko Tanevski 15 DF Vladimir Dimitrovski 27 DF Milan Ilievski 29 DF Dimitrija Lazarevski 33 DF Miroslav Vajs (captain) 8 MF Predrag Ranđelović 9 MF Aleksandar Petrović

No. Position Player 10 MF Ostoja Stjepanović 20 MF Jorge Giménez 21 MF Andrej Acevski 24 MF Aleksandar Temelkov 26 MF Mite Cikarski 7 FW Borče Manevski 11 FW Dragan Georgiev 13 FW Filip Petrov 17 FW Aco Stojkov 23 FW Jovan Kostovski FW Gjorgji Žarevski