As of today, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium is said to have a capacity of 60,704 – a number that is no longer meeting the club’s needs.
When Arsenal moved from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium back in 2006, it was the biggest in London.
Now, the Tottenham Hotspur stadium (62,850) and the London Stadium (62,500) have both gone beyond Arsenal’s home in N5.
Not only are Arsenal unable to house the thousands of extra fans who would be willing to attend games, but their match day revenues are also now being dwarfed by their London rivals.
As a result, The Times are reporting that Arsenal are now exploring how they can expand the Emirates.
As mentioned, there’s currently a huge ticket demand for Arsenal games, who are now struggling to meet their corporate needs as well.
Arsenal fan shares ingenious way the Emirates Stadium capacity can be increased
The report says that it’s currently ‘not clear’ how Arsenal would achieve their aim to increase the stadium’s capacity in a cost-effective manner.
Experts have suggested that Arsenal could alter their ‘gently sloping elliptical roof’, which was originally shaped to help airflow and sunlight to the pitch.
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However, one Arsenal fan seems to have something of an inside scoop which he’s just shared on X.
The fan claimed that the Emirates can’t be structurally increased, but mentioned that there was one solution that depended on the permissions of Islington Council.
“Ever wondered why we enjoy such wide seats? Replace each seat with one just an inch narrower and you could add approx 8,000+ seats.
“This is what I was told on a stadium tour in 2007 and it makes sense.
“The stadium was designed for a larger capacity, but the council limited it to 60,000 due to concerns/disputes over public transport. The wider than average seats were installed with the future in mind.”
Of course, this can’t be taken as gospel by any means, but it’s certainly an interesting insight if true.
Arsenal season ticket holders might not be happy
Fans who regularly visit Arsenal home games will appreciate that conditions are very comfortable at the Emirates.
Wide seats, a good amount of legroom and a fair bit of space in the concourse too.
Perhaps some will oppose the above plans, especially if it means that they are losing an inch off their season-ticket seat which they certainly pay a considerable price for.
But with nearly 70,000 fans in the Emirates under lights singing The Angel, it could be worth the sacrifice.
In truth, Arsenal could probably fill their stadium every week even if it had 100,000 seats, such is the wealth of support for the club right now.