Key information about Pride Park Stadium

Pride Park Stadium was built in 1997 and has since then been the home of Derby County who are currently playing their football in the Championship. It’s located on Pride Park - hence its name - a business park on the outskirts of Derby’s city centre.

Pride Park Stadium has an impressive capacity of 33,597 with a 105m x 68m pitch that’s not surrounded by a running track and has natural grass on the surface with undersoil heating installed as well.

The record attendance stands at 33,597 and was achieved during an international clash between England and Mexico on 25 May 2001.

A history of Pride Park Stadium

Pride Park Stadium has a long and rich history with Derby County. But still, prior to their move to a new ground, the Rams’ home was at the Baseball Ground, where they have been since 1895. But with the issues regarding the reduced capacity after the Taylor Report that followed the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, and the fact the stadium had wooden components - which was unacceptable after the tragic Bradford City Stadium fire - the club decided to move to a different and improved ground.

It would still take them a while to settle on a definite plan - with some wanting to build an expensive new ground and the others preferring to just improve the old one - but after securing the then-redeveloping Pride Park business park, settling with Derby City Council for a smaller site than previously agreed, they finally announced they would move to a brand new £16 million stadium for the start of the 1997/98 season.

There was also an idea to potentially just name it the ‘New Baseball Ground’ but that was scrapped in favour of its current name, Pride Park Stadium. Interestingly enough, the ground was then officially opened on 18 July 1997 by none other than Queen Elizabeth II and the first match would then be played about two weeks after against Sampdoria in a friendly clash.

Over the years, of course, Derby County would indeed make further improvements to their ground, adding additional seats to increase the capacity and in 2006, they even announced huge plans to add 10,000 more to align with their success in the Premier League. However, since the team ended up being relegated, the plans had to ultimately be scrapped.

Initially, however, once Pride Park Stadium was converted into an all-seater, as was required of all grounds in the top two English tiers, its capacity shrinked to 17,500 but would reach the current figure of 33,597 over time and with further investment.

It is also interesting to note that between 7 December 2013 and 18 November 2016, the stadium was actually called the iPro Stadium due to sponsorship rights after the club made a £7 million deal with global sports drink company iPro. However, that wouldn’t last as the club announced the cancellation of partnership just three years later, reverting the stadium's name back to Pride Park Stadium.

Tickets to watch Derby County at Pride Park Stadium

All the tickets to watch Derby County at Pride Park Stadium can be found on the club’s official website. The price of said tickets varies depending on multiple factors but the adult ticket costs around £30.

The club also offers memberships, family discounts, group tickets and season tickets, all of which can be used to decrease the initial fee and save money over time or on certain events. More information can be found on their official website.

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/ - Official website of Derby County

https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/ticketing-useful-information?k=fe88ed3b36b97f746b0b1dc4af36319a1d64204e - Derby County Ticket Office