Fort Boston Arena

The Fort Boston Arena is a stadium located in Fort Boston, Bostopia and is home to Fort Boston FC and Fort Boston Fireside. It has a capacity of 85,000, making it the second-largest stadium in Bostopia, second only to the Bostopia Stadium. To the east of the arena is an entertainment complex, alongside the Arena Plaza, which is home to upscale cafés and restaurants.

Stadium History

1800s

Football had been played in this area for centuries, and was designated parkland by the Fort Boston Parkland Act (1789) by the newly-created State Government of Fort Boston. However, with the duel-events of the 3rd of March 1875 - the founding of the Bostopian Professional League on the (later to become the Bostopian Premier League), and Fort Boston FC's entry to the league - a permanent venue for the team to play would be required.

On the 7th July, 1875, the first stone was layed by the Emperor of Bostopia, (officially in his other capacity as Grand Fireward of Fort Boston). Following this, rudimentary changing facilities were built, along with a terraced-stand on the north side. While this stand is now seated, the original facade is still used, though it has been repaired on many occasions.

As the decades passed, and attendance figures rose, the ground was steadily improved.

Barris Report

However, in February 1970, following a report from the Football Association, all football grounds in Bostopia had to be converted to all-seated stadiums within five years, along with other safety and security improvements. This meant large-scale upgrades for the larger stadiums, such as Fort Boston FC.

Post-Barris Report

Fortunately, in an ironic sense, in October of 1970, due to (false) allegations of transfer bungs affecting most clubs within the 5 leagues in one form or another, the FA cancelled all domestic football barely two months into the new season. This largely contributed to the massive rise in popularity of Rugball and the Bostopian Gridiron League. But the club's ownership took this as a sign of opportunity.

With the season prematurely over, they could concentrate on the ground improvements required to participate in the 1975/1976 Bostopian Football Leagues. Before the end of December, the stadiums upgrades began. Following investigations into furthur expansion, large areas around the stadium were left untouched, leaving a large area of bare grass on the east, south and west sides of the stadium.

The North stand's original outer facade had been designated a protected building some 30 years prior. However, the interior of the stadium was refurbished, to provide better security facilities and seating with backrests for the fans. The ground was increased to a 45,000 capacity.

2000s

Following the large scale success of Fort Boston FC from the late 1980's, in 1999 it was decided to upgrade the stadium to it's current format. In the East stand was knocked down, and then the rear of the stand "pushed back" (with fans thanking the brainwave in the 70's) so that capacity could be increased.

The large Fort Boston FC logo that had been erected on the North-Eastern side of the stadium was taken down and repainted during this time, then put up with the logo of Fort Boston Fireside next to it, which would be lit up with spotlights for night-fixtures, depending on which team was playing. The North-East scoreboard was also upgraded to include a massive tv screen (which has again been updated to include the latest 20/20-Definition technology). The West stand and South stand then followed the same process, while being upgraded to two-tiers, raising the height of the stadium considerably.

The North stand however, was left relatively untouched. While the fan-shop and ticket office was improved, the facade was not touched due to protection laws. Inside the stadium, the media and VIP positions were improved, along with the restaurants. This stand was improved to also having two-tiers, now dwarfing the original size of the Fort Boston Arena.

This upgrade-on-mass increased the size of the stadium to 85,000.

Future

With the exception of technology upgrades, it is not expected that the stadium's capacity will be any more upgraded.