The Kingston Communications Stadium

Last updated : 08 April 2010 By Andy Beill
Photo © Hull City Online

Hull City played their first games at the Boulevard, before spending more than 40 years at Anlaby Road, adjacent to the Circle cricket ground. Boothferry Park was built in 1946, and remained the club's home until 2002 when the Kingston Communications Stadium was built. Its non-commercial name is The Circle, though most people locally refer to it as "the KC".

Hull City Council funded the £43.5m stadium through its sale of shares in the local telecoms company, Kingston Communications. The Football Foundation provided a grant of £2m, but Sport England refused funding as it deemed the stadium too large for Hull.

It is situated in West Hull on the same grounds as the old Circle cricket ground in West Park, providing green surroundings. It's owned by Hull City Council and run by the Stadium Management Company, headed by Tigers chairman Adam Pearson.

The first game at the newly opened stadium was played on 18th December 2002, a friendly against Sunderland which Hull City won 1-0. The first league game was played on Boxing Day - a 2-0 win against Hartlepool in Division Three.

It is an enclosed all-seater stadium with an official capacity of 25,404. Most seats are black, with white and amber seats forming a stripe going around the middle of each stand, the city's crown logo in the East Stand, two Kingston Communications logos in the West Stand, and "Hull" behind each goal. The West Stand is the largest with two tiers while the others remain, for now at least, one-tiered.

An extension may one day be built on top of the East Stand, if there is a continued demand and funding for it. Plans are at an early stage to build a 150-bedroom hotel and separate business centre on the stadium grounds at a cost of £20m, while at the same time extended the stadium capacity. Previous plans to build a casino on the site fell through when Hull was overlooked by the government.

The stadium is shared with rugby league team Hull FC, and has also hosted other events such as England Under-21 international football matches, international rugby league, and pop concerts for acts including Elton John, Bryan Adams, and REM.

The record attendance at the ground, 25,280, was for the U21 friendly between England and Holland on 17th February, 2004, when less segregation was required than for competitive matches. The record attendance for a Hull City match is 25,023, against Arsenal on 13th March, 2010.

An LCD screen replaced the scoreboard in 2007, measuring approximately 40 square metres, although away fans will struggle to see it as it is situated at the back of the North Stand.

More information can be found in the KC Stadium section of this website and at www.kcstadium.co.uk