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| Full name | Mornflake Stadium |
|---|---|
| Public transit |  Crewe (0.2 mi) |
| Capacity | 10,153 |
| Record attendance | 20,000 |
| Field size | 112 by 74 yards (102.4 m × 67.7 m) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1906 |
| Opened | 1906 |
| Tenants | |
| Crewe Alexandra (1906–present) | |
Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153.
Crewe had initially played at the Alexandra Recreation Ground, also on Gresty Road and located just to the north of the current site. After leaving the ground towards the end of the 1895–96 season the club played at various venues, including in nearby Sandbach, before moving to the original Gresty Road ground, east of the current site, in 1897. [1]
In 1906, that ground – like the Alexandra Recreation Ground ten years earlier – was demolished to make way for the construction of new railway lines, and a new Gresty Road ground was built on an adjacent site to the west. [1] The new ground initially had a stand on each touchline, one of which had been moved from the first Gresty Road ground, and some embankments around the remainder of the pitch. [2] The pitch runs approximately east to west, with teams playing either towards Gresty Road (west) or towards the railway station (east).
The main stand has always been situated on the south side of the ground. Until the 1990s, the main stand was a wooden structure (built in 1932 after a fire destroyed the original stand) [3] offering the ground's only (wooden) seating plus a standing area ('The Paddock'), while the other three sides were all standing terraces. This configuration saw the club's record attendance when 20,000 people watched the FA Cup third round tie against Spurs on 30 January 1960. [4]
During the 1990s, phased modernisation saw open terracing at the 'Railway End' (at one time a roughly formed 'ash bank' terraced with sleepers) replaced by a new family stand (1993); [5] the 'Gresty Road End' (the main away supporters area) was also replaced by an all-seater stand (1995); [6] and the partially-covered northern standing terrace (the home supporters' 'Pop Side') was replaced by an all-seater stand (1996–97). [7] Completion of the final phase in 2000, including construction of a new £5.2 million main stand, saw some reorganisation of seating allocations; away fans are currently accommodated in the stand along the northern touchline (with the option of additional capacity in the family stand for particularly large visiting contingents). The Gresty Road End and main stand are solely for home supporters. [8] Crewe hosted its first 10,000+ crowd in the all-seater stadium in 2000 [9] with the record attendance of 10,092 when Crewe played Manchester City on 12 March 2002. [10]
In June 2021, the club agreed a £0.5m naming rights deal with long-term shirt sponsor Mornflake; the ground will be called the Mornflake Stadium until 2023-24. [11]
The stadium's location next to Crewe railway station is convenient for supporters travelling by rail to and from games at Gresty Road. From the 1920s through to the 1960s, attendances typically averaged around 6,000, [12] but local derbies could more than double crowds: the visit of Stoke City on 26 October 1926 attracted 15,102, for example, [13] while Port Vale drew 17,883 on 21 September 1953, [14] Crewe's record league crowd. [12] Cup matches against major clubs such as Spurs also drew large crowds (a record 20,000 in 1960). [4] However, league attendances dwindled in the 1970s and 1980s, [15] when seasonal averages of under 2,000 were recorded four times, with the 1986-87 being lowest, at 1,817; [12] just 1,009 watched a 1–1 draw with Peterborough United on 4 February 1986. [16] Crewe's resurgence from the mid-1980s boosted local interest, with 5,000-plus attendances increasingly common, even as Gresty Road's transition to an all-seater stadium began to restrict numbers in the late 1990s; average attendance peaked at 7,741 in 2004 during Crewe's years in the Championship. [12] League Two crowds before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020 averaged 4,580, [12] just above their all-time average, 4,576. [17]
On 31 May 2015, the ground hosted an international friendly match between Northern Ireland and Qatar. [18]
| 31 May 2015 International Friendly | Northern Ireland  | 1–1 |  Qatar | Crewe, England |
| 17:00 BST Match 601 | Dallas  46' | Report | Boudiaf 70' | Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 3,022 Referee: Michael Oliver (England) |
The current stadium, also known as the Alexandra Stadium, has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. It features four stands: [8]
Should the ground require expansion, the most likely change will be redevelopment of the Ice Cream Van Stand to become a two-tiered stand. [8]
In February 2023, the club announced plans to install 3,000 solar panels above spaces in the car park south of the main (Boughey) stand, with energy to be used to power the stadium or to bring in cash. [21]
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of the town's links with the rail industry, and also commonly known as 'The Alex', they have played at their current Gresty Road location since 1906. The supporters' fiercest rivalry is with Staffordshire-based side Port Vale.
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Priestfield Stadium is a football stadium in Gillingham, Kent. It has been the home of Gillingham Football Club since the club's formation in 1893, and was also the temporary home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club for two seasons during the 1990s. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international football matches and a London Broncos rugby league match.
Mornflake is a British brand of oat and oat-based breakfast cereals launched in 1941 in Crewe, Cheshire.
Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent occurring in 1995 in response to the requirement of the Taylor Report to become all-seater. Today's stadium holds 16,587 in four stands: the Kop, the Johnny King Stand, the Main Stand and the Cowshed.
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The Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy is the player development centre of English Football League club Crewe Alexandra F.C. Set up by manager Dario Gradi in the late 1980s, it achieved official status as an FA Youth Academy in the late 1990s. By concentrating on developing its own players the club remained profitable by selling them on after they have gained experience with Crewe. The Academy is known to stress technical excellence, which accords with the aim to have the first team play attractive, passing football. Academy graduates include full England internationals Rob Jones, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton and Wales international David Vaughan, plus the club's current manager and previous manager.
The Alexandra Recreation Ground, also known as Nantwich Road, was a multi-sport venue in Crewe in England. Opened in 1877, it was the home ground of Crewe Alexandra for 19 years, and also hosted an FA Cup semi-final and the 1886-87 Welsh Cup final, both in 1887, and an England home match in 1888.
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