Former England National Hockey Stadium
| The Hockey Stadium | |
 |
|
| Full name | National Hockey Stadium and Conference Centre |
|---|---|
| Location | Milton Keynes |
| Owner | English Partnerships |
| Capacity | 4,000 (hockey) 9,000 (football) |
| Field size | 100 x 64 m |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1995 |
| Opened | 1995 |
| Closed | 2007 |
| Demolished | 2010 |
| Tenants | |
|
England Hockey (1995–2003) Milton Keynes Dons F.C. (2003–07) |
|
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats: this was temporarily increased to 9,000 between 2003 and 2007. The stadium no longer exists, having been demolished and replaced by a new headquarters building for Network Rail.
The Stadium was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and then as a professional football stadium (for first Wimbledon F.C., then Milton Keynes Dons F.C.).
In summer 2007, the Dons relocated to their new stadium near Bletchley (the Stadium mk) leaving the hockey stadium without a tenant. From then until late 2009 (when demolition began in preparation for the site to be redeveloped), the ground remained unused. In July 2012, the new Network Rail headquarters on the site became operational.
The stadium was built in 1995 as a new national field hockey stadium, with a synthetic pitch. The ground was used for national and international (field) hockey until 2003. It had a covered main stand running the full length of one side of the pitch, opposite which was an unroofed stand running about one third of the length of the pitch, straddling the halfway line.
In 1997, the stadium was used as the venue for the sixth edition of the FIH Men's Junior World Cup. It was also the venue, in 2000, for the FIH Women's Qualifying Tournament for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
In 2003, when the ground was leased to Wimbledon F.C., a grass pitch was laid, meaning that the stadium was out of commission for hockey. Temporary stands were added at either end of the pitch. Hockey internationals and playoff matches were reallocated to various leading club grounds around the country. At the end of the lease (May 2007), the temporary stands were removed.
...
Wikipedia