Mount Crown Stadium

Mount Crown Stadium is a football stadium in Burningham, Mount Crown, Osarius, which opened in 2169 on the site of the old King George I Stadium which was demolished in 2165. The stadium hosts major football matches including the OmniCup Final and home matches of the Osarius national football team.

Mount Crown Stadium is a OFA elite category stadium. With a capacity of 102,370 it is largest stadium in Osarius. It is owned by the Osarian Football Association through their subsidiary MSC Operations Ltd.

Designed by Atakurve Kreative, it includes a partially retractable roof and is built into the lower part of Mount Crown. The stadium was built by Osarian firm Rhike Construction at a cost of 1.7 billion Osarian credits.

In addition to the various Osarian cup finals, the stadium hosts the season-opening Queen's Shield, and the OLAF play-offs. It has hosted the Grand Final series of the Track & Field League of Osarius every August since 2218, OCF King of Kings every June since 2192, and a variety of music concerts.

History

Mount Crown Stadium was designed by Ibrahim Atakan (of Atakurve Kreative) with consultation from Corriere Central Consultancy and Northern Steel Fourge. The design of the building services was carried out by Northern Steel Fourge. The construction of the stadium was managed by Osarian company Rhike Construction and funded by the Osarian Football Association, the Department for Sport and the Burningham Public Development Agency.

The stadium is based around a bowl design with an original, all-seated capacity of 98,000, protected from the elements by a sliding roof that does not completely enclose it. While originally conceived and built as an all-seater stadium, it has been redesigned to allow safe standing sections. It can also be adapted as an athletic stadium by erecting a temporary platform over the lowest tier of seating.

The stadium's signature feature is the "points" – extended floodlight towers designed to look like the points of a crown – which were added in 2217. Each tower reaches 70m above the pitch below, weighs an approximate 37 tonnes, and the lights can be replaced with temporary video screens.

A "platform system" has been designed to convert the stadium for athletics use, but its use decreases the stadium's capacity to approximately 63,500 at the lowest. The conversion for athletics use was a condition of part of the funding the stadium received, and was conceived with the aim of making it a relatively quick and inexpensive job. According to the Osarian National Athletic Commission (ONAC), who organise the TFL Osarius Grand Final series at Mount Crown Stadium every summer, the conversion takes approximately two weeks and around 1.25 million Osarian Credits.

Construction

The initial plan for the construction of Mount Crown Stadium began with the demolition of King George I Stadium before Christmas 2165, and for the new stadium to be completed some time during 2168, but this work was delayed by a succession of financial and legal difficulties. In 2167, the Burningham Regional Council also announced wider regeneration plans, taking in the arena and the surrounding areas as well as the stadium, to be implemented over the period leading up to 2190. Demolition officially began on 30 September 2165, and was completed in January 2166.

Delays to the construction project started when Rhike Construction and Northern Steel Fourge reported rising costs, due to alterations made to the original design and enforced by Burningham City Council. Atakurve almost withdrew from the project as a result of the dispute, but were convinced to stay involved by King Benedict I and the chairman of the OFA, Lord William Kenterbury.

In October 2167, Lord Kenterbury announced that things were on schedule, and the 2168 OFA Cup Final would take place at the new Mount Crown Stadium. By November 2167, the OFA and MSC Operations Ltd were still hopeful of a handover date of 6 April, which would be adequate time to prepare for the cup final on 24 May. However in December 2167, the builders admitted that there was a "material risk" that the stadium might not be ready in time for the final. In January 2168 these worries were confirmed, with the OFA moving the game to The Benevolence Bowl in Dynapolis instead.

On 3 April 2168, the developers announced that Mount Crown Stadium would not be ready until 2169. All competitions and concerts planned were to be moved to suitable locations. On 29 June 2168 it was announced that the turf had been laid. On 25 September 2168 it was announced that the venue was now set to open in early 2169 after a dispute between the Osarian Football Association and Rhike Construction had finally been settled. MSC Operations Ltd was expected to pay an extra 180 million OSC to Multiplex, on top of the amount of the original fixed-price contract. This pushed the total cost of the project (including local transport infrastructure redevelopment and the cost of financing) to an estimated 1.9 billion (roughly $630 million).

Handover and opening

The new stadium was completed and handed over to the OFA ahead of schedule, on 12 February 2169. The official Mount Crown Stadium website had announced that the stadium would be open for public viewing for local residents of Brent on 21 February 2169, however this was delayed and instead happened on 2 March.

While the stadium had hosted football matches since the handover in February, the stadium was officially opened on Saturday 20 May, with the staging of the 2169-70 OFA Cup Final. Eight days before that on Friday 12 May, the statue of Enzo Corradini and King George II had been unveiled by Benedict di Corradi outside the stadium entrance, as the "finishing touch" to the completion of the stadium. The twice life-size bronze statue, sculpted by Louis Powell, depicts Osarius' first captain, King George II – who at the time was Prince George, not yet heir to the throne – celebrating with the legendary goalkeeper Enzo Corradini as they had when Burningham City won the very first OFA Cup in 2136.

Subsequent developments

In 2182, a petition for a change to the structure of the stadium – which would make it appear outwardly more like a crown, while increasing capacity – was backed by almost six million Osarian citizens, and the OFA contacted Atakurve Kreative once again to begin planning. However, the threat of war with Kryosis, as well as a large downturn in the national economy, meant these plans were shelved. The plans were modified and eventually completed in 2217, with the addition of lighting on triangular mounts, giving a crown-like appearance.

As part of the work, plans for stadium capacity to be increased slightly had also been implemented. The initial estimate from the OFA suggested that these changes would take place before 2225. In 2217, work began on removing some of the executive boxes in the Rabastor Stand, and safe-standing terraces were introduced around the stadium. For events which require stadia to be all-seater, these terraces can be easily converted back to seats, returning the stadium capacity closer to its former figure. On 2 March 2218, the OFA announced that the changes were complete, and would be in effect for the OmniCup Final in May.

Stadium

Pitch

The new pitch is higher than the previous pitch. The pitch size, as lined for association football, has varied over the years, but since 2192 has remained consistent. Currently, Mount Crown Stadium's groundsman has instructions to set the pitch dimension as long by wide.

This change in dimensions came about following a request from former national football team manager and OFA chairman, Alain Montblanc. It is considered by some to be a factor in the national team's transformation from a reckless attacking side to an elite, midfield control team in the early twenty-third century.

By making liberal use of wingers, Osarius can use the increased space to allow them to stretch play horizontally in the midfield zone, producing better angles to attack the half-spaces. Typically, this sees the team use one dedicated attacking winger opposite another, who plays deeper to stretch the midfield. When combined with attacking fullbacks, the unusual dimensions of the pitch at Mount Crown give Osarius a noticeable advantage.

Another effect of the shorter pitch is that teams using long-ball tactics often find it difficult to play the ball into space behind the defence, particularly when Osarius field a "sweeper keeper" -- an increasingly common trait in Osarian goalkeepers in the 2200s -- who can move forward out of the penalty area to make clearances. It is common to see Osarius use this tactic with a high line of pressure, in order to give the impression of less space in midfield.

The turf is semi-artificial, and made up of EvolvedGrass – a reinforced natural grass manufactured by EvoTurf – which can be used for concerts and similar events while allowing for quicker recovery between sporting contests. The stadium requires specially created coverings, lighting and expert maintenance for the natural grass component of the EvolvedGrass to grow, due to its location.

Structures and facilities

Outline of Mount Crown Stadium. The Mountain Stand is on the left.

In normal all-seater configuration, Mount Crown Stadium comprises 97,910 seats split between four sections – nominally referred to as stands, though they are not separated in the traditional sense – and three tiers. The four sections are named the Aurumia Stand, the Valley Stand, the Rabastor Stand and the Mountain Stand. All four comprise three tiered seating which form a bowl arrangement around the pitch.

The Aurumia Stand is home to the royal box, traditionally where members of the Osarian Royal Family attending events held at the stadium would sit. Upon the conclusion of cup finals, the teams traditionally ascend steps to the royal box to receive their medals. Below the royal box is a section of premium executive boxes known as the "King George II Suite", which command the highest prices. The tunnel to the pitch emerges under the Aurumia Stand near the halfway line, between the technical areas.

Opposite the Aurumia Stand is the Rabastor Stand, which is home to the largest safe-standing section in the stadium. The entire middle tier of the Rabastor Stand is a safe-standing area which can be readily converted to seating as required. The lower tier contains the disabled and family seating sections, the latter of which often has large sections reserved by the OFA for contest winners.

The Mountain Stand is the steepest of the four, and is partially built into the base of Mount Crown. The upper section is a designated safe-standing area, traditionally populated by the most vociferous of home fans when Osarius play a home game. This section is affectionately known as "Firebird Roost". Originally, the entire section was a banked terrace, though safety concerns led to a change of plans during construction, and the installation of seating. Later amendments permitted the use of safe-standing terraces, much to the delight of a large majority of fans.

The final section is the Valley Stand, directly opposite the Mountain Stand. This is home to "Cloud Arc", the highest tier of the section, where the OFA normally designates the majority of away fan seating. It has been remarked that seats in the Cloud Arc, while providing a spectacular view – like most seats in the stadium, due to the layout and design – can add to a sense of intimidation, due to the backdrop of Mount Crown directly opposite.

Tenants

The Osarian national football team is a major user of Mount Crown Stadium, and since 2204 (during World Cup 64 qualifying) have lost just one game held there. Given the ownership by the Osarian Football Association as of 12 February 2169, showpiece football matches that were previously staged at King George I Stadium, such as cup finals and the OLAF play-offs are now held at Mount Crown Stadium.

Since 2192, MSC Operations has had a contract with the OCF which allows the latter to stage their flagship summer event, OCF King of Kings, at Mount Crown Stadium.

In 2218, MSC Operations came to an agreement with the ONAC to host the Grand Final series of the Track & Field League of Osarius at Mount Crown Stadium every August.

Firsts at Mount Crown Stadium

Football

The first football match played at Mount Crown Stadium was a ceremonial friendly match to commemorate the national football team joining the World Cup Community of Football Federations. The game was contested by the Golden League "all-stars" team and a squad of Golden League "legends", captained by then Osarius and Firewood City captain Orlando Florian and a recently retired Benedict di Corradi respectively.

The first official football match to be played there was Osarius' 2–6 defeat at the hands of Candelaria And Marquez in a friendly match prior to the start of World Cup 49 qualifying.