Etihad Stadium:
stands, tiers
and where to sit

What the North Stand expansion changed

The Etihad stands in Beswick, in the east of Manchester, and it was not built for football. It opened on 25 July 2002 with the Commonwealth Games ceremony and worked as an athletics arena; Manchester City moved in during the summer of 2003 and played their first league fixture there on 23 August 2003. The conversion to football removed the running track, dug out the lower tier and pushed it towards the pitch. That is why the lower tier at the Etihad sits closer to the grass than it usually does at grounds of this size, and you feel it from the first row.

The second big change finished in 2026. The North Stand expansion, under way since 2023, added around 7,600 seats and took capacity from 53,400 to 61,038 for domestic football. The rebuilt stand opened fully on 22 May 2026, for the last home match of the 2025/26 season against Aston Villa, and the club named it after Pep Guardiola. One detail matters when choosing a seat: no third tier was added here, unlike the South Stand in 2015. The second tier was enlarged instead, so the North Stand remains two tiers, with an upper tier that is now considerably bigger and higher.

Four stands: Colin Bell, the Kippax, South and the Guardiola stand

The Etihad bowl is continuous and oval, and the stands are named by the points of the compass. The west side carries the name of Colin Bell: the tunnel, the dugouts, the directors' box and the press seats are here, and so are the boxes and hospitality lounges. This is the most premium side of the ground and the one you see on television behind the managers. The east stand has no formal name, but everyone calls it the Kippax, after the old terrace at Maine Road, the club's home until 2003. The Kippax is the largest of the four stands and holds the family section.

The South Stand gained a third tier in 2015 and has since housed away supporters. The North Stand, now the Guardiola stand, was traditionally the family end and the quietest part of the ground; after the rebuild it gained safe standing and an enlarged supporters' area in the back rows, and from the 2026/27 season the club has been moving the vocal support there from the South Stand. The configuration can differ from match to match, particularly in European competition where the away allocation follows UEFA regulations, so the layout for a specific date is confirmed separately by your concierge.

Three tiers: Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3

In height the Etihad is divided into tiers, marked on tickets as Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. Level 1 is the lower tier, the one dropped towards the pitch during the conversion from an athletics stadium. From here you hear the benches and see the players talking, but the far corner of the pitch falls away at a sharp angle and a long diagonal ball reads less well than it does from above.

Level 2 is the middle tier, with the boxes and hospitality between it and the tier below. Level 3 is the upper tier and exists on three of the four stands: Colin Bell, the Kippax and the South Stand. The North Stand, as noted above, has two tiers. The higher the tier, the more of the pitch fits into view and the steeper the stairs; from the back rows of Level 3 the players look noticeably smaller, but the shape of both teams is visible in full, as on the broadcast from the high camera.

Where the view is best at the Etihad

There is no universally best seat, but the geometry is the same at every ground. The closer a section is to the halfway line, the less distance is distorted and the more evenly play reads across the pitch. The higher the tier, the more of the pitch fits into view and the better you see the shape of the teams, but the further you are from the emotion. Behind the goal the game is foreshortened: attacks towards the near goal look spectacular, attacks at the far end barely read at all.

In our experience this works out as follows at the Etihad. If you want to see the game whole and understand what the teams are doing, look at the central sections of Level 2 in the side stands, Colin Bell or the Kippax, near the halfway line: the height is already sufficient and the distance is still short. If presence and speed matter more than analysis, take the centre of Level 1 in the same side stands, the closest seats to the pitch anywhere in the ground. The lower rows behind the goal are taken for atmosphere rather than for the view, and the back rows of Level 3 give the full picture of the pitch at the calmest price.

How the categories map onto the Etihad

We work with categories rather than individual seats, and at the Etihad they map onto the stands like this. VIP is hospitality: a seat on the west side plus a lounge or a private box with catering before the match, at half-time and after the whistle; almost all of the ground's hospitality sits in the Colin Bell Stand. Premium is the central sections of the side stands on the lower and middle tiers, the best view without a separate area or catering. Category 1 is the side stands further from the halfway line and the middle tier. Category 2 is the stands behind the goals and the upper tier.

How the categories work at any stadium is explained in our article on football ticket categories. What a hospitality package includes and how it differs from an ordinary ticket is covered in the article on hospitality.

Why we confirm a section, not a seat

The club allocates match seats through its season ticket and membership programmes and releases the seating closer to the game. A month before the Manchester derby, nobody can honestly quote you a row and a seat number at the Etihad. We confirm the category and the stand at booking; the section and the row are fixed when the club releases the seating. A seller who quotes a seat number in advance is promising something they do not yet know themselves. What else is worth checking before you pay is set out in our article on how to check a ticket reseller.

How to choose a seat at the Etihad

• You want to read the game and see the shape of the teams: the centre of Level 2 in the Colin Bell or Kippax stand, near the halfway line.
• Speed and presence matter more: the centre of Level 1 in the side stands, the closest rows to the pitch in the ground.
• An evening with guests or a business meeting: VIP with a lounge in the Colin Bell Stand, a private box for a group.
• You want atmosphere and singing: sections next to the supporters' area in the Guardiola stand, where they stand and sing for the full match.
• Your first match at the Etihad on a calmer budget: Level 3 of a side stand, the whole pitch from above.

We arrange tickets for Manchester City's home matches at the Etihad through the Premier League hub: Chelsea on 12 December 2026, Arsenal on 30 January 2027, the Manchester derby on 20 March 2027 and Liverpool on 8 May 2027 are all there. European nights at the Etihad run separately; the next one is Manchester City v PSG on 14 October 2026. Name the match, the number of guests and what matters more, the view or the atmosphere, and your concierge confirms which sections are open for that date.