Birse Construction who had built the stadium therefore lost a large part of their fee, and they withdrew from football ground construction. The £37 million cost of the new stadium, combined with relegation from the Premiership, the collapse of the English transfer market due to the introduction of the transfer window and the collapse of ITV Digital meant Leicester went into receivership shortly after moving to the new stadium. Leicester ended the 2002–03 season promoted back to the Premier League, losing just two home games in the season, despite spending the early part of the season in receivership due to their huge debts, until a takeover deal was completed. Brian Deane scored both goals, including the stadium's first in competitive games. The first competitive match took place six days later and Leicester beat Watford 2–0 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 31,022. The attendance was approximately 24,000 (no official figure was recorded due to a computer problem). The game finished 1–1, with Tiko scoring the first goal at the stadium, and Jordan Stewart scoring Leicester's first goal. The first game at the new stadium was a friendly against Basque team Athletic Bilbao, on 4 August 2002. He used a giant pair of scissors to cut a ribbon on the pitch after arriving at the stadium in a Walkers lorry. The stadium was officially opened by former Leicester striker Gary Lineker on 23 July 2002. This is because this rugby match took place prior to seats being removed to provide segregation of rival football fans, reducing the capacity of the ground from exactly 32,500 to 32,262. The overall record attendance at the stadium is thought to be between 32,488-32,500, for a rugby union match between Leicester Tigers and Bath in 2006. The record attendance for football at the stadium is 32,242, for Leicester City's first home game of the 2015–16 season against Sunderland. The stadium is thought to have cost around £37 million to build. However, it was not an easy start at their new stadium as they had just been relegated from the Premier League and were more than £30 million in debt. The stadium was completed on time in the summer of 2002, ready for Leicester to take up residence for the start of the 2002–03 season. Work on the stadium began in the summer of 2001, and by 10 October that year it was confirmed the new stadium would be ready for the 2002–03 season. The relocation option was soon settled upon, as plans were unveiled on 2 November 2000 for a 32,000-seat stadium at nearby Freeman's Wharf, with 2003–04 being the expected completion date, although it was suggested at the time relocation could happen at the start of the 2002–03 season. Chairman John Elsom vowed other options, including relocation to another site or even further redevelopment of Filbert Street, would be considered, hoping either option would have materialised by August 2002. In early 1998, plans were announced for a 40,000 all-seater stadium to be built at Bede Island South in time for the 2000–01 season, but they were abandoned on 5 January 2000. Some parts of the ground – the East and North Stands in particular – were also somewhat outdated, which led the manager, Martin O'Neill to joke that when he showed Filbert Street to new signings he led them backwards out of the players tunnel to prevent them from seeing the East Stand. Relocation was soon back on the cards several similar sized clubs had relocated to new stadiums around this time, including Leicester's midland rivals Stoke City and Derby County. However, success in the late 1990s saw crowds rise, which meant virtually every game at Filbert Street was a sell-out by the end of the decade. It was gradually upgraded during the 20th century and with the advent of the Taylor Report in January 1990 requiring all clubs in the top two divisions to have all-seater stadiums by August 1994, Leicester City's directors began to investigate building a new stadium during the early 1990s, but decided to take the redevelopment option by building a new stand on one side of Filbert Street and fitting seats into the remaining standing areas, giving the stadium a 21,500 all-seated capacity by the 1994–95 season.įilbert Street's conversion to an all-seater stadium coincided with their promotion to the Premier League after a seven-year exile from the top flight, and with their relegation after just one season it appeared the 21,500 capacity would be adequate. Leicester's previous stadium was at nearby Filbert Street, which had been their home since 1891.