The English football premier league has become the most
popular sports league in the world; with ardent fans and
audiences all over the world. The potential business
opportunities that this growth holds have therefore
attracted investors who are keen to buy shares in the
clubs and sign up the best footballers that money can buy.
Underpinning the growth in all of the premier league clubs
is a desire to make a distinct statement of identity as part
of a competitive strategy. One way to achieve this is
through the design and construction of iconic football
stadiums. This paper explores the specific project
management challenges associated with delivery of iconic
football stadiums in England and draws lessons for the
management of similar iconic infrastructure projects. A
study of project management best practice and some case
studies shows that key issues which are common to these
projects are centred on design management; choice of
procurement route; client management; and stakeholder
expectation management. These issues are not necessarily
unique to the project management of iconic football
stadiums but are amplified by the context of these
projects. The emphasis on iconic status in a competitive
market also means that stadium projects should be
conceived and delivered in the context of other strategic
projects which should be clearly understood by the project
management team
