I'd like to give you some useful information about your visit to the stadium today and then we'll start the tour of the areas of the stadium that are open to visitors.
I can see lots of children here today.
So, just to let moms and dads know a few things before we start, the stadium has lots of stairs and the players tunnel is very dark.
2Please don't let your children wander off on their own, even for a minute.
2We don't want any accidents or anyone getting frightened.
Cameras are permitted everywhere and you can take pictures of your child shooting a penalty.
Assistants are helping to organize this and hopefully the queue won't be too long.
It's very hot and sunny out on the pitch today.
You can get food and drink at the cafe and I really recommend the healthy lunch boxes for children.
1Also in the cafe, children are invited to do a football themed drawing.
1We'll pick the best one at the end of the afternoon.
So don't forget to put your name and contact details on the back.
That way, if you've left the stadium before, then we'll send your prize.
But sadly, we can't return drawings.
I'd like to mention some features of the tour.
We'll start with the 360 cinema experience, which has been very popular over the years, and then I'll take you to the players dressing rooms.
4Before going outside to the seating area and the pitch, I should say, if you'd prefer your visit to be self-guided, please collect headphones from the reception, and then you can listen to the pre-recorded information at your own speed.
4We've only just introduced this feature and would appreciate your feedback.
We're thinking of offering tours in other languages in future.
So, if you have any thoughts on that, we'd welcome those, too.
3If you plan to return another time, you might like to book one of our VIP tours.
3We've only just started offering these and they can be booked online.
Now the stadium you see today was built in 1989 as part of a three-year redevelopment project.
While that project was going on, the team had to play its matches at the ground of another club.
Apart from that, the club has been here on this site since 1870.
As some of you may know, that was the start of a really important decade in the history of football in this country.
5For example, 1870 was also the year that football teams started to include a player whose role it was to guard the goal.
It's hard to imagine what the game must have been like without someone in that position, isn't it?
In 1872 and 73, many other clubs were established both here and abroad.
6And the following year, in 1874, referees were allowed to send players off if they committed certain offenses.
6And also in that year, teams started having to swap ends at Halime.
One fact I was interested to discover was that in early football games, the aim was for the scorer to get the ball between two flag posts and later between sticks joined at the top with a piece of tape.
7In 1875, that tape was replaced with the solid crossbar that be familiar with today.
81877 saw the founding of further new clubs and the history books tell us that in the same year all the clubs decided to set a limit of 90 minutes for each match.
Before that it was a more casual arrangement and this sometimes caused huge arguments and sometimes fights during matches when one team called the end of the game and the other team wanted to play on to try and score a winning goal.
By 1878, the number of teams in the football league increased again.
9In addition, referees started using whistles and electric lamps were installed on certain pitches.
9This was a significant change as games could then be played in the evenings all year round.
10In 1880, clubs began to charge fans for admission to games, even though players were still amateurs and had other proper jobs.
That's hard to imagine in the modern professional game where top players earned significant sums of money from both playing and commercial activities.
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Which event in the history of football in the UK took place in each of the following years?
Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-H, next to Questions 5-10.
Events in the history of football
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Correct answer: D
Correct answer: F
Correct answer: B
Correct answer: H
Correct answer: C
Correct answer: G