Which Are the Biggest Stadiums in London?

Many of the UK’s largest stadiums are packed into the English capital. In fact, five of the nation’s top 10 biggest-capacity grounds can be found in London – a city that lives and breathes sport on a grand scale. From the iconic Wembley Stadium to the homes of Premier League giants like Arsenal and Tottenham, here’s a look at the biggest stadiums in London, ordered by capacity. We also have an article about all the football stadiums in London if you are after a complete list of where all the football teams play.

Wembley

The original Wembley Stadium was built in 1923 and could cram in a serious number of spectators. Its highest official attendance came during the 1923 FA Cup final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham (126,047), although estimates of the actual number range from 150,000 to 300,000. You will not see these kinds of figures at the new Wembley, however, with its 90,000-seater capacity.

Wembley has been able to accommodate more than this figure for non-footballing events, however. Around 98,000 people turned up to watch Anthony Joshua take on Daniel Dubois in September 2024 while a similar figure attended an Adele concert in June 2017. Although most famous for being home of the England national football team, Wembley hosts other sporting events such as NFL and wrestling. Oasis may well be the biggest event of 2025 though!

Twickenham

If the England rugby union team are in action for a home fixture, it is extremely likely they will be playing at Twickenham. The fourth-largest stadium in Europe is known as ‘the Home of Rugby’ and for good reason. On top of England matches, Twickenham also hosts the Middlesex Sevens tournament, Harlequins’ annual Big Game and occasional Premiership Rugby fixtures. It also used to be home to the Varsity Match (Oxford vs Cambridge) but this long-running fixture moved venues in 2024, ending a 100-year stay at Twickenham.

You may see the stadium referred to as Allianz Stadium Twickenham for sponsorship purposes. The insurance giants agreed to a long-term partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and part of this included the renaming of the stadium. Part of the money raised through this will help fund the planned renovations to the stadium beginning in 2027, estimated to cost £663m. It is hoped that after this, Twickenham will be able to host more non-sporting events.

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

The most recently built addition to this list is Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which cost a whopping £1.2bn to build following spiralling costs and delays. Despite the unexpectedly large investment, Tottenham’s new home appears to have been worth the cost and the extra wait. Not only is it much larger than the club’s previous home of White Hart Lane (36,284) but it is proving to be an excellent source of income for the north London club.

On a regular football matchday, the club will pocket close to £6m, around five times what they used to. On top of this, a busy mix of sporting events such as American Football and boxing, plus music concerts, have turned the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium into something of a cash cow. It is a little surprise that organisers want to book the ground too, as it offers exceptional, award-winning facilities and a fan-centric design. It is also the only stadium in the UK specifically designed for NFL games.

London Stadium

Formerly called the Olympic Stadium, this was one of the facilities specifically built for the 2012 Olympic Games, hosted in London. After the Olympics finished, the big question was what should happen to the stadium. This rather messy and drawn-out process ended up with West Ham acquiring a 99-year lease to the stadium at a cost of £2.5m per year. As part of this deal, West Ham do not have to have to fund police, stewarding, heating or pitch maintenance.

This proved something of a bargain for West Ham who managed to move into an almost new stadium, nearly twice the size of their former home, the Boleyn Ground, for a relatively small annual fee. As well as being the venue for all home matches involving the Hammers, the London Stadium hosts a wide variety of other events including athletics, baseball, motorsports, rugby and music concerts. For the latter, the stadium can increase capacity to 80,000.

Emirates Stadium

If you have travelled into London via train from the north, you may well have spotted the Emirates Stadium through the window. Building a new stadium to replace Highbury was not originally the club’s plan though. At first, Arsenal looked at expanding Highbury and even considered purchasing the old Wembley Stadium. When these did not prove viable though, the club purchased an industrial and waste disposal estate, which they turned into the Emirates Stadium six years later.

The stadium has been known as the Emirates from the very start as the UAE airline has had a long-standing partnership with the Gunners. However, in UEFA competitions, the stadium is referred to as the Arsenal Stadium. Although it is among the most expensive places to watch football in the UK, the demand to watch Arsenal in action is huge. The season-ticket waiting list for the men’s team alone is well over 10 years. Tickets are much more attainable (and affordable) for Arsenal Women, who permanently moved to the ground in 2024.

Stamford Bridge

Despite having over 20,000 fewer seats than Arsenal’s stadium, Stamford Bridge stands as the next biggest stadium in London, and the final one with a capacity exceeding the 31,100 of Lord’s Cricket Ground. It has long been the home of Chelsea, but the club are looking to significantly expand the existing stadium or to move to a new home. For a side that has been crowned champions of England and Europe, having just over 40,000 seats in an ageing stadium puts them at a disadvantage against their rivals. A significant upgrade will not come cheap, but once finished, we could well see the Blues move a few places up this list.