Key Information about Principality Stadium

The Millennium Stadium, currently known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the stadium of Wales national football and rugby union team. It was initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup before the start of the new millennium, and it has gone on to host many other mega sporting events such as multiple FA Cup finals, as well as the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain.

The Principality Stadium has an all-seater capacity of 73,931 for football and rugby, with an increased capacity of 78,000 for boxing events.

A history of Principality Stadium

Cardiff Rugby Football Club and Wales both played their home matches at Cardiff Arms park until 1969. By 1999, the Principality Stadium had replaced a new National Stadium built at Cardiff Arms Park, with Cardiff RFC continuing to play at their old ground. The Principality Stadium was designed by Rod Sheard at Lobb Sport Architecture who had later merged with Hok Sport to become Populous who have later gone on to design both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur’s stadiums.

The building contractor was Laing, and the new stadium was built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, for which Wales was the main host with 41 matches, including the final being played at the stadium. The total construction cost was £121m and this was funded by private investment, and £46m of which were public funds from the Millennium Commission. The stadium was named in recognition of the Millennium Commission's contribution to the building.

The first major event played at the Principality Stadium was on 26 June 1999, when Wales took on South Africa in a rugby union test match in front of 29,000 spectators. In September 2015, it was announced that the Millennium Stadium would be renamed Principality Stadium as a result of a 10-year naming rights deal with the Principality Building Society, beginning in January 2016.

The all-seater stadium features a retractable roof, only the second stadium of its type in Europe, and the largest football stadium in the world with this feature. The current stadium record attendance was set at just over 78,000 during a boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Carlos Takam in October 2017. In May 2015, the WRU chairman Gareth Davies, announced that the Principality Stadium would be fitted with new seats, replacing the original seats. From 2000-09, the stadium was the permanent home of Welsh football with the national team playing the vast majority of their home matches at Principality Stadium. Despite this, over the past decade, the majority of Wales’ home games have been played at Cardiff City Stadium.

While the new Wembley Stadium was being built from 2001, the Principality Stadium hosted six FA Cup finals, as well as League Cup finals, Football League Trophy finals, Football League play-off finals, the FA Community Shield and Challenge cup final.

Tickets to Watch Wales at Principality Stadium

There are currently no scheduled Wales international football matches due to take place at the Principality Stadium due to the current global pandemic.

https://www.principalitystadium.wales/events-and-ticket-information/ - Principality Stadium Ticket Office