One of my favorite stadiums....especialy being a Liverpool fan...being able to play there more times than any other club team!

One of the best stadiums in the world for top class facilities....much room and space....shops bars and resturants all on site! :cheers:

Its being used as the main stadium for English football finals and semi finals while wembley is being rebuilt....I will miss it!

http://www.sportsvenue-technology.com/projects/cardiff/images/millennium_stadium1.jpg

http://www.faime.demon.co.uk/bcfc/cardiff02/pic14.jpg

http://www.faime.demon.co.uk/bcfc/cardiff02/pic15.jpg

http://www.12travel.com/uk/wales/southwales/resources/milstad.jpghttp://www.sportsdays.co.uk/images/headings/football/millenium_stadium.jpg
The seats are in the welsh national colours!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/scrumv/images/ecards/millennium_stadium_390.jpg


The only thing i dislike about this stadium is the broken up end stand lowered and only 2 tiers....if they kept it the same as the opposite side it would probably be a 80,000 seater!

Excellent stadium in a great location but the middle tier overhangs the bottom tier and the views are not great from the back.

Once Wembley opens, what future events will be at the Millenium? Welsh football and rugby internationals but beyond that? I'd guess whoever owns it (WRU?) will struggle a bit.

They do alot of concerts aswell...when I say alot....I mean a few!

Me I wouldnt mind an FA cup semi final being held there each year!

Once Wembley opens, what future events will be at the Millenium? Welsh football and rugby internationals but beyond that? I'd guess whoever owns it (WRU?) will struggle a bit.

Remember the Millenium stadium cost a small fraction of what Wembley is costing so they don't have to have the same number of events to make a profit.

Welsh football and especially Rugby are usually sold out plus all the concerts and other stuff they have going on it should be fine.

In the forthcoming year they already have the following events booked and there might be some more concerts organised.

2005
10 Apr LDV Vans Trophy Final
16 Apr FA Cup Semi-Final 01
17 Apr FA Cup Semi-Final 02
23 Apr WRU Reebok Regional Championships - U18 Final
30 Apr WRU Reebok Regional Championships - U16 & U20 Finals
2 May Grand Slam Celebration
7 May Konica Minolta Cup Final
21 May The FA Cup Final
23 May British & Irish Lions v Argentina
28 May Coca Cola Football League 2 Play Off
29 May Coca Cola Football League 1 Play Off
30 May Coca Cola Football League Championship Play Off
5 Jun Britain & Ireland v The World
11 Jun FIM Fiat Vans British Speedway Grand Prix
29 Jun U2 - Live in Concert
10 Jul R.E.M Live in Concert
27 Aug Powergen Challenge Cup Final
3 Sep Wales v England World Cup Qualifier
17 Sep Wales Rally GB 2005
12 Oct Wales v Azerbaijan World Cup Qualifier
2006
12 Feb Wales v Scotland RBS Six Nations
11 Mar Wales v Italy RBS Six Nations
18 Mar Wales v France RBS Six Nations

Oh yeah....It was built for only £130M....Wembley is set to cost £350M+!

Wembley cost per seat = £3918
Millennium Stadium = £1745

I like the Millenium Stadium but its two tier end is very strange. Surely it'd make more sense to continue to bowl all the way around as you have no obvious need for a two tier end. Anyway, i hope they didn't get a case of the Americans and felt some quirky tier design would make it 'better'.

I like the Millenium Stadium but its two tier end is very strange. Surely it'd make more sense to continue to bowl all the way around as you have no obvious need for a two tier end. Anyway, i hope they didn't get a case of the Americans and felt some quirky tier design would make it 'better'.

That end is the one that is on the same side as the office buildings next door. They are pretty close as it is, maybe there wasn't room to continue the bowl all the way around :dunno:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/tours/ourpatch/images/cardiff/stadium340.jpg

Nah....the office building is on the other side if you look at the bottom pic...and iff you look at the second pic down you see there is clear air through the gap...no buildings!

Its a quirky design flaw, what can we say... Also, the Stadium looks even all the way around, the 2nd tier on the two tier end is further back than the equivalent tier of the rest of the stadium. Poor design choice imo.

an amazing stadium that was remarkable for the 1999 rugby world cup i remember i was young and just thought my word this venue is amazing

http://www.24carat.co.uk/images/1999twopoundrev240.jpg

Yeah I still got this coin commemorating the 1999 world cup.....The design is supposed to me a rugby ball, two goal posts and the millennium stadium....I can see the ball and the posts....but nothing there that reminds me of the Millennium stadium!

The goalposts overlapping the ball remind me of the retractable roof. I think that might be what its supposed to imply.

The reason one end is two tiered is because of the rugby ground right behind the north stand, when the redevelopment took place they tried to knock down Cardiff Athletic's south stand but they refused so they had to redesign the whole stadium.

Here is a little information

''The main contractors for the Millennium Stadium, Laing, hit problems immediately when the neighbouring rugby football club chose not to allow the demolition of a stand on its land to go ahead. This stand shared a party wall with the north stand of Cardiff Arms Park. One could not be demolished without demolishing the other. This decision forced major changes to the original design for the complex structure, affecting all the loadings that depended on the roof 's position.

Four 80m-high corner masts to support the roof were originally angled to over sail the disputing club's stand next-door. When they would not allow this, the entire load calculations had to be changed with expensive implications to reposition and beef up the masts.

Laing's tower cranes were also not allowed to swing over the neighbouring club's airspace and cladding contractors had to work from inside. Site access limitations meant that everything had to enter and exit through just one opening.''

Here is a view

http://www.airviewswales.co.uk/images/Millenium%20Stadium,%20Cardiff%20small.jpg

Plus a website showing the Millenium Stadium during it's construction

http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/cardiff/rugby/stadium/stadium_nov.htm

The way I heard it, the original plan was to move Cardiff RFC to a new stadium, and use the space occupied by both the Arms Park and the National Stadium for the new Millennium Stadium - however since a lot of Lottery money was being used for the project, it was pointed out that the Lottery grant didn't involve the building of a new club stadium, and Cardiff RFC weren't willing to pay for the new ground themselves (unsurprisingly). Hence the crappy end stand.

i heard somewhere a while back that with regional rugby starting in Wales, Cardiff Blues may be tempted to move to a new ground (maybe even a stadium share with cardiff city fc's new ground).
I think the plan is that the 2 tier end will eventually be re-developed to make the stadium a 3 tier bowl and beef up the capacity to 80,000+. But we're looking at many years from now (about a decade)

Last FA cup match at the Millennium Stadium today....but the league cup will be the last English cup final held there next year!

http://www.saintsforever.com/Images/final/Stadiumoutside.jpg

http://www.merlin-fireworks.co.uk/image/mstad_01_large.jpg

I think the plan is that the 2 tier end will eventually be re-developed to make the stadium a 3 tier bowl and beef up the capacity to 80,000+. But we're looking at many years from now (about a decade)

If the two-tier end were redeveloped so that the stadium became a complete three-tier bowl, there's no way the capacity would reach 80,000 - 75,000 is more likely (current capacity is 73,434, not the 74,500 in the Subject, and is reduced to 72,500 for soccer matches).

love it!

Every time I see the Millennium Stadium on television I can't help wondering what it would be like if the North Stand were rebuilt in the same style as the rest of the stadium. I always used to do the same with Twickenham until they finally redeveloped the South Stand - maybe if Cardiff RFC ever move the same will happen at the Millennium.

Anyway, it would be an interesting mental exercise to try and work out what the capacity would be if it ever happened.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q85/CharlieP1973/millstad.jpg

What we need to find out is how many seats are missing in the top tier either side of the North Stand (red circle) - I don't think it's the same each side as the North Stand isn't centred on the pitch - call this A.

Then the number of rows in the upper tier (green line) - call this B, and middle tier (yellow line) - call this C.

Finally the number of rows (purple line) - call this D - and number of seats in each row (blue line) - call this E - in the North Stand upper tier.

The number of extra seats will be:

A + (B x E) + (C x E) - (D x E)

So, if anybody has any decent close-up photos of the Millennium Stadium, or is able to count the seats on TV, we'll be able to work it out! :)

man looks like this has been giving you sleepless nights :)

still not easy to count
http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~lucia/big_photos/Cardiff/MilleniunStadium5_290405.jpg

http://www.daveckw.net/Blog/AWeekendTriptoCardiff_14D0D/IMG_19743.jpg

Unless the Blues move into the new Cardiff City stadium this will never happen :(

I like it the way it is, and it is big enough for Wales/Cardiff mop

I like it the way it is, and it is big enough for Wales/Cardiff mop

Believe me they could sell it out twice over for 6 nations matches. And the stadium owners will "finish" it in a heartbeat if they can get rid of/do a deal with the arms park.

still not easy to count
http://www.dcs.shef.ac.uk/~lucia/big_photos/Cardiff/MilleniunStadium5_290405.jpg

http://www.daveckw.net/Blog/AWeekendTriptoCardiff_14D0D/IMG_19743.jpg

Thanks! :) From the first picture I reckon B = 31 and C = 15, but the second picture won't load :(

If you can gather anything from this data

http://www.sportsvenue-technology.com/projects/cardiff/specs.html

i always thought that end of the stadium was kept like that because it was part of the old arms park which was a listed building.....or is that an urban myth?

i always thought that end of the stadium was kept like that because it was part of the old arms park which was a listed building.....or is that an urban myth?

Urban Myth.

Its not listed. Its Cardiff Blues. The North stand overhangs - and is attached to the south stand the Cardiff Blues Ground (what is now called the arms park) and they have refused to move. Unless they move in when the Cardiff City Stadium is built the completion of the bowl won't happen.

The Millenium Stadium's neighbours - Cardiff Blues Rugby - have announced that they will be moving to share with Cardiff City FC at their new stadium in 2009. This could potentially release the old part of the ground - the North Stand - to be developed in line with other three sides, bringing capacity up to 80,000.

The WRU want to build a convention centre on the site as well.

Is there much point expanding the stadium? How often is it full other than FA Cups?

all welsh rugby internationals (6 - 7 times a year), and football internationals if the team is on a good run, Heineken cups (hosted last years and next years), gets a good crowd for motorcross and concerts are always full, say about three or four a year. Enough goes on there to merit a few seats, and it was originally planned to be 80,000 in the first place

The Millenium Stadium's neighbours - Cardiff Blues Rugby - have announced that they will be moving to share with Cardiff City FC at their new stadium in 2009. This could potentially release the old part of the ground - the North Stand - to be developed in line with other three sides, bringing capacity up to 80,000.

Notwithstanding the fact that Cardiff Athletic Club own the freehold to the Arms Park site, and some of their members are vehemently opposed to relinquishing it (see http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0750expats/newsletter/tm_headline=old-battles-reignite-over-shared-ground-plans&method=full&objectid=17989536&page=2&siteid=50082-name_page.html), I doubt a completion of the bowl would get capacity much above 77,000.

I did try working it out for myself a while back:

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q85/CharlieP1973/millstad.jpg?t=1190209044

R = number of "missing" seats in new upper tier (red circle, both corners)
G = number of rows in new upper tier (green line)
Y = number of rows in new middle tier (yellow line)
P = number of rows in old National Stadium tier (purple line)
B = width in seats of old National Stadium tier (blue line)

New capacity = 74,500 - (P x B) + (G x B) + (Y x B) + R

Unfortunately, I've not been able to find any decent close-up photos to put my maths to use! :D

Charlie, if it helps:

There are 28 rows in each lower tier
The Middle Tier (East, West and South) has 15 rows
The Upper Tier (East, West and South) has 33 rows
The Upper North has 37 rows

I'm afraid I can't help with the upper corners, or the number of seats per row at the north end, but given that 11 rows are lost out overall, an increase by some 6,000ish to take it up to 80,000 capacity overall would seem implausible.

No chance of getting the capacity of the other behind goal stand and adding the difference to the current?

That also assumes they continue the current design, could they further increase the capacity by leaving out boxes down that end and having more seats as I am sure they would like to get near to Twickenham capacity wise.

Does anyone know how well they planned for future expansion down this end as it will not be cheap to complete. I would guess alot more work is involved than a normal stadium because of the roof.

Why was it built like that in the first place?

EDIT: I understand now, disregard my question.

I always thought it was built like that so the stadium could accomodate a stage better for concerts, etc.
no?

I like the stadium as it is. with one side ´different´. One of my favourite new stadiums to be hounest. Is there a real need for extension?

I thought it was originally for a sort of kop. (Though i guess it is 2 tiers)

I always thought it was built like that so the stadium could accomodate a stage better for concerts, etc.
no?

I thought it was originally for a sort of kop. (Though i guess it is 2 tiers)

In case anybody doesn't know the full story yet - the North Stand is part of the National Stadium built in the 1970s (if you look at my photo you can see the concrete supports of the old roof which are now inside the new stadium). It's actually part of the same structure that holds the South Stand of Cardiff Arms Park - the original plan was to move Cardiff RFC somewhere new and use the footprint of both stadia to build the Millennium Stadium, but (a) the people holding the purse strings pointed out that the lottery grant was for a new national stadium, not a swish new home for the Cardiff club, and (b) Cardiff didn't want to move anyway.

I think this will be an interesting development over the coming years.

Cardiff council are very keen to see a large convention centre in the city, and the site of the Arms park represents prime land in anyones language. The issues are that Cardiff RFC may not want to move, although I think within the year they will announce that they will, and also that the land was bequethed to the city on the proviso that it is used for sporting/leisure use.

I think ultimately this second issue will be resolved by a convention centre coming under the auspices of the Millennium stadium PLC, and thus counting as one large 'leisure complex'. This will enable the stadium capacity to increase by aroun 4000-5000, allow for some more top notch corporate facilities in the ground, and it could all be paid for by the convention centre, with the potential for riverside flats.

What I must stress is that this really is prime land, and having a rugby team who average 700-800 people playing there every other week is not a good use of land at all. Cardiff RFC hold all the cards, they want a city centre ground, so hopefully a small one can be found somewhere. They are talking about the potential for one by Sophia Gardens (the cricket stadium).

Interesting times ahead anyway.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/253379012_feba19932c_b.jpg

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltjabsco/253379012/sizes/o/



http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1073/1407591111_c4afca7e9f_b.jpg

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yo_ghurt/1407591111/sizes/o/



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2312/2095535653_ce566ea3c6_b.jpg




http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2175/2096315484_aa5c2071af_b.jpg


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http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1084/556106095_f42b44cfa1_b.jpg


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2232/2342568101_1d424131a9_b.jpg


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1116/1348668942_1ff97a36b8_b.jpg

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardkendall/1348668942/sizes/o/


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1168/1392174017_56afe42131_b.jpg

bigger one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christophe_pelletier/1392174017/sizes/o/

Every time I visit this stadium it never ceases to amaze me, I can't believe just how big it looks when its in concert mode with no pitch and the lights off before the gates open when it is empty.

The only downfall of it is the finishing... breeze block walls and questionable cladding, but for the price I'd say thats something I'm willing to put up with.

^^ Have you been on the stadium tour? There are no ceilings inside the stadium! Pipes and insulation on show! :ohno:

I worked there for 5 years, you shoud see the basement!! It probably still has construction dust down there even now.

^^ Have you been on the stadium tour? There are no ceilings inside the stadium! Pipes and insulation on show! :ohno:

I worked there for 5 years, you shoud see the basement!! It probably still has construction dust down there even now.

Am I right in thinking this was mostly filmed in the corridors and tunnels of the Millennium Stadium?

LbwrRfB1qpQ

Am I right in thinking this was mostly filmed in the corridors and tunnels of the Millennium Stadium?

LbwrRfB1qpQ

Yep, thats level 2 below the first tier, lovely!

Every time I see the Millennium Stadium on television I can't help wondering what it would be like if the North Stand were rebuilt in the same style as the rest of the stadium. I always used to do the same with Twickenham until they finally redeveloped the South Stand - maybe if Cardiff RFC ever move the same will happen at the Millennium.

Anyway, it would be an interesting mental exercise to try and work out what the capacity would be if it ever happened.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q85/CharlieP1973/millstad.jpg

What we need to find out is how many seats are missing in the top tier either side of the North Stand (red circle) - I don't think it's the same each side as the North Stand isn't centred on the pitch - call this A.

Then the number of rows in the upper tier (green line) - call this B, and middle tier (yellow line) - call this C.

Finally the number of rows (purple line) - call this D - and number of seats in each row (blue line) - call this E - in the North Stand upper tier.

The number of extra seats will be:

A + (B x E) + (C x E) - (D x E)

So, if anybody has any decent close-up photos of the Millennium Stadium, or is able to count the seats on TV, we'll be able to work it out! :)


man charlie P is awesome I freaking love his math formulas and reasoning , comlpetley revolutionised the way i think of stadium capacity m))

edit: i really like the fact that one end is different . it separates it from all the bland full bowl Allianz copies out there ...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Cardiff_GP_2008.JPG

The Millennium Stadium is seen here as the venue of the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain. Is the dirt track on the stadium even 400 metres long?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Cardiff_GP_2008.JPG

The Millennium Stadium is seen here as the venue of the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain. Is the dirt track on the stadium even 400 metres long?

No. The inside of a standard athletics track is 400 metres, and that straddles a soccer or rugby pitch with two semi-circles at each end. The outside of this dirt track follows the touchlines of the pitch and will cut the corners, even though it seems to encroach into the seating areas at the ends, so it won't be anywhere near 400 m.

The Cardiff Blues rugby union team are going to move out of the rugby ground north of the Millennium Stadium and into the new Cardiff City Stadium next season. The move leaves the future of the existing rugby ground uncertain. The existing rugby ground should be demolished to make room for the correction of the North Stand of the Millennium Stadium. I don't even know why that portion of the north stand of the old Cardiff Arms Park was retained into the stadium.

The outside of the stadium really looks similar to the tennis stadium, Wimbledon

The outside of the stadium really looks similar to the tennis stadium, Wimbledon

In what way, shape or form does it look anything like wimbledon?

In what way, shape or form does it look anything like wimbledon?

Just be thankful he didn't mention somewhere in his home country like he usually does.

Just a beautiful stadium!!!!., One of my favorites., Really simple design, and in this case simple equals arquitectural greatness.-

Hey, i stumbled across this site via google images, and i thought i'd try and give you a bit more info on the Millenium..
Well, for 3 games of the Six Nations it will sell out - which is around 74,500.
For 2 of the 4 games of the Autumn Internationals, there's a similar sell out.
For the other 2 games of the Autumn Internationals, around about 50k seats are expected to be filled.
This year around 26-29k (i can't quite remember the exact figure) people watched the Cardiff Blues play Gloucester in the stadium; although as the Blues have now moved to the Cardiff City Stadium, games with future attendances around that mark will be held there.
On top of that, the Blues had great success in the Heineken Cup, or the Champions' League of rugby. They played Toulouse in the Quarter Finals, which attracted 40k fans. The Semi Finals also were held at the Millenium, and the Blues were knocked out in a penalty shootout (which is almost unheard of in rugby.) The attendance was over 50k.
Obviously, however, these events only happen if the Blues are successful, and the games are held in the Millenium. For the Heineken Finals, which the Millenium has held and will hold again in the future. (the National Stadium Cardiff Arms Park - the stadium that once stood on the Millenium's site held the first ever European Cup in 95 or 96, where Cardiff RFC narrowly lost to Toulouse.)

As for Welsh football, which really isn't my area of expertise, the attendances have been very poor over the last year from what i have seen (if you compare them to rugby - the national sport).

On top of concerts, and the racing and so on, the Millenium attracts many more people. Apparently 70k+ saw U2 the other day.

As for the debate between moving the Cardiff Arms Park (the stadium next door,) many people in Cardiff do not want to see that stadium demloished as it holds great traditions. The Blues have lost many of fans moving to the Cardiff City Staidum; but also attracted others. The ideal option for a true Blues/Welsh rugby fan would be to see the Arms Park redeveloped, and in the process, the Millenium finished.

Unfortunately, this seems unlikely.. The Blues have signed a lengthy contract to stay as tenants to the Cardiff City Stadium. So, I think for the future, we'll see the Arms Park demolished, the Millenium finished and a whole load of flats built on the site of the demolished stadium. :(

I hope that helped clarify some stuff :D!

Wales seek Millennium bug cure

John Toshack will wave goodbye to the Millennium Stadium next week with few regrets as Wales plan their future away from the national venue.

Wednesday's World Cup clash with Russia is their last home game in qualifying Group Four, and the Cardiff ground is unlikely to be used again by Wales - unless they are facing a major world power - for maybe as much as two years.

Small attendances lost in the cavernous Millennium Stadium have long been a problem for Wales boss Toshack and his players.

Moving games during this qualifying campaign has been impossible because of the FA of Wales' policy of selling 'season tickets' for all the home qualifiers.

But that scheme will now be abandoned and, at an FAW council meeting later this month, plans to move matches to smaller grounds will be given the go-ahead.

Cardiff City's new 27,000 capacity ground, Swansea's Liberty Stadium and Llanelli rugby club's Parc y Scarlets will be the venues for most of Wales matches in the next set of qualifiers for Euro 2012.

Toshack said: "The Millennium Stadium has been a big talking point, but when this qualifying competition is out of the way the powers that be will be able to sit down and look at alternatives.

"They know mine and the players' feelings. We have not been able to do anything in the current campaign but next time around will be different.

"Our performances have been disappointing at the Millennium, the gates have slowly dropped so it could be time to look at alternatives.

"We have a brand new Cardiff City ground to use, with the sort of capacity that we can fill and create a better atmosphere.

"We have to get this group over and then people can get their heads together and find a better way for us.

"But we are not saying that the Millennium Stadium is the reason we have not qualified. But it is so big, and when half full it sometimes motivates the opposition more than us."


the whole story: http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,2483_5537935,00.html

Heineken Cup Final 2008

BQF5UkgQ4l4

10th July 2010. British Speedway Grand Priix

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4789958660_832d7aac25_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard_bradshaw/4789958660/

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/richard_bradshaw/4793009677/

My favorite stadium in the UK.

My favorite stadium in the world. :banana:

People comment on the view from the back of the lower tier, and although to view the stadium as a whole it's not good, the view of the pitch is fine:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/402726106_35f0d214ff_z.jpg

Do love this stadium but the lower tier aint that bad a view. sure they could just make the 2nd tier run right to over the 1st tier

That's just like my season ticket seat at Tannadice Park in Dundee - I can't see the far grandstand because of overhang. It has no bearing on pitch view as stated.

Wow that arena is marvelous - I never new it was so big! 75000 is much bigger than anything we have in Scotland.

People comment on the view from the back of the lower tier, and although to view the stadium as a whole it's not good, the view of the pitch is fine:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/402726106_35f0d214ff_z.jpg

A low view is never that bad from the side for some reason. I've been in the lower tier behind the goal and it was awful, not helped by the goals being so far from the stands.


Opinions on the stadium always seem to be pretty clearly divided between those who think the stadium is great, and those who have sat in the lower tier behind the goal.

When I was at the Millennium Stadium (Argentina v Japan, 1999 Rugby World Cup) my seat was roughly in line with the 5 metre line (a dashed line 5 metres out from the try line), about ten rows back. I had a great view when play was in my half, but when action got close to the corner flag at the other end of "our" touchline, the sightlines were pretty awful, which meant people started to stand up to get a better view, which cascaded into a mini-Mexican wave. :ohno:

At Twickenham four years later, I was again in line with the 5 metre line, this time about six rows back, and had a perfect view all through the game.

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