The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located on the banks of the River Taff, right in the heart of Cardiff situated in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales National Rugby Union Team; it stages games of the Wales national football team, and many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, and boxing. The stadium has a total seating capacity of 74,500, making it as the third largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship behind the Stade de France and Twickenham, which is the largest. It is also the second largest stadium in the world with a fully retractable roof and was the second stadium in Europe to have this feature. For the 2012 Olympics, The Millennium Stadium will also be one of the hosts for the football events hosting at least eight football matches, including a women's football match which is the first event of the Games, even prior to the opening ceremony.
Fast Facts
Sports Events Football
Location The Millennium Stadium is on the banks of the River Taff, right in the heart of Cardiff, Wales.
New or Existing Existing
Permanent or Temporary Permanent
Number of Events 2 Events
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Olympic 2012
Millennium Stadium - Construction, History and Features
The construction of the stadium involved the demolition of a number of buildings, primarily the existing National Stadium, Wales Empire Pool in Wood Street, Cardiff Empire Telephone Exchange building in Park Street, the newly built territorial Auxiliary and Volunteer Reserve building in Park Street and the Social Security offices in Westgate Street. The stadium was built by Laing on the site of the National Stadium, with the head being Steve Ager. It was built for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. For which Wales was the main host, along with seven of the forty-one, including final, being played at the stadium. It's a multi-purpose stadium with a retractable roof and provides seating for about 72,500 viewers. The natural grass pasture is made of a modular system, it features built in irrigation and drainage. The four ends of the ground are called the North Stand, the West Stand, the South Stand, and the East Stand (BT). The Millennium Stadium has three tier of seating except the North Stand, which has two tiers. The lower tier can hold around 23,500 spectators, the middle tier can hold 18,000 and the upper tier can hold 33,000 spectators. In 2005, the stadium installed an "Arena Partition Drape System", to vary the audiences from different capacity, depending on the four different positions that it can be hung. These curtains can be stored in the roof of the stadium when not in use.
During The Games
The Millennium Stadium has the honor of hosting the first event of the Olympic Games, with women's Football matches starting on 25 July. It will also host the men's bronze medal match. It was declared in November 2011 that both the men's and women's Great Britain teams will play group matches at the stadium.
After The Games
After Olympic Games, the venue will continue to be used as the home of the Welsh Rugby Team.
How To Reach The Venue
The Millennium Stadium lies at the center of Cardiff, opposite Cardiff Central Rail station. The stadium lies at walking distance of practically all city center locations.
By Road: Vehicular access to the millennium stadium can be made by Gate 4 on Westgate Street in Cardiff's City Center.
By Train: It is just five minutes' walk of Cardiff Central Railway Station. You can access the Stadium by leaving the station's main entrance on the Northern side and taking left at the exit for Gates 5, 6 and 7 via Wood Street or by bearing straight ahead from the exit to Westgate Street for Gates 4, 3, 2 continuing around to Gate 1 on Castle Street.
By Air: Millennium Stadium is situated within 30 minutes' drive of Cardiff Wales Airport and 45 minutes' drive from Bristol Airport.
Some Interesting Facts
For the 2012 London Olympics, the Millennium stadium will be one of the hosts for the football events. Go through the article for more information on the Millennium stadium.
Millennium Stadium
- At 222.4m long by 181m wide, the stadium can hold a capacity crowd of 72,500.
- The retractable roof has two huge panels that take 20 minutes to close.
- Total cost to build, the Millennium Stadium was £126 million it took a team of 1,200 people and 2 years to build.
- It is the tallest building in Wales having four 93m tall masts support the roof.
- The pasture is laid out on 7,400 pallets which can be removed so the stadium can be used for concerts, exhibitions and other events.
People describe Millennium Stadium as a huge spaceship that has landed right in the middle of the city; one cannot avoid noticing the contrast between the modern seater stadium and the almost neighboring Cardiff Castle.