Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium
Full name	Millennium Stadium Stadiwm y Mileniwm
Owners	Welsh Rugby Union
Location	Westgate Street Cardiff, Wales
Broke ground	1997
Opened	26 June 1999
Tenants	Wales
Capacity	74,500
Field dimensions	120 x 79 m
Surface	Grass (1999–2014) Desso (2014–present)

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, and numerous music concerts.

The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The stadium was designed by a team led by architects Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture, who merged to become HOK Sport Venue Event, which would be renamed Populous in early 2009. WS Atkins were the structural engineers, and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.

The stadium opened in June 1999, and the first major event to be held was an international rugby union match on 26 June 1999, when Wales beat South Africa in a friendly by 29–19, before a test crowd of 29,000. With total seating capacity of 74,500, it is 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.

External links

• Official website

UEFA 5 Star Stadiums

Austria: Ernst Happel England: Old Trafford · Wembley France: Stade de France Germany: HSH Nordbank Arena · Olympiastadion · Olympiastadion · Signal Iduna Park · Veltins Arena Greece: Olympic Stadium Italy: San Siro · Stadio Olimpico Netherlands: Amsterdam ArenA · Feijenoord Stadion Portugal: Estadio da Luz · Estadio do Dragao · Estadio Jose Alvalade Russia: Luzhniki Stadium Scotland: Hampden Park · Ibrox Stadium Spain: Camp Nou · Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys · Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla · Santiago Bernabéu · Vicente Calderon Turkey: Ataturk Olympic Stadium · Sukru Saracoglu Stadium Ukraine: Donbass Arena Wales: Millennium Stadium