The history of the rugby ground begins with the first stands appearing for spectators in the ground in 1881–1882. This record has since been matched but not beaten. The 2010 story, "Death of the Doctor", included corridor scenes for the UNIT headquarters that were filmed underground at the Millennium Stadium. But the Arms Park site is a prime piece of real estate in the centre of Cardiff, which means that it may be difficult to sell the land to property developers. Both the Stands have terracing below seating. – Liberty Stadium Swansea. The largest field hospital in Wales and the second largest in the UK has been formally decommissioned and will return to life as the Principality Stadium. [90] It had the distinction of hosting the opening event of the Games – a 1–0 win for the Great Britain women's team against New Zealand – as well as four other group games and a quarter-final in the women's tournament, and three group games, a quarter-final and the bronze medal match in the men's. November 11, 2020 5:40:34 PM. The 2015 edition had 52,762 spectators, the highest in the history of the league. [38][39] The games are now usually held at Roath Park. Principality Stadium is located within 30 minutes’ drive of Cardiff Airport and 45 minutes’ drive of Bristol Airport. On Wednesday, the health board said it had formally left the site, and said it was “testament to the dedication of the general public in following the guidance to ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives’” that the hospital was not used at the level that had been predicted. The Cardiff Arms Park site was originally called the Great Park,[7] a swampy meadow behind the Cardiff Arms Hotel. With an overall capacity of 60,000, the ground hosted the 1956 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. By 7 October 1966, the first floodlit game was held at Cardiff Arms Park, a game in which Cardiff RFC beat the Barbarians by 12 points to 8. [123] In 2008, the stadium hosted Neil Diamond and Bruce Springsteen with the E Street Band as part of their Magic Tour,[124] On 22 August 2009, U2 again played at the stadium, as part of their European leg of their U2 360° Tour,[125] playing to a record-breaking concert attendance of 73,354.[126]. An express bus service (T9) operates directly from the terminal to the City Centre. The Welsh Varsity event celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. But on 23 February, it was announced that the two Welsh 'derbies' against the Scarlets and the Ospreys would be played at Cardiff City Stadium, rather than the Arms Park, because of Cardiff Blues' anticipation that the attendance figures would far exceed the maximum capacity of 9,000. [4] This new development increased the ground capacity to 43,000 and much improved facilities at the ground compared to the earlier stands. South Africa withdrew from the Commonwealth Games in 1961. There is no dedicated spectator car parking at, or near, the stadium or matches days but there is plenty of parking available in the City Center itself. This will make the stadium bowl-shaped and will increase its capacity to around 80,000. Cardiff’s location on the M4 corridor makes it easily accessible by car and is within two hours drive of London and the East Midlands. [4] The architect was Archibald Leitch, famous for designing Ibrox Stadium and Old Trafford, among others. The St Helens team at the time contained Welsh players Anthony Sullivan, Karle Hammond and Keiron Cunningham. Glamorgan County Cricket Club would move to Sophia Gardens and the cricket ground to the north would be demolished and a new rugby union stadium built for Cardiff RFC, who would move out of the south ground, allowing the National Stadium to be built, for the sole use of the national rugby union team. Cardiff RFC won the match 33–26.[52]. The new ground was opened by Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart. The current record attendance is set at just over 78,000, recorded at the Anthony Joshua v Carlos Takam fight, on 28 October 2017, in which Joshua successfully retained his WBA, IBF and IBO titles. In 2000, the choir changed their name to become the Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir. There was doubt about the future of the Arms Park after 2010 following the move of the Cardiff Blues to the Cardiff City Stadium. The largest field hospital in Wales and the second largest in the UK has been formally decommissioned and will return to life as the Principality Stadium. [118], Paul McCartney also played at the stadium as part of his Up and Coming Tour,[121] and The Police performed there as part of their Reunion Tour.