Liberty Stadium, Swansea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Liberty Stadium Stadiwm Liberty |
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| Location | Landore, Swansea |
| Broke ground | 2003 |
| Opened | 2005 |
| Owner | City and County of Swansea council |
| Operator | StadCo |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | £27,000,000 |
| Architect | TTH of Newcastle |
| Former names | New Stadium |
| Tenants | Swansea City (Football League Championship) Ospreys (Celtic League) |
| Capacity | 20,532 |
The Liberty Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Liberty), referred to as New Stadium during construction, is a purpose-built sports and concert arena and conferencing venue in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium is all-seated, council owned, with a capacity of over 20,000 making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea. The Liberty Stadium is the second largest stadium in Wales after the Millennium Stadium which is home to the Welsh National Football and Rugby Team. Closely behind the Liberty Stadium attendance is Ninian Park which holds 20,376.
On its opening in 2005, it became the home to Swansea City football team (replacing the Vetch Field) and the Ospreys regional rugby team (replacing St Helen's). The opening match at this venue was between Swansea City A.F.C. and Fulham (then managed by former Swansea player Chris Coleman) on 23 July 2005. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
During its building, a variety of names were suggested for it: particularly commonly-used were "Morfa" (after a former athletics stadium on the opposite bank of the Tawe) and the "White Rock" stadium (after the copper-works of the same name which existed on the site historically). While a sponsor was being sought for the stadium, it was called "New Stadium". Following sponsorship from Swansea-based developers Liberty Property, it became the "Liberty Stadium" on 18 October 2005.
A statue of Ivor Allchurch was erected outside the stadium before a league match with Oldham Athletic. It was to commemorate the Swansea-born star who during two spells for the club scored 164 goals in 445 appearances.
On 1 June 2007, The Who played a concert there, supported by Killing For Company and The Charlatans.
Elton John is scheduled to play his only Welsh gig of 2008 at the Liberty Stadium on 29 June 2008.
[edit] External links
- Liberty Stadium, Swansea is at coordinates Coordinates:
- Official Liberty Stadium website
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Football League Championship venues, 2008-09
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Celtic League rugby venues
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| Cardiff Arms Park | Firhill Stadium | Galway Sportsgrounds | Liberty Stadium | Murrayfield Stadium | Musgrave Park | Ravenhill | Rodney Parade | RDS Arena | Stradey Park | Thomond Park | ||
