Millennium Stadium in the context of "National Stadium, Cardiff"

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⭐ Core Definition: Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has also held Wales national football team games. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup and replacing the National Stadium, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and various concerts. It also hosted FA Cup, League Cup and Football League play-off finals while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped between 2001 and 2006, as well as football matches during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc, a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The architects were Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture. The structural engineers were WS Atkins and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.

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👉 Millennium Stadium in the context of National Stadium, Cardiff

The National Stadium was a rugby union and football stadium located on the Cardiff Arms Park site in Cardiff, Wales. Following plans to replace the rugby ground built in 1881, construction of the National Stadium began in 1969. The stadium served as the home of the Wales national rugby union team from 1964 and the Wales national football team from 1989. It was demolished in 1997 to make way for the construction of the Millennium Stadium.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of 2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England. Some events were held at stadiums in Glasgow, Scotland and Cardiff, Wales. The first event, the group stage in women's football, began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July. There were 10,518 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who participated in the 2012 Olympics.

Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the then-London mayor Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on 6 July 2005, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid, and Paris. London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times, having previously hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and 1948. Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability. The main focus was a new 200-hectare (490-acre) Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site in Stratford, East London. The Games also used venues that already existed before the bid.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics

The 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics venues were mostly located in the host city of London, though some other events required facilities located elsewhere. Venues outside London (and England) included Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Between the successful bid and the Olympics and Paralympics themselves, several details and venues changed.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. The team plays its home matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which replaced Cardiff Arms Park as the national stadium of Wales in 1999.

Wales has competed annually in the Six Nations Championship (previously the Home Nations Championship and Five Nations Championship) since it was established in 1883. They have won the tournament (and its predecessors) outright 28 times, most recently in 2021. Since the Six Nations was formed in 2000, Wales have won six Six Nations titles, including four Grand Slams, and finished bottom three times. Wales has also participated in every Rugby World Cup since the competition was established in 1987; they finished third in the inaugural tournament and have since made two semi-finals, in 2011 and 2019. Wales were the host nation for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, although matches were also played in England, Scotland, Ireland and France.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of Tsunami Relief Cardiff

Tsunami Relief Cardiff was a charity music concert held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 22 January 2005, in aid of the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which had occurred the month before. The benefit concert raised £1,248,963.

The concert was, at the time, the biggest charity concert in the United Kingdom since Live Aid over 20 years before, and more than 60,000 fans watched live, with many millions more from around the world viewing the seven-hour-long concert. The main tickets sold out in 3 days; when a further 1,000 tickets were issued, they sold in 20 minutes.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain

The Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain is a motorcycle speedway event that is a part of the Speedway Grand Prix (world championship) series.

The Millennium Stadium hosted the British GP for the first time in 2001 until 2025. The National Speedway Stadium in Manchester was included as a venue for the 2025 Speedway Grand Prix in addition to Cardiff but the 2025 Grand Prix in Cardiff was cancelled in December 2024 and replaced by a second GP in Manchester.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of List of concerts at the Millennium Stadium

Concerts have been held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, since the stadium's opening in 1999. The musicians who have played at the stadium include Tina Turner, Beyoncé, Spice Girls, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Madonna and Rihanna. The highest concert audience at the stadium was 73,354, who saw U2 in 2009. In 2018 Ed Sheeran performed for a record-breaking 4 nights at the Stadium on his ÷ Tour. The stadium's total seating capacity for sporting events is 73,434.

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Millennium Stadium in the context of 2012 Olympic Games

The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England. Some events were held at stadiums in Glasgow, Scotland, and Cardiff, Wales. The first event, the group stage in women's football, began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, followed by the opening ceremony on 27 July. There were 10,518 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) who participated in the 2012 Olympics.

Following a bid headed by the former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the host city at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore on 6 July 2005, defeating bids from Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris. London became the first city to host the modern Olympics three times, having previously hosted the Summer Games in 1908 and 1948. Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability. The main focus was a new 200-hectare (490-acre) Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site in Stratford, East London. The Games also used venues that already existed before the bid.

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