Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales
Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff, Wales — opened layered history, 7 rugby league games hosted, home of no permanent rugby league tenant; South Wales RLFC used it as a stop-gap home for part of the 1996-97 seasons before folding in 1997, and South Wales Scorpions (based mainly elsewhere) played occasional showcase home fixtures here in 2014-2016.
Sourcing caveat: No rugby league Challenge Cup or Championship final was found at this venue — every recorded match was a regular-season league fixture or international. The ground's 1996-2016 rugby league match count (7) and top crowd (6,708) are confirmed directly against Rugby League Project's venue ledger.
Ground facts
| Opened | layered history (The site has hosted rugby since the 1870s, but the ground as it exists today (Cardiff Rugby's dedicated northern ground, separate from the former National Stadium/Millennium Stadium to the south) dates from a 1969-70 redevelopment that split the old cricket-and-rugby ground in two — sources describe different milestones (1870s rugby origins vs. the 1969 rebuild) rather than genuinely disagreeing on facts.) |
| Home club | no permanent rugby league tenant; South Wales RLFC used it as a stop-gap home for part of the 1996-97 seasons before folding in 1997, and South Wales Scorpions (based mainly elsewhere) played occasional showcase home fixtures here in 2014-2016 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 7 |
| Top recorded crowd | 6,708 |
| Capacity | 16,500 at the 1969 rebuild; approximately 12,125-12,500 during the rugby league era (sources vary slightly by year/configuration) |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| Floodlights installed | yes — first floodlit match 7 October 1966 (an earlier iteration of the ground, predating the 1969 rebuild) |
| Surface | natural grass for the 1996-1998 matches; switched to 3G artificial turf in 2013, so the 2014-2016 rugby league fixtures were played on artificial turf |
| First rugby league match | 26 May 1996 — Wales 12-26 England, European Championship, attendance 5,524 |
| Years used | 1996–2016 |
| Location | Cardiff, Cardiff |
Name history
- Cardiff Arms Park — in use since the 19th century, named after the historic Cardiff Arms Hotel
- National Stadium, Cardiff — the southern section, 1969–1997, before demolition and rebuilding as the Millennium Stadium (now Principality Stadium) for the 1999 Rugby World Cup
Rugby league history
Cardiff Arms Park is overwhelmingly famous as one of the great homes of Welsh rugby union — Cardiff RFC's ground since the 1870s, and formerly also home to the old National Stadium (1969-1997) where Wales played international rugby union before it was demolished and rebuilt as the Millennium Stadium. Its rugby league use was sparse and secondary by comparison: two Super League fixtures in the 1990s (Sheffield Eagles 32-43 St Helens drew the venue's recorded top crowd of 6,708 on 8 June 1996; Warrington 16-23 Castleford followed in 1998), a short-lived local club (South Wales RLFC) using it as a temporary home in 1996-97, two Wales internationals, and occasional South Wales Scorpions "away-day" home fixtures in the 2010s rather than any settled tenancy.
Chiefly known for rugby union — Cardiff Rugby's home ground since the 19th century, and site of the former National Stadium (1969-1997), predecessor to the Millennium/Principality Stadium.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 26 May 1996 — Wales 12-26 England, European Championship (5,524)
- 30 October 2015 — Wales 14-6 France, European Championship (1,028)
Pre-dates the site's structured match-by-match records for these competitions, so listed here as sourced facts rather than linked match pages.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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