Don Valley Stadium
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, England — opened 1990, 326 rugby league games hosted, home of Sheffield Eagles (1990–2013).
Ground facts
| Opened | 1990 |
| Home club | Sheffield Eagles (1990–2013) |
| Closed | 2013 (closed 29 September 2013) |
| Demolished | 2013–2014 |
| Site today | Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, including an Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, an indoor sports arena, a University Technical College, and (from 2022) the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Stadium, the Eagles' current community stadium home. |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 326 |
| Top recorded crowd | 10,603 |
| Capacity | 25,000 seated for sport (up to 50,000 with standing/field capacity for concerts) |
| Surface | Grass rugby pitch laid inside a full IAAF-standard athletics track |
| First rugby league match | Sheffield Eagles' first fixture at the stadium, 26 September 1990 (opponent/score not identified in sources found) |
| Last rugby league match | Sheffield Eagles 52-16 Dewsbury Rams, 15 September 2013 — the club's farewell match at the venue before demolition |
| Years used | 1990–2013 |
| Location | Sheffield, South Yorkshire |
Name history
- Don Valley Stadium — 1990–2013 (demolished; site since redeveloped as Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park)
Rugby league history
Built as one of the UK's largest athletics venues, Don Valley Stadium hosted the 1991 World Student Games (Universiade) before Sheffield Eagles took it on as their rugby league home from its opening in 1990, remaining there continuously for 23 years. The ground's signature rugby league moment came on 15 June 1997, when Sheffield beat Australian club Perth Reds 26-22 in a World Club Championship pool match — a notable upset given the gulf in resources between an English Championship-level club and a full-time Australian side. Sheffield City Council closed and demolished the stadium in 2013 as a cost-cutting measure, ending the Eagles' tenancy with a 52-16 win over Dewsbury Rams and beginning a nine-year, multi-venue "nomad" period for the club before their return to a new Sheffield stadium in 2022.
Built primarily as an athletics stadium — at closure it was described as the second-largest athletics venue in the UK, with advanced floodlighting on five 148-foot towers — and it hosted the 1991 World Student Games as well as regular athletics meetings and concerts alongside Sheffield Eagles' rugby league fixtures.
Sources
- Don Valley Stadium — Wikipedia
- The Don Valley — Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project
- A Story of Celebration, Survival and Community — Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project
- The ‘No Fans, No Ground!’ Nomad Years: 2013–22 — Sheffield Eagles Heritage Project
- Venue results: Don Valley Stadium — Rugby League Project
- Rugby League Ground Guide: Sheffield Eagles — Don Valley Stadium
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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