Eugene Cross Park
Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, Wales
Eugene Cross Park, Ebbw Vale, Wales — opened Not confirmed for the rugby league era (Northern Union matches recorded from 14 September 1907); the same site's Wikipedia article dates the present-day Eugene Cross Park to a 1919 "Welfare Ground" that formally opened over a decade later, 85 rugby league games hosted, home of Ebbw Vale RLFC (rugby league, 1907-1912, professional Northern Union club); Ebbw Vale RFC (rugby union, current tenant).
Sourcing caveat: As flagged in opened_caveat, the identity relationship between the 1907-1912 rugby league ground (Bridge End Field) and the 1919-founded Welfare Ground/Eugene Cross Park is not confirmed; this write-up reports both strands of sourced information rather than assuming they describe one continuous ground.
Ground facts
| Opened | Not confirmed for the rugby league era (Northern Union matches recorded from 14 September 1907); the same site's Wikipedia article dates the present-day Eugene Cross Park to a 1919 "Welfare Ground" that formally opened over a decade later (There is an unresolved discrepancy between sources. Wikipedia's Eugene Cross Park article says the ground began as the "Welfare Ground", opened November 1919 and renamed Eugene Cross Park in 1973. Rugby League Project's results page for "Eugene Cross Park", however, records the professional Ebbw Vale RLFC playing Northern Union (rugby league) home fixtures there from 1907/08 to 1911/12 — years before the Welfare Ground existed — under the contemporary name "Bridge End Field" / "Bridgend Field". Whether Bridge End Field (1907-1912) and the later Welfare Ground/Eugene Cross Park (1919-) are the same physical site, or two separate but nearby Ebbw Vale grounds that Rugby League Project's venue database has conflated under one modern place name, could not be confirmed in sources checked.) |
| Home club | Ebbw Vale RLFC (rugby league, 1907-1912, professional Northern Union club); Ebbw Vale RFC (rugby union, current tenant) |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 85 |
| Top recorded crowd | 8,000 |
| Test matches hosted | 2 |
| Years used | 1907–2024 |
| Location | Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent |
Name history
- Bridge End Field / Bridgend Field — contemporary rugby league name, 1907-1912 (per Rugby League Project)
- Welfare Ground — 1919-1973 (per Wikipedia, for what is presented as the same site)
- Eugene Cross Park — 1973-2021
- Ciner Glass Community Stadium — since September 2021, naming-rights name
Rugby league history
Ebbw Vale RLFC were one of the first professional rugby league clubs in Wales, formed in 1907 and playing Northern Union fixtures at this ground — recorded by Rugby League Project under the contemporary name Bridge End Field — through to their dissolution in 1912, including home fixtures against touring New Zealand (1908) and Australian (1911) sides that drew four-figure crowds. The site later became Ebbw Vale's rugby union welfare ground, opened in 1919 and renamed Eugene Cross Park in 1973 after Sir Eugene Cross, a former chairman of the Ebbw Vale Welfare executive; Wikipedia notes that as Eugene Cross Park it has itself hosted "a small number of international rugby league matches", without giving further detail found in sources checked. Today it is the home of Ebbw Vale RFC and also hosts Ebbw Vale Cricket Club, operating under a naming-rights deal as the Ciner Glass Community Stadium since September 2021.
Also used by Ebbw Vale Cricket Club, and occasionally by Glamorgan County Cricket Club.
Historic Test matches, Cup & Grand Finals hosted
- 1 February 1908 — New Zealand ("All Golds") tour match, attendance 8,000
- 7 October 1911 — Australia tour match, attendance 7,000
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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