Maindy Stadium
Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales
Maindy Stadium, Cardiff, Wales — opened 1951 (built on a filled-in former clay pit/water hazard on land gifted by Lord Bute), 1 rugby league games hosted, home of Not a rugby league or rugby union tenant: Maindy is Cardiff's historic combined athletics and cycling venue, home to the Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club, whose alumni include Geraint Thomas, Elinor Barker, Luke Rowe and Owain Doull. It hosted the athletics events of the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and was Cardiff's main athletics venue until Cardiff Athletics Stadium opened in 1989..
Ground facts
| Opened | 1951 (built on a filled-in former clay pit/water hazard on land gifted by Lord Bute) |
| Home club | Not a rugby league or rugby union tenant: Maindy is Cardiff's historic combined athletics and cycling venue, home to the Maindy Flyers Youth Cycling Club, whose alumni include Geraint Thomas, Elinor Barker, Luke Rowe and Owain Doull. It hosted the athletics events of the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and was Cardiff's main athletics venue until Cardiff Athletics Stadium opened in 1989. |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 1 |
| Top recorded crowd | 3,217 |
| Capacity | Not confirmed in sources checked |
| Floodlights installed | The outdoor velodrome has floodlighting for winter training today, but no installation date was found, so presence of lights at the time of the 1959 match is not confirmed |
| Surface | A 460m concrete cycling velodrome and a six-lane cinder athletics track (since removed) surround open grass infield areas; the 1959 rugby league match would have been played on grass, though exact turf details for that date are not confirmed |
| Years used | 1959 |
| Location | Cardiff, Cardiff |
Name history
- Maindy Stadium — 1951 onward, name used at the time of the 1959 match
- Maindy Centre (Canolfan Maendy) — current name for the combined leisure complex; exact year the branding changed is not confirmed
Rugby league history
On 23 May 1959, Maindy Stadium hosted a rugby league match in which Wales lost 31-47 to St Helens in front of 3,217 fans - the only rugby league fixture Rugby League Project records at the venue, where it also holds the ground's record for both the largest and smallest recorded crowd (there being only the one) and for most points scored by a team. The match does not appear on Wikipedia's list of official Wales national team results, suggesting it was most likely a non-cap representative or exhibition fixture involving a touring St Helens side rather than a full international, though the exact competitive status could not be independently confirmed. Staging a first-class rugby league fixture at what is fundamentally an athletics and cycling venue was unusual even by the standards of rugby league's occasional use of non-dedicated grounds.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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