Cardiff City Stadium

Sunday 6 December 2009

Cardiff City 1-0 Preston North End

Ratings
Overall Ground Quality : 8/10
Ease of getting there : 9/10
Atmosphere : 7/10
Programme : 8/10 (£3.00)
View of Action : 7/10 (After moving further up the stand)
Quality of the game : 5/10
The "football" feeling : 8/10
Chances of coming here for a random game : 4/10
Legroom : 9/10
Surrounding area : 8/10

Overall : 73/100

Ninian Stand

The new gates and Ninian Park in the background

Ninian Stand

Canton Stand

Main Stand

Grange Stand

The roof of the Millennium Stadium from the CCS

Grange Stand

One of the many Cardiff greats in the concourse area

Video Screen above the away area

Ninian Stand

Canton Stand

Main Stand

Cardiff City Stadium at night

Cardiff City 1-0 Preston North End

The Cardiff City Stadium, Home of Cardiff City. This was a trip Adrian and I were waiting for, our first ever visit to the Cardiff City Stadium. Our trip started in Tamworth Station catching the 9:00am train to Cardiff Central Station. We arrived in Wales at 11:25 and headed towards the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Castle then this was followed by our pre-match meal in the City Centre. We walked to the Stadium which was about 1 ½ miles from the City Centre.

The Bluebirds former ground, Ninian Park was only half demolished so we had a look through gates before making our way through the gates toward the new stadium. Unfortunately, due to past trouble with away supporters, the away area is fenced off so it’s impossible to walk all the way around the stadium.

After taking pictures of the colourful exterior of the stadium we walked through the electronic turnstiles into a massive concourse area with TV screens and a number of bars and toilets (which are also spacious). After making our way to our seats we found that the view was obstructed by the near goal so we made our way midway up the stand. To our right were the away supporters in the top corner of their area with a video screen just above them. The Stadium only holds 27,000 people at the moment but we found that there was space between the back of the stand and the back of the stadium which would increase the stadium if needed.

Wikipedia says that “Cardiff City Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a 26,828 all-seated ground in the Leckwith area of the city, which is the home of Cardiff City Football Club who previously played at Ninian Park. Owned and operated by Cardiff City F.C., the stadium also hosts the home matches of the Cardiff Blues rugby union team until 2029. After the Millennium Stadium, it is the second largest stadium in Cardiff and in Wales. The stadium is part of the Leckwith development. A branded sponsor name will be assigned as and when the naming rights sell. The stadium was officially opened on 22 July 2009, with Cardiff City playing a friendly match against Celtic.”

The game saw Cardiff City win 1-0 against Preston North End. A fantastic long range strike saw Chris Burke claim the goal.

After the game, we walked back to the Station and get on the 17:45pm train towards Nottingham and got off at Tamworth at 20:05pm.

Overall our experience at the new Cardiff City Stadium was brilliant and is highly recommended. The stadium is very much built for the future and the future they are aiming for is clearly the Premier League.