Other Uses
Villa Park was the first English ground to stage international football in three different centuries and has hosted matches during several international tournaments. Three World Cup matches were played at the ground during the 1966 World Cup and four matches during Euro '96. The ground has also hosted a number of England internationals at senior level. The first was in 1899 and the most recent in 2005. Sixteen international matches have been hosted at the stadium in total.
Villa Park has been the venue for several Cup competitions. It is the most often used stadium in FA Cup semi-finals history, having hosted 55 semi-finals. The club hosted the League Cup Final in 1980–81 when Liverpool beat West Ham 2–1 in a replay. In 1999, the stadium hosted the last ever final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in which Lazio beat Real Mallorca 2–1. During the construction of the new Wembley Stadium between 2001 and 2005, the FA Trophy Final was held at Villa Park. The 2012 Community Shield will be held at Villa Park instead of Wembley due to Olympic Games at the stadium.
Many athletics and cycle events took place at the ground prior to the First World War while boxing has been hosted on several occasions. On 28 June 1948, Dick Turpin, brother of Randolph Turpin, became the first non-white boxer to win a British title in a fight against Vince Hawkins in front of 40,000 spectators following the British Boxing Board of Control lifting their ban on non-whites challenging for titles. On 21 June 1972 Danny McAlinden defeated Jack Bodell in a British and Empire Heavyweight title fight.
The first ever rugby league test series was secured by Great Britain at the ground, when they defeated the touring Australian Kangaroos side 6–5 on 14 February 1909 in front of a crowd of 9,000. A second rugby league game followed three years later on New Year's Day 1912 but only 4,000 people turned up to see Australia beat Great Britain 33–8. The stadium has also seen several international rugby union tour matches. On 8 October 1924, a North Midlands XV lost 40–3 to the New Zealand side touring Europe and Canada at the time. The second game took place on 30 December 1953 when Midlands Counties played another New Zealand side on their 1953–54 tour of United Kingdom, Ireland, France and North America. The Midlands side lost 18–3. On 26 August 1985 Villa Park played host to the first ever American football "Summerbowl," intended to be the English equivalent to the Super Bowl. The game was played between the London Ravens and the Streatham Olympians and the low turn-out of 8,000 spectators meant that the Summerbowl was not repeated in subsequent years.
Aside from sporting uses, Villa Park has been a venue for musicians from multiple genres as well as evangelical preachers. The stadium has hosted several rock concerts, including Bruce Springsteen who played two concerts in June 1988 as part of his Tunnel of Love Tour. Duran Duran held a charity concert in 1983 to raise money for MENCAP. Other singers who have played at the ground include Belinda Carlisle, Rod Stewart and Robert Palmer. The American evangelist Billy Graham attracted 257,181 people to a series of prayer meetings held at the stadium over the summer of 1984. Archbishop Desmond Tutu held a religious gathering at the stadium in 1989.
Read more about this topic: Villa Park