Cardiff Arms Park (Welsh: Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the 3rd / 4th place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup final of 1995-6 and the following year in 1996-7.
The history of the rugby ground begins with the first stands appearing for spectators in the ground in 1881–1882. Originally the Arms Park had a cricket ground to the north and a rugby union stadium to the south. By 1969, the cricket ground had been demolished to make way for the present day rugby ground to the north and a second rugby stadium to the south, called the National Stadium. The National Stadium, which was used by Wales national rugby union team, was officially opened on 7 April 1984, however in 1997 it was demolished to make way for the Millennium Stadium in 1999, which hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup and became the national stadium of Wales. The rugby ground has remained the home of the semi-professional Cardiff RFC despite the professional Cardiff Blues regional rugby union team moving to the Cardiff City Stadium in August 2009. On 8 May 2012, it was announced that Cardiff Blues would be returning to the Arms Park on a permanent basis.
The site is owned by Cardiff Athletic Club and has been host to many sports, apart from rugby union and cricket; they include athletics, association football, greyhound racing, tennis, British baseball and boxing. The site also has a bowling green to the north of the rugby ground, which is used by Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club, which is the bowls section of the Cardiff Athletic Club. The National Stadium also hosted many music concerts including Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones and U2.
Read more about Cardiff Arms Park: Rugby Ground, Bowls Club, Music Concerts, Singing Tradition
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