Sport in Cardiff

Sport in Cardiff plays a very important role due to it being the capital city of Wales. It has its own teams in the mainstream football, rugby, cricket and ice hockey teams, and is also home to national stadiam of Wales.

Football

Cardiff has one main professional football club, Cardiff City F.C., nicknamed the Bluebirds, who currently play in the English Coca-Cola Football League Championship. Their present stadium is Ninian Park located to the south of the city, however a new stadium is currently under construction in nearby Leckwith, which is due to be opened in 2009, and will be shared with the Cardiff Blues. Cardiff has numerous smaller clubs such as Grange Harlequins A.F.C., UWIC, Cardiff Corinthians F.C., Inter Cardiff and Ely Rangers A.F.C. who all play in the Welsh Football System.

Rugby

The city has a regional rugby union team, the Cardiff Blues, who play in the Magners League at their Cardiff Arms Park stadium. Cardiff also plays host to a rugby league side, Cardiff Demons. Cardiff also has several amateur rugby clubs such as Glamorgan Wanderers RFC.

Cricket

Cardiff also has a county cricket side, Glamorgan CCC, who play at the city centre's SWALEC Stadium, the result of a multi-million pound improvement in time to host a Test Match as part of The Ashes in 2009.

Ice Hockey

The city's professional ice-hockey team, the Cardiff Devils, play at Cardiff Arena, which is a temporary arena in Cardiff Bay.

Running

The Cardiff Marathon takes place in the city every October and attracts several thousand participants and spectators.Cardiff is also one of the regional cities in the UK chosen by several charities for sponsored runs such as Sport Relief, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research and Blue Peter.

Baseball

Cardiff is the principal home of the sport of Welsh or British Baseball, and hosts the annual England-Wales international game every four years.

peedway

Speedway racing was introduced to Cardiff's White City Greyhound Stadium late in 1928 and operated in the pre-war era. The sport did not return until 1951 when a purpose built track in Penarth Road became the home of the Cardiff Dragons. However, the venture failed after a few years. Speedway comes to Cardiff once a year at the Millennium Stadium which has hosted eight consecutive British Grand Prix meetings since 2001 on a purpose built track in the weather proof stadium.

wimming

The Wales Empire Swimming Pool was later demolished in 1998 to make way for the Millennium Stadium. The replacement pool, the Cardiff International Swimming Pool was opened on 12 January 2008 in Cardiff Bay as part of the International Sports Village. 25 metre swimming pools are located in seven city leisure centres.

Golf

The following golf courses are located in the city:
*St. Andrews Major Golf Course
*Castell Coch Golf Course
*Radyr Golf Club
*Whitchurch (Cardiff) Golf Club
*Creigiau Golf Club
*St. Mellons Golf Club
*Llanishen Golf Club

International Events

The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games between 18 and 26 July 1958, it is now called the Commonwealth Games. The main stadium to host the event was Cardiff Arms Park for the track and field events, while the Wales Empire Swimming Pool, which also opened in 1958, hosted all the swimming and diving events. Of the venues used for the event, only the cycling track at Maindy Centre remains.

London 2012 Olympics

Cardiff is expected to play a large role in the London 2012 Olympics with the Millennium Stadium being expected to host many events. Also, the following 11 venues in Cardiff will be used to train athletes for the Olympics [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/london_2012/7275423.stm BBC SPORT | Olympics & Olympic sport | London 2012 | Olympic training venues - Wales ] ] :

*Cardiff International Sports Stadium - Athletics
*Cardiff Central Youth Club - Rhythmic Gymnastics, Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline
*Cardiff Harbour Authority - Rowing, Canoe Flatwater, Sailing, Canoe/Kayak Flatwater
*Cardiff House of Sport - Artistic Gymnastics
*Cardiff International Sports Village - Athletics, Swimming
*Cardiff University - Archery, Basketball, Handball, Indoor Volleyball
*Football Association of Wales National Training Facility - Football
*Maindy Stadium - Track Cycling
*University of Wales Institute, Cardiff - Archery, Athletics, Fencing, Taekwondo
*Welsh Institute of Sport - Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Fencing, Football, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Artistic Gymnastics, Trampoline, Hockey, Judo, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Weightlifting
*Western Leisure Centre - Fencing

tadia and Venues

Millennium Stadium

The city features an international sporting venue, the 74,500 capacity national Millennium Stadium, where the Welsh rugby team and the Welsh national football team plays. The Millennium Stadium was built on the former site of the National Stadium, Cardiff Arms Park and it was opened in 1999 in time to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, including the final .

The Millennium Stadium also doubles up as a venue for other concerts and events such as motorsport's World Rally Championship as part of Wales Rally GB, with the first ever indoor special stages of the World Rally Championship being held at the Millennium Stadium in September 2005. It has continued to host this annual event. One of the annual Speedway Grands Prix is staged on a purpose built full size track in the Millennium Stadium. The Grand Prix is a round of the World Speedway Championship event. Speedway was first staged at Cardiff White City greyhound stadium during the pre-war era with the first meeting being staged around Christmas 1928. In the early 1950s, a dedicated speedway stadium was constructed in Penarth Road and the Cardiff Dragons raced in the National League Division Three for a short spell.

Ninian Park

Ninian Park is a football stadium in the Leckwith area of the city. Currently, it is the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., a Welsh club that competes in the English Football League Championship. It seats 22,000.

"See main article New Cardiff City stadium"

Work was started on Cardiff City's new stadium in February 2007, it is believed to hold 30,000 when completed, which could be increased to 60,000 if needs be. No name has yet been agreed upon, although St David's Stadium appears to be favoured amongst the Bluebirds fans.

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park is a rugby union stadium situated in the city centre. It is arguably rugby union's most famous stadium and is home to the Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC.cite web |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/wales/1092730.stm |publisher=BBC |title= Arms Park groundsman's dream job |accessdate=2008-03-17] Previously the site had two stadiums: the Cardiff Rugby Ground and also the National Stadium. Until 1966 it was also home to the only Welsh first-class cricket club, Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

It officially opened on 7 April 1984, but by 1999 the Millennium Stadium, which was the fourth redevelopment of the Cardiff Arms Park site since 1881, had replaced it as the national stadium of Wales. The future of the remaining Cardiff Rugby Ground is now in doubt with the announcement in 2007 that the Cardiff Blues will be moving to the new Cardiff City stadium in 2009.

The site has been host to many sports apart from rugby union and cricket, including athletics, association football, greyhound racing, tennis,cite web |url= http://cricketarchive.com/Glamorgan/History/Sophia_Gardens/Post_War.html |publisher= Glamorgan County Cricket Club & CricketArchive |title= Post-war developments in Sophia Gardens |accessdate=2008-03-17] British baseball and boxing. The National Stadium also hosted many music concerts including The Rolling Stones, U2 and Michael Jackson.

WALEC Stadium (Sophia Gardens)

SWALEC Stadium is a cricket stadium on the west bank of the River Taff in Cardiff, one mile north of Cardiff Arms Park and was originally known as Sophia Gardens. The SWALEC Stadium is home to the Glamorgan County Cricket Club. The cricket club has played first-class cricket matches at the venue since 1966, after moving away from Cardiff Arms Park. A 125-year lease of the ground was acquired in 1995, after the previous leaseholders, Cardiff Athletic Club, moved to their cricket section to the Diamond Ground in Whitchurch, Cardiff.cite web |url= http://cricketarchive.com/Glamorgan/History/Cardiff_Arms_Park/Athletics.html |publisher= Glamorgan County Cricket Club & CricketArchive |title= Cardiff Arms Park - a short History by Andrew Hignell - Cardiff Athletic Club |accessdate=2008-05-14] Beside the cricket ground is the large sports hall complex of the Welsh Institute of Sport. Cardiff Corinthians F.C. have previously used the area for football. The capacity is 5,500 but after renovations it will be upgraded to 15,000.

Cardiff International Sports Stadium

The Cardiff International Sports Stadium is a new stadium which is being built in Leckwith.

The stadium will include a gym, meeting rooms, and offices. The final completion date of the main stadium building and floodlighting of the running track will not be until the end of May 2008 [http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2868,2967,3001,4662,4664&id=3299&Positioning_Article_ID=&Language=&parent_directory_id=2865&d1p1=1 Cardiff Athletics Stadium] ] .

The stadium has replaced the older Cardiff Athletics Stadium, which has been demolished as part of the overall Leckwith Development, which includes the New Cardiff City stadium [ [http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2866,3386,4858,5136&parent_directory_id=2865&Positioning_Article_ID=&language=&sortkey= The Leckwith Development] ] .

National Indoor Athletics

The National Indoor Athletics Centre is an indoor track and field athletics sports venue in the city. It is sited on the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff Campus. The track facilities include:
*200m, 4 lane banked track
*60m, 8 lane straight track
*120m, 6 lane straight track which finishes outside the main arena

Welsh Institute of Sport

The Welsh Institute of Sport is an organisation set up in 1972 to assist in the development of the top athletes in Wales. The institute has indoor sports halls located in Sophia Gardens in Cardiff called the Main Hall.

Cardiff International Pool

The Cardiff International Pool is located in the Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff Bay.cite web |url= http://www.leisure-centre.com/centredetails.php?RECORD_KEY%28centres%29=ID&ID(centres)=76
publisher=Parkwood Leisure |title=Cardiff International Pool|accessdate=2008-02-14] It opened to the public on 12 January 2008 and it officially opened on 26 February 2008 by Duncan Goodhew. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/news/cardiff-news/2008/02/27/record-opening-for-new-city-pool-91466-20529954/ Record opening for new city pool] ]

It includes two pools; an Olympic size m to ft|50|abbr=yes 10-lane competition swimming pool with seating for 1,000 spectators and a m to ft|25|abbr=yes 4-lane indoor waterpark with flume rides, a beach area with water slides, a lazy river and jacuzzi. The centre also has a fitness suite and studios, conference rooms and a café [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/7184798.stm £32m Olympic pool opens its doors] ] [ [http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=&id=6074&Positioning_Article_ID=&Language=&d1=0 Signing ceremony for pool] ] .

ee also

*Cardiff
*Sport in Wales

References