25/6/2004

It is five years since the Millennium Stadium opened its doors for the very first time and Wales beat the Springboks 29 points to 19.

Five years on and the Stadium's event list has gone from strength to strength. It has played host to major global sporting occassions like the Rugby World Cup and the FA Cup Final, shown its versatility as a venue by staging the British Speedway Grand Prix & Supercross, and welcomed Robbie Williams, the Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and Red Hot Chili Peppers amongst others to play to packed houses; not to mention, of course, its place as the home of Welsh Rugby.

Stadium History
- The Millennium Stadium is built on the site of the world famous Cardiff Arms Park rugby stadium
- The original Cardiff Arms Park was developed on what had been a stretch of the River Taff when, in 1803, the Marquis of Bute handed over what was described as 'a swampy meadow' for recreational purposes
- In 1848 the first sporting event staged on the ground was a cricket match organised by the Cardiff Cricket Club. It wasn't until 1874 that the first organised rugby union match was played at the ground, between the Wanderers Club and Glamorgan 2nd XV
- In 1881, the year in which the Welsh Rugby Union was formed, the Arms Park had its first stand built. It contained 300 seats and cost £50 to erect
- Rugby internationals have been played in Cardiff, on the same Arms Park site that currently houses the magnificent Millennium Stadium, since 12 April 1884, when 5,000 people watched Wales beat Ireland
- Since the demolition men moved in on 27 April 1997 - the day after the Swalec Cup final between Cardiff and Swansea - only the shell of the old Arms Park North Stand remains at the Millennium Stadium
- Whereas the old National Ground, Cardiff Arms Park used to hold 52,000 - 11,000 of whom had to stand – the Millennium Stadium seats 73,434
- Even at its largest, the old Arms Park was never able to hold more than 60,000, although it was rumoured that on 14 March, 1936, nearly 70,000 people barged their way into the ground to watch Wales pip Ireland 3-0
- What has risen out of the ashes of the famous old Arms Park is the world's largest stadium with a retractable roof and the greatest multi-functional facility in the world
- The Millennium Stadium masts are the highest points in the Cardiff skyline as they tower 93 metres up into the sky
- The Millennium Commission provided a grant of £46m from the proceeds of the National Lottery to help cover the original design and build, fixed-price contract of £99m agreed with John Laing Construction Ltd
- Barclays’ Bank have underwritten a loan of £60m to the Welsh Rugby Union to help pay for the stadium. More than £30m has been recouped to date by the sale of debenture seats, Club Seats and Hospitality Boxes
- The four masts support the sliding roof through six high tensile steel cables attached to each mast and the roof
- The weight of the roof is carried by more than 4,700 wires of 15 mm in diameter, which have a total length of 150 miles
- The retractable roof weighs in at a staggering 8,000 tonnes. The sliding mechanism that ensures its smooth opening and closing is some 220 metres long and 15 metres high
- There are 10 roof trusses, five on each side, each weighing 560 tonnes. 'Opening time' for the roof is a mere 20 minutes, costing no more than £4 in electricity
- Around 40,000 tonnes of concrete, 12,000 tonnes of structural steel, 38,000 square metres of roof cladding, 24,000 square metres of wall cladding and 34,000 square metres of blockwork were used in the construction of the stadium by John Laing Construction Ltd
- The Millennium Stadium has a minimum seated capacity of 73,434, including 125 hospitality boxes, 380 wheelchair spaces and 112 turnstiles
- There are 17 public bars, many of which are fitted with the so-called 'Joy' machines, which serve 12 pints in 20 seconds. They are needed to cater with a demand that will see a full house drink more in a day than many pubs sell in a year
- The pitch is the biggest jigsaw in Wales made up of more than 7,400 pallets that allow it to be moved in and out of the stadium
- The first event held in the Millennium Stadium was on 26 June, 1999, when 29,000 people watched the Welsh rugby team beat the then reigning world champions South Africa for the first time in their history
- By 01 October 1999, the Millennium Stadium was fully operable for the opening match of Rugby World Cup, when 72,500 fans watched Wales defeat Argentina
- The Rugby World Cup final, on 4 November 1999, recorded the first £5m gate in the history of sport in the UK. Seven RWC ’99 matches were staged at the Millennium Stadium, recording the biggest attendance of all time for a World Cup final
The new Millennium was rung-in in Wales at the Millennium Stadium when more than 50,000 revellers attended the first concert at the venue when Wales’ leading band, the Manic Street Preachers set a European indoor crowd record
- Two days later, on 2 January, 2000, the biggest indoor choral concert ever staged in the world under a roof was staged. 60,000 people attended the Songs of Praise concert
- There were more than 60,000 fans at the Tina Turner farewell concert last summer and Robbie Williams filled the Millennium Stadium on two successive nights in the summer of 2001
- Welsh soccer recorded its two greatest gates when they returned to make their home in Cardiff at the Millennium Stadium. There were 66,000 fans at the friendly against Finland and a full house of 72,500 against Brazil.  They also recorded a 62,000 crowd in a pre-World Cup friendly against Argentina (13 Feb 02)

The Pitch
- The pitch at the Millennium Stadium is built on a base of 7,400 pallets. It is one of only two palletised pitches in the world. The other one is in New York at the Giants Stadium
- It takes up to 180 low loaders to take the pitch in and out of the stadium. Each pallet weights half a hundredweight
- When the pallets are taken out, there is a hard standing area left inside the stadium that is used to stage concerts, motor shows and other events
- The cost of bringing in a new pitch to replace the old palletised one grass (the current turf is laid in strips on top of the pallets) was around £100,000

Did you know? (Rugby)
01. Wales have played 32 international matches at the stadium - winning 17 and losing 15
02. They have scored 946 points and conceded 727 in those games
03. 16 different countries have played against Wales at the stadium
04. France and England have played the most times (4 appearances)
05. The first five internationals all ended in Wales victories for the best successful run of wins
06. Four defeats in a row is the longest run without a victory
07. Only Dafydd James and Colin Charvis have scored try hat-tricks at stadium (v Romania, 19 September 2001)
08. Wales have scored 93 tries in their 32 matches and conceded 62
09. Mark Taylor scored the stadium's first try against South Africa (26 June, 1999)
10. Highest score by Wales is 81 pts (v Romania 2001) and the most by an opponent is 44 pts by England (2001)

Did you know? (Football)
01. A total of 45 matches have been played since opening game (Wales v Finland 29 March 2000)02. Wales won their first match at the Stadium at their seventh attempt (v Belarus 16 October 2001)
03. There have been 17 international matches with 16 countries having visited the Stadium (only Finland have appeared twice)
04. 38 players have represented Wales at the Stadium
05. In the 45 matches, attendances have reached 2,395,435 - averaging 53,232 per match
06. Ryan Giggs and Andy Melville have made the most appearances with 17 for club and country
07. 38 Football League clubs and 1 League of Wales side have played at the Stadium
08. Only one player, Christian Ziege, has appeared for three different sides (Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspurs and Germany)
09. Two players have received red cards. Francis Jeffers (ARSENAL v Man Utd - Community Shield 2003), and Jason Koumas (WALES v Finland 2003)
10. Only one penalty has been missed during open play (Michael Brown SHEFF UTD v Wolves Div 1 play-off 2003)