The shortlist of stadiums for the 2015 Rugby World Cup has been announced with hardly a rugby stadium in sight. Most of the stadiums to be used are football stadiums, apart from a few all purpose stadiums.
1. Villa Park, Birmingham
Villa Park is a football stadium in the district of Witton, Birmingham, England. It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897.
Capacity: 42,788
2. Brighton Community Stadium, Brighton
Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium, or simply The AMEX, is a football stadium near the village of Falmer in Brighton and Hove and is the home of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Capacity 27,350
3. Ashton Gate, Bristol
Ashton Gate Stadium is a stadium in Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol City F.C. Located in the south-west of the city, just south of the River Avon.
Capacity 21,497
4. Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm) is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team.
Capacity 74,500
5. Coventry Stadium, Coventry
The Ricoh Arena (commonly known as The Ricoh), home to Coventry City F.C., is a stadium complex situated in the Rowleys Green district of the city of Coventry, England.
Capacity 32,609
6. Pride Park, Derby
Pride Park Stadium is an all-seater football stadium located on the Pride Park business park on the outskirts of Derby, England. It is the current home of Football League Championship club Derby County.
Capacity 33,597
7. Kingsholm, Gloucester
Kingsholm Stadium is a rugby union stadium in Gloucester, England, and is the home stadium of Gloucester Rugby. It is sometimes nicknamed ‘Castle Grim’ after the estate where the stadium is built and also in reference to Gloucester’s admirable home form.
Capacity 16,500
8. Elland Road, Leeds
Elland Road is a football stadium in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is the home of Leeds United A.F.C. since the club’s foundation in 1919 and it was previously occupied by Leeds City.
Capacity 37,697
9. Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
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The King Power Stadium is a football stadium which hosts home matches of English football club Leicester City. The all-seater stadium, inaugurated in July 2002 and has the 19th largest stadium capacity in England. This stadium was preferred to the Leicester Tiger’s 24,000 seater Welford Road because of bigger capacity and superior off-field facilities.
Capacity 32,262
10. Olympic Stadium, London
The Olympic Stadium in Olympic Park in Stratford, London, England was the centrepiece of the 2012 Summer Olympics, the last stop in the 2012 Olympics torch relay, and the venue of the athletic events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. It was the central venue of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
It is located at Marshgate Lane in London’s Stratford district in the Lower Lea Valley. The stadium has a capacity of 80,000, making it the third-largest stadium in England behind Wembley Stadium and Twickenham Stadium.
Capacity 80,000
11. Twickenham Stadium, London
Twickenham Stadium (usually known as just Twickenham or Twickers) is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest stadium in the world devoted solely to the sport of rugby, it is the second largest stadium in the UK after Wembley Stadium and the fifth largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is the home of the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and as such primarily a venue for rugby union and hosts England’s home test matches.
Capacity 82,000
12. Wembley Stadium, London
Wembley Stadium (often referred to simply as Wembley or sometimes as the New Wembley) is a football stadium located in Wembley Park, in the Borough of Brent, London, England.
It is a UEFA category four stadium and is the second largest stadium in Europe, and serves as England’s national stadium. It is the home venue of the England national football team.
Capacity 90,000
13. Old Trafford, Manchester
Old Trafford is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. Old Trafford is the second-largest football stadium in England after Wembley, the third-largest in the United Kingdom and the eleventh-largest in Europe.
Capacity 75,765
14. Stadium mk, Milton Keynes
Stadium mk (initially named as stadium:mk, stylistically stadiummk, and also known locally as “Denbigh Stadium” is a football ground in the Denbigh district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home ground of Milton Keynes Dons FC.
Capacity 22,000 all seated (planned to be increased to 32,000 at the end of 2012-2013 season)
15. St James’ Park, Newcastle
St James’ Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom.
Capacity 52,387
16. St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton
St Mary’s Stadium is the home of Southampton F.C., in the city of Southampton. It is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium and is the largest football stadium in the south of England, outside of London.
Capacity 32,689
17. Stadium of Light, Sunderland
The Stadium Of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England. The Stadium of Light has the fifth-largest capacity of any English football stadium. The stadium primarily hosts Sunderland A.F.C. matches. The name “Stadium of Light” is a tribute to the traditional mining industry, which brought prosperity to the town; a Davy lamp monument stands at the entrance
Capacity 49,000
Info source: wikipedia.org
The UK home unions have been targeting young Southern Hemisphere rugby players for a while now and their national teams are filling up with Saffer and Kiwi players. In the past they were quite happy with players qualifying through the residency route but their latest strategy is to target young players who qualify through their ancestry.
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