From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welford Road is a stadium in Leicester, England and is home to one of England's
traditional rugby union powers, Leicester Tigers. It is located
between Aylestone Road and Welford Road on the edge of the city
centre. The stadium, mostly built in the 1930s, and has a
capacity of 24,000, making it the largest purpose-built club rugby
ground in England.
The Leicester Tigers moved there in 1892 and the first stands
accommodated 1,100 spectators. The club house is located on
Aylestone Road, where a small temporary stand is erected, with the
other sides having permanent stands built on them.
The Crumbie Stand was built in the 1920s with the terrace being
added later. The stand is named after the club's secretary who
built the stand, Tom Crumbie. The members' stand is now called the
Caterpillar stand and built on the side of the ground adjoining the
former Granby
Halls site; this stand was also built in the twenties. This
expansion almost bankrupted the club but it helped attract top
players and laid the foundations for Leicester first glory years in
the 1920's and 1930's as well as their subsequent success.
The Alliance and Leicester Stand was opened at the Welford Road
end in 1995.
In 2004, the Tigers announced a plan to abandon Welford Road in
favour of a groundshare at Walkers Stadium with the city's main football club, Leicester
City F.C. However, the two clubs could not agree on which one
would have priority at Walkers Stadium, and formally shelved the
plan in 2005.
Leicester purchased the freehold to land adjacent to the ground
in 2006. Plans have now been approved for the ground to be
radically altered.[1] It will
see capacity expanded to 30,000.[2] In
2008, phase I of the redevelopment started with the construction of
the Caterpillar Stand on the north side that increased capacity to
24,000. The stand opened on 19 September 2009 with a capacity crowd
watching a match between Leicester Tigers and Newcastle
Falcons.[3]
An official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 2009 when
Tigers played and beat South
Africa.[4]
International matches
As of 2008, the stadium has hosted seven international games. It
hosted games during both the 1991[5] and 1999[6] Rugby World
Cups. It also occasionally hosts England Saxons matches.
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