Cardiff
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadiumof Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of theWales national rugby union team and has also staged games of the Wales national football team. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as theTsunami Relief concert, the Super Special Stage ofWales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and numerous music concerts.
The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The stadium was designed by a team led by architects Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture. WS Atkins were the structural engineers, and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commissionfunded £46 million.
The stadium opened in June 1999 and its first major event was an international rugby union match on 26 June 1999, when Wales beatSouth Africa in a friendly by 29–19 before a test crowd of 29,000.With a total seating capacity of 74,500, it is the third-largest stadium in the Six Nations Championship behind the Stade de France andTwickenham, which is the largest. It is also the second-largest stadium in the world with a fully retractable roof and was the second stadium in Europe to have this feature.