Barnet Copthall

Barnet Copthall is a sports venue on the border of Hendon and Mill Hill in north-west London. It includes a stadium, a swimming pool, a gymnasium and a golf-driving range with a nine-hole pitch and putt. The stadium seats ten and a half thousand and is home to Saracens, a Premiership rugby union club. It has also hosted London Broncos rugby league matches and American football’s BritBowl. The stadium can be enlarged to fifteen thousand seats for big events like European Rugby Champions Cup finals. The stadium began as an athletics track before Saracens moved there in 2013. Before Saracens, the ground had been used by London Crusaders rugby league and a non-league football club. It was redeveloped with an artificial pitch, the first in English rugby union, and temporary stands that could be removed for athletics. The west stand was rebuilt between 2019 and 2022 and now holds 10,500 permanent seats. During the Covid-19 pandemic the stadium served as a vaccination centre. Visitors find the main stadium surrounded by training pitches and car parks. Inside, the 1876 Stand on the west side seats the largest crowd. Outside, the 221 and 113 buses stop nearby, and a shuttle runs from Mill Hill East and Edgware stations on match days. The athletics track and golf range share the site with the pool and gym, so there is always activity.