Ninian Park

Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It stood on land once used as a rubbish tip and allotment ground near Sloper Road and a local railway station. The ground opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand and three ash banks for spectators. Four stands later surrounded the pitch: the Canton Stand, the Grange End, the Popular Bank and the Grandstand. The stadium took its name from Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who guaranteed the build. It became home to Cardiff City for 99 years and hosted 84 matches for the Wales national football team. The ground saw its highest attendance of 62,634 when Wales played England in 1959. Cardiff City’s record crowd of 57,893 watched a league match against Arsenal in 1953. The stadium hosted its final match in 2009 before demolition and replacement by the nearby Cardiff City Stadium. Visitors found four distinct stands and steep banks of ash and slag behind each goal. The pitch often revealed debris from its rubbish-tip past, so players cleared glass before matches. A small wooden stand at the Canton end grew to cover the full length of the pitch. The ground began with shared changing rooms for home and away teams until a separate dressing room was built in 1913. A local primary school adopted the name Ninian Park in 1911.