Stradey Park

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Stradey Park
Parc Y Strade

Location	Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Broke ground	?
Opened	1879
Closed	Open
Owner	Llanelli RFC Ltd.
Operator	Llanelli RFC Ltd.
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	?
Architect	?
Tenants
Scarlets (Celtic League) Llanelli RFC
Seats
10,800

Stradey Park (Welsh: Parc Y Strade) is a rugby stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is the home of the Llanelli Scarlets Region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium is a combination of seating and standing with a total capacity of 10,800.

1 History
2 Future
3 Layout
4 Footnotes
5 External link

[edit] History

The ground originally opened in 1879 for use by Llanelli RFC.

The ground has seen many memorable games including the defeat of Australia in 1967 and the All Blacks in 1972. It also hosted the match between Argentina and Samoa during the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Due to the ground's owners, Llanelli RFU Ltd., having financial difficulties following the game turning professional, Stradey Park was sold to the Welsh Rugby Union in 1997 for £1.25 million. The ground was repurchased by Llanelli RFU Ltd. in 2005.^[1]

When the Llanelli Scarlets region was formed in 2004, it was decided that they would play the majority of their home fixtures at Stradey Park. Llanelli RFC continue to play their home matches at the ground. The stadium is also host for the Llanelli A.F.C. UEFA Cup games in the 2006/07 season.

[edit] Future

Stradey Park's future looks uncertain, as Llanelli RFC in conjunction with Carmarthenshire County Council are planning on building a new stadium on the outskirts of Llanelli, and then demolishing Stradey Park and selling the land off for development. The new stadium is set to be built in the Pemberton area and will cost an estimated £45 million. The funding will come partly from the re-development of the Stradey site and also from the sale of a fast-food outlet and hotel on the site of the new stadium.

This has caused some controversy as the ground is built on what has been designated by Carmarthenshire County Council as 'Recreation Land' and this has lead many local residents to petition for no houses to be built on this land and instead for Stradey Park to be renovated ^[2].

[edit] Layout

Diagram of Stadium Layout

The ground is divided up into 6 separate blocks for the purposes of accommodating spectators. There are two standing terraces at the far ends of the ground, known as the East Terrace (which has no roof) and may also be referred to as the Town End, or more informally the Tanner Bank, and the West Terrace or for sponsorship reasons the CSA Covered Terrace which as suggested has a roof. The West Terrace may be referred to as the Pwll End. There are two seating blocks, the North and South Stands. Again for sponsorship reasons the North Stand is known as the WRW Stand. In front of both stands are standing areas called the North and South enclosures respectively.

There are several bars located around the ground both inside and out. Also outside of the ground are the car park, the ticket office and official Llanelli Scarlets shop.

One unusual feature of the ground is the scarlet saucepans placed atop each goalpost. The utensils are a reference to the past of Llanelli as a major tin plating center, as well as to the traditional club anthem, "Sosban Fach" (Welsh for "little saucepan").