Description: Lansdowne Road is the traditional home of both rugby union in Ireland and since the eclipse of Dalymount Park, of football as well. As well as being the oldest surviving international rugby venue it is also the second oldest international football venue still in regular use after the Millennium Stadium. It is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and has a total capacity of 49,250. However, competitive international football matches cannot use the entire capacity because the stands at both ends of the ground (North and South) are standing-room terraces. FIFA and UEFA both mandate that international matches be played in all-seated venues; this reduces the capacity of Lansdowne Road to about 35,000 for competitive football matches. The International Rugby Board does not impose this restriction on international rugby venues. For non competitive international football matches (friendly matches), the Uefa mandate does not apply.
In the IRFU grounds, Irish rugby and soccer international matches are played. The ground is also home to Wanderers and Lansdowne Rugby clubs. Leinster have also used the ground on a number of occassions when crowd size has meant their traditional home of Donnybrook is not large enough. In 1999 and 2003 Landsdowne road played host to the Heineken Cup final. Since 1990, Lansdowne has also hosted the FAI Cup Final The grounds have also occasionally been used for music concerts. The stadium is set to be redeveloped by 2008 creating a 50,000 all-seater soccer and rugby stadium. The redevelopment of the stadium was finally announced in January 2004 at a cost of approximately €255 million; of this, €167 million will come from the Irish government, with the remainder paid by the IRFU and Football Association of Ireland. |
Subscribe in a reader
Subscribe by e-mail
New! 
