Cardiff Arms

Cardiff Arms Park (Welsh: Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as the Arms Park, is a stadium in the centre of Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. Primarily a rugby union stadium, it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958. The first stands were built on the ground in 1881–1882. Originally the Arms Park had a cricket ground to the north and a rugby union stadium to the south. By 1969, the cricket ground had been demolished to make way for the present day rugby ground to the north and a larger rugby stadium to the south, the National Stadium. The National Stadium, which was used by the Wales national rugby union team, was officially opened on 7 April 1984, and was itself usually called Cardiff Arms Park. In 1997 it was demolished to make way for the Millennium Stadium, which hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup and became the national stadium of Wales. The rugby ground has remained the home of the semi-professional Cardiff RFC; the professional Cardiff Blues regional team moved to the Cardiff City Stadium in 2009, but returned three years later. The site is owned by Cardiff Athletic Club and, as well as rugby union and cricket has been host to sports including athletics, association football, greyhound racing, tennis, British baseball and boxing. The site also has a bowling green to the north of the rugby ground, which is used by Cardiff Athletic Bowls Club, the bowls section of the Cardiff Athletic Club. The stadium also hosted concerts including Michael Jackson, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, The Rolling Stones and U2.