The Liberty | |
Former names | White Rock Stadium |
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Location | Normandy Road,Swansea, Wales |
Coordinates | 51°38′32″N 3°56′06″W / 51.6422°N 3.9351°WCoordinates: 51°38′32″N 3°56′06″W / 51.6422°N 3.9351°W |
Public transit | The New Mex bus stop Swansea railway station |
Owner | Swansea Council |
Operator | StadCo |
Capacity | 21,088 |
Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
Construction | |
Broke ground | 2003 |
Opened | 10 July 2005 |
Construction cost | £27 million |
Architect | TTH Architects, Gateshead UK |
Tenants | |
Ospreys (2005–) Swansea City A.F.C. (2005–) |
The Liberty Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Liberty) is a sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium is all-seated. On opening, it had a capacity of 20,750, making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea; minor layout changes have since increased this. It is the home stadium of Premier League club Swansea City and the Ospreys rugby team. As a result of Swansea City's promotion, the stadium became the first Premier League ground in Wales. The Liberty Stadium had the second smallest capacity of the 20 stadiums in the Premier League for the 2015–16 season after Bournemouth AFC's ground Dean Court. It is the third largest stadium in Wales – after Millennium Stadium and Cardiff City Stadium. In European competition the stadium is known as Swansea Stadium due to advertising rights.
With the Vetch Field, St Helen's and The Gnoll no longer being up-to-date venues to play at, and both the Swans and the Ospreys not having the necessary capital to invest into a new stadium, Swansea council and a developer-led consortia submitted a proposal for a sustainable 'bowl' venue for 20,520 seats on a site to the west of the River Tawe on the site of the Morfa Stadium, an athletics stadium owned by the City and County of Swansea council. It was funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The final value of the development being in excess of £50m.