by Mark Denham
On 22nd July 2009, Cardiff City Stadium officially opened its doors for business and became the brand new home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Cardiff Blues.
One year on from that historic opening Cardiff City v Celtic match and the state of the art arena has welcomed almost three quarters of a million people inside. Not only has it established itself as one of Britain's premier sports venues, but it's become recognised as one of Wales' finest conference and event settings too.
But for Cardiff City fans in particular, the success of the Stadium has been it's ability to fill the void left by the much loved Ninian Park. For Bluebirds supporters, the noise and atmosphere generated in games last season against Swansea City and Leicester City (in the league and the play-off semi-final) in particular convinced us that much of that old Ninian buzz had indeed found it's way over from Sloper Road.
Cardiff City Chief Executive Gethin Jenkins said: "It's been a momentous first season at the new stadium. We acheived our best finish since 1971 and enjoyed the penalty shootout against Leicester, as well as the Stereophonics concert, the Blues playing Australia and Wales beating Scotland.
"We have kept the atmosphere of Ninian Park and improved the services for supporters, whilst also increasing revenue opportunities especially with our top class conference and hospitality facilities. We were also awarded a Football League Family Award for our provisions for families.
"It's been quite a year, and something we hope to build on going forward."
Mark Hudson, Ross McCormack and Darcy Blake celebrate City's play-off semi-final victory over Leicester City.
As Gethin mentioned, the Stadium also played host to international football last November, when Wales took on Scotland in front of almost 14,000 fans. The Welsh cruised to a 3-0 victory over their celtic cousins, with former Bluebird Aaron Ramsey putting in an inspired goal-scoring performance. Expect to see more international football at the Stadium as we head towards the start of Wales' Euro 2012 qualifying campaign in the autumn.
Aaron Ramsey (right) celebrates with team-mates Simon Church (left) and Gareth Bale.
A new home also seemed to bring some luck to the Cardiff Blues during 2009/10. The Welsh Rugby Union region picked up the Amlin Challenge Cup last May, after defeating the fancied Toulon in the Final in Marseille. Again Cardiff City Stadium proved its international credentials by welcoming the Australian international team last autumn, the Wallabies beating the Blues on their home turf by 31-3.
Australia's Ryan Cross breaks the tackles of the Blues' Robbie Mustoe and Sam Norton-Knight last November.
With the respective football and rugby seasons done and dusted by mid-May, Cardiff City Stadium utilised its facilities for an altogether more musical spectical earlier in the summer. Welsh rockers Stereophonics attracted a crowd of over 30,000 back in June for a concert that showed to the watching world that the Stadium was much more than just a sporting venue.
Stereophonics (L-R): Richard Jones, Kelly Jones, Javier Weyler & Adam Zindani.
Danielle Lineker was in attendance for the NSPCC charity gala held at the stadium last September.
And it wasn't just rock concerts that the stadium bestowed its hospitality on. Numerous charity dinners, after-dinner speeches, awards ceremonies (including BBC Wales' Sports Personality of the Year) and private functions have all taken place at Cardiff City Stadium over the last twelve months.
The stadium has also allowed Cardiff City Football Club to expand the range of opportunities it can offer to local schools and the wider community. Cardiff City Literacy Coordinator Joel Hutton said: "The new Stadium has provided the Community and Education Foundation with the facilities that have allowed the department to move onto the next level.
"Over the past year we have become an accredited centre for Sports Leaders UK and have had nearly 100 pupils each week being educated at the stadium. That figure is set to double as we head towards the new school year."
Happy Birthday Cardiff City Stadium - it's been a busy year, and we've only just started.
