Rugby stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland
Murrayfield Stadium
(
Scottish Gaelic
:
Stadium Murrayfield
) is a
rugby union
stadium
located in the
Murrayfield
area of
Edinburgh
, Scotland. The stadium is owned by the
Scottish Rugby Union
(SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of the
Scotland national rugby union team
. With a seating capacity of 67,144, it is the largest stadium in Scotland, the fifth largest in the
United Kingdom
, and the twenty?second largest
in Europe
.
[1]
It officially opened on 21 April 1925 with a game between Scotland and
England
. The game was won by Scotland who came out victorious following a
Grand Slam
.
[2]
The stadium hosts most of
Scotland's
home test matches and the
Scottish Hydro Electric Cup
final, as well as
URC
and
European Rugby Champions Cup
matches.
Although primarily a rugby union stadium, Murrayfield has in the past hosted
American football
,
rugby league
and
association football
matches, as well as numerous music concerts. Currently, the stadium is known as
Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium
for sponsorship reasons.
History
[
edit
]
Purchase of land
[
edit
]
The SRU identified 19 acres of land at Murrayfield, purchasing this from Edinburgh Polo Club at Murrayfield, having raised money through
debentures
.
[3]
A stand and three embankments were constructed, which took two years.
[3]
Previous internationals had been played at
Inverleith
[4]
but it was not large enough to cope with the increasing number of spectators.
[5]
Arthur Sellers
was the stadium's first groundsman, having previously prepared the pitches at Inverleith.
[6]
On 21 March 1925
England
were the first team to visit Murrayfield, with 70,000 people watching
Scotland
beat them to win their first
Five Nations Championship
Grand Slam
.
[4]
[7]
Usage during WWII
[
edit
]
During the
Second World War
the ground at Murrayfield was offered to the nation and was taken over by the
Royal Army Service Corps
and used as a supply depot. During the war years the
armed forces
sports authorities managed to arrange two Scotland v. England services internationals each year, on a home-and-away basis. Scotland's home matches were played at Inverleith for the first two years with a return to Murrayfield in 1944 after that ground's derequisition.
Recent history
[
edit
]
Murrayfield's record attendance of 104,000 was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeated
Wales
12?10 during the
1975 Five Nations Championship
.
[8]
This attendance stood as a world record until 1999, and remains a European record.
[4]
The East stand was built in 1983.
[9]
In October 1991 another debenture scheme was launched, to finance a more comprehensive redevelopment of the West Stand.
[10]
The new West Stand was designed with a 48-metre cantilever roof.
[11]
The old West Stand housed a museum, but this was not replaced and plans for a new visitor centre were shelved when the game turned professional.
[12]
The first phase was completed in January 1993 with the new north and south stands opening.
[11]
In February 1994 the centre section of the new West Stand opened.
[9]
The work was carried out by
Tilbury Douglas
.
[13]
In 1994, Murrayfield completed a £50-million renovation where floodlights were installed for the first time.
In October 2012, SRU chief executive Mark Dodson told the BBC that it was actively seeking a name sponsor for Murrayfield:
[14]
The single biggest piece of our inventory is our national stadium. We would like to see if we can monetise that. It would be crazy for us not to look at using our single biggest piece of inventory to drive revenue. We want to get the right price for it.
In addition, Dodson indicated that the SRU was actively seeking a site for a completely new stadium with a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 as a future home for Edinburgh Rugby.
[15]
The pitch was damaged by
nematodes
in the lead up to the 2013 autumn internationals. This led the SRU to replace the grass with a
Desso surface
from the start of the 2014 season.
[16]
A naming rights deal with
BT
was agreed in May 2014, resulting in the stadium being officially named as the BT Murrayfield Stadium.
[17]
Scottish Rugby and
Scottish Gas
agreed a new five-year partnership deal starting in July 2023. This will result in the creation of a Club & Community Net Zero Fund worth £2 million to ensure Scottish clubs can save on energy bills and carbon emissions. Scottish Gas will also invest in the women's game through shirt and stadium sponsorship, resulting in an official name change for the stadium to Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
[18]
Location
[
edit
]
Murrayfield is located next to
Murrayfield Ice Rink
, Murrayfield Curling Rink, and is close to
Edinburgh Zoo
. It is named after the area of Edinburgh it is located in,
Murrayfield
. There are two cricket pitches in the immediate vicinity at Roseburn Park used by
Murrayfield DAFS CC
(formed from mergers between several local teams)
[19]
and also four rugby pitches owned by the SRU which were used by teams including the amateur club
Murrayfield Wanderers RFC
- they and their predecessors had played there since 1902 but were asked to vacate in 2018 as the governing body had plans to develop the land.
[20]
[21]
Wanderers moved their training base to Roseburn but continued to hire the Murrayfield pitches for some matches.
Transport
[
edit
]
Buses
[
edit
]
The stadium is served by
Lothian Bus
services 12, 22, 26, 31 and the
Airlink 100
along Corstorphine Road.
[22]
[23]
Post-match traffic congestion is common along this route.
Rail
[
edit
]
Despite the line running adjacent to the stadium, the closest railway station to the stadium is
Haymarket
, which lies a mile to the East.
Interchange with the
Edinburgh Trams
is available at Haymarket,
Edinburgh Park
and
Edinburgh Gateway
stations.
Edinburgh Waverley
is a short walk from the
St Andrew Square
tram stop.
Tram
[
edit
]
Murrayfield Stadium tram stop
is located adjacent to the stadium entrance turnstiles on Roseburn Street. Access to the platform is by a flight of stairs or lift. As part of crowd-management measures, ticketing machines are situated at the bottom of the staircase and not the platform.
Uses
[
edit
]
Rugby union
[
edit
]
Murrayfield is used for most
Scottish
international
rugby union
matches, with all Scotland's
Six Nations
home games being played in the stadium. The stadium also hosted all of
Edinburgh's
matches between 1996 and January 2017. (For Pro14 matches, only the lower tier of the East Stand is typically used.)
Since February 2018 all Edinburgh matches are once again held at Murrayfield; with work now finished on the construction of a
new 7,800 capacity stadium on the back pitches
to host Edinburgh Rugby from the start of the 2021/22 season.
From
2007
to
2011
, Murrayfield hosted the
Edinburgh 7s
, then the final event in the annual
IRB Sevens World Series
in
rugby sevens
, but that tournament was moved to
Glasgow
starting in
2012
due to low attendance. Murrayfield hosted select matches from the
2007 Rugby World Cup
. The stadium also hosted the
Heineken Cup
Final in
2005
, when
Toulouse
beat
Stade Francais
18?12, again in
2009
, with Leinster defeating Leicester 19?16 and finally in
2017
with Saracens defeating Clermont 28?17.
[24]
Rugby World Cup
[
edit
]
Murrayfield hosted matches of the
1991
,
1999
and
2007
Rugby World Cups
.
1991
[
edit
]
1999
[
edit
]
2007
[
edit
]
Rugby league
[
edit
]
Although primarily a
rugby union
stadium, Murrayfield hosted the
Rugby League
Challenge Cup
Finals of
2000
and
2002
. The stadium hosted rugby league's
Super League
Magic Weekend
in 2009. The record for a rugby league attendance at the stadium is 67,247 for the 2000 Challenge Cup Final.
Murrayfield has also hosted
association football
matches. In December 2003, the SRU board agreed to let local
Scottish Premier League
side
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
(Hearts) lease the stadium for match days.
[25]
Later that month,
UEFA
confirmed that Hearts' own ground,
Tynecastle
did not meet the minimum criteria for European matches from the 2004–05 season.
[26]
Hearts used Murrayfield as their home venue for European matches for three years
[27]
until Hearts made adjustments to Tynecastle that made it compliant with UEFA regulations.
[28]
Additionally, both Hearts and Edinburgh neighbours
Hibernian
have played preseason friendlies against
FC Barcelona
at Murrayfield.
[29]
[30]
Almost 58,000 people attended to watch Hearts play Barcelona in July 2007, recording the largest crowd at a football match in Edinburgh for 51 years.
[31]
In 2014, Glasgow club
Celtic
played two qualifying matches at the stadium due to
Celtic Park
being unavailable because of Glasgow's hosting of the
2014 Commonwealth Games
.
[32]
Hearts again used the stadium for home games during the
2017?18 Scottish Premiership
, due to the delays in construction of a new main stand at Tynecastle.
[33]
Murrayfield hosted one of the
2018–19 Scottish League Cup
semi-finals, played between Hearts and Celtic, in October 2018.
[32]
That match attracted an attendance of 61,161, the second-largest ever recorded for a football match in Edinburgh.
[34]
In July 2019, Murrayfield hosted a
pre-season friendly
between
Liverpool
and
Napoli
, that attracted a crowd of 65,442 which was the highest attendance of fans at a football match in Scotland since the
1989 Scottish Cup Final
.
[35]
On 19 July 2023,
Manchester United
faced
Olympique Lyonnais
at Murrayfield in front of a crowd of 48,484.
[36]
On 20 March 2024, it was announced that Manchester United would return for the second successive year to play a pre-season match at Murrayfield, taking on
Rangers
on 20 July 2024.
[37]
Murrayfield has played host to
American football
and was one of two home venues for the now defunct
Scottish Claymores
in the
NFL Europa
between 1995 and 2004, the other being
Hampden Park
in
Glasgow
. Additionally, it hosted
World Bowl '96
on 23 June 1996. It has been mentioned
[
by whom?
]
as a potential future host site for the
NFL International Series
, should the
National Football League
add future games outside the series' current permanent home,
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
in
London
. Two other London stadiums,
Wembley Stadium
and
Twickenham Stadium
, are the only other grounds in Britain to host NFL matches.
[38]
Music
[
edit
]
David Bowie
played to a capacity crowd of 47,000 people on 28 June 1983.
[39]
Simple Minds
were scheduled to play at the stadium in 1989, but pulled out because of
Jim Kerr
's objections to the venue's administrators allowing Scottish rugby players to attend the sport's centenary celebrations in South Africa, which was then still under apartheid.
[40]
On 30 June 1996,
Tina Turner
played at Murrayfield as part of her
Wildest Dreams Tour
. In September 1997
U2
played at Murrayfield as part of their
Popmart Tour
.
[41]
On 3 June 1999,
The Rolling Stones
played to 51,000 on their
No Security Tour
.
[42]
On 8 July 1999
Celine Dion
performed her
Let's Talk About Love World Tour
as she sold out the full venue of 67,000, on her first ever show in
Scotland
. In July 2005, Murrayfield hosted the final
Live 8
concert,
Edinburgh 50,000 ? The Final Push
, with performances including
James Brown
,
Texas
and
The Proclaimers
.
Oasis
played a sold-out show on 17 June 2009, as part of their world tour. Some antisocial behaviour at this event affected the stadium's licensing arrangements when they were reviewed a few months later.
[43]
This was the last time Oasis would play a concert in Scotland
[44]
and the second time they had played the stadium, the first being on their
Standing on the Shoulder of Giants Tour
in 2000.
[45]
Bon Jovi
performed at the stadium on 22 June 2011 as part of their tour.
[46]
Madonna
performed to a sell-out crowd of 52,160 on 21 July 2012 as part of her
MDNA Tour
. On 3 June 2014,
One Direction
performed to over 64,000 fans at Murrayfield as part of their
Where We Are Stadium Tour
.
Foo Fighters
performed at Murrayfield Stadium as part of their
Sonic Highways World Tour
on 8 September 2015. The band were originally supposed to play Murrayfield on 23 June 2015 but this was cancelled and rescheduled after
Dave Grohl
broke his foot at European Festival that same month.
[47]
The
Spice Girls
performed to over 55,000 fans on 8 June 2019 as part of their
Spice World tour
, it was their first Scottish concert in 21 years.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Tomas, Fiona (10 February 2020).
"England thrash Scotland in freezing temperatures at Murrayfield to ensure Six Nations Grand Slam pursuit marches on"
.
The Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022.
- ^
"Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh ? Rugby"
.
www.visitscotland.com
. Visit Scotland
. Retrieved
1 March
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Changed days as the home of Scottish rugby takes on world of big business From cricket pitch to a cash jackpot"
.
The Herald
. 4 March 1995
. Retrieved
14 January
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Scottish Flashback: Murrayfield in the snow, 1963"
.
The Scotsman
. 28 January 2015
. Retrieved
13 December
2015
.
- ^
Martin, Don (1992).
Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway guidebook
. Glasgow: Strathkelvin District Libraries & Museums. p. 67.
ISBN
0904966348
.
- ^
The man who prepares the pitches.
Edinburgh Evening News
. 27 February 1932. p. 17
- ^
1925 - Scotland’s first Grand Slam win
, Raeburn Place Foundation
- ^
"Edinburgh, Roseburn Street, Murrayfield Stadium"
.
Historic Environment Scotland
. Retrieved
13 December
2015
– via
Canmore
.
- ^
a
b
"How Murrayfield is growing great"
.
The Herald
. 5 February 1994
. Retrieved
19 November
2017
.
- ^
"The debenture scheme delivers delight"
.
The Herald
. 5 February 1994
. Retrieved
14 January
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"Murrayfield is entering a bright new era"
.
The Herald
. 13 January 1993
. Retrieved
30 October
2017
.
- ^
"Return of Murrayfield museum remains beyond SRU's pocket"
.
The Scotsman
. 16 July 2010
. Retrieved
29 October
2017
.
- ^
"18Feb93 UK: TILBURY SCORES TRY - £20M STADIUM REDEVELOPMENT CONTRACT"
.
constructionnews.co.uk/
. 18 February 1993
. Retrieved
22 March
2015
.
- ^
"Murrayfield could be renamed for right price ? Scottish Rugby"
.
BBC Sport
. 29 October 2012
. Retrieved
30 October
2012
.
- ^
"SRU chiefs seek Murrayfield stadium name change sponsor to help pay off debts"
.
The Scotsman
. 30 October 2012
. Retrieved
30 October
2012
.
- ^
"Scots to install hybrid pitch at Murrayfield"
.
Bangkok Post
.
- ^
"Scottish Rugby confirms deal for BT Murrayfield Stadium"
. BBC Sport. 28 May 2014
. Retrieved
28 May
2014
.
- ^
Gould, Caitlin (13 July 2023).
"Scottish Gas teams up with Scottish Rugby for a greener Scotland"
.
Scottish Rugby
. Retrieved
14 July
2023
.
- ^
Club History
, Murrayfield DAFS Cricket Club
- ^
SRU send Wanderers on their way ? despite club's significant investment in Murrayfield estate
, The Offside Line, 30 July 2018
- ^
History
, Murrayfield Wanderers RFC
- ^
"Getting to BT Murrayfield from Edinburgh City Centre"
(PDF)
.
Lothian Buses
. Retrieved
22 October
2017
.
- ^
"Getting to BT Murrayfield from Edinburgh Airport and Ingliston or Hermiston Park & Ride"
(PDF)
.
Lothian Buses
. Retrieved
22 October
2017
.
- ^
"Leicester 16?19 Leinster"
. BBC Sport. 23 May 2008.
- ^
"Hearts get go-ahead for ground switch to Murrayfield"
.
The Scotsman
. 4 December 2003
. Retrieved
29 October
2017
.
- ^
"Tynecastle not fit for Europe"
. BBC Sport. 22 December 2003
. Retrieved
5 January
2013
.
- ^
"Hearts 0-2 Sparta Prague"
. BBC Sport. 14 September 2006
. Retrieved
5 January
2013
.
- ^
"Tynecastle Stadium: 1981-present"
.
heartsfc.co.uk
. Heart of Midlothian FC. Archived from
the original
on 16 June 2013
. Retrieved
5 January
2013
.
2005: Plans were produced for a new Main Stand that could take the capacity of the stadium up to 25,000. In the meantime, the removal of 280 seats from the front of the Gorgie and Roseburn Stands allowed the club to extend the length of the playing pitch to meet UEFA Cup requirements. The capacity of the ground is now 17,400.
- ^
"Classy Barcelona toy with Hearts"
. BBC Sport. 28 July 2007
. Retrieved
5 January
2013
.
- ^
Grahame, Ewing (25 July 2008).
"Hibernian handed six of the best by rampant Barcelona at Murrayfield"
.
Daily Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
5 January
2013
.
- ^
Bean, Graham (5 September 2013).
"Champions League: Celtic to play at Murrayfield"
.
The Scotsman
. Retrieved
15 May
2014
.
- ^
a
b
"Liverpool to play friendly against Napoli at Murrayfield in July"
. BBC Sport. 6 June 2019
. Retrieved
6 June
2019
.
- ^
Anderson, Barry (3 August 2017).
"Hearts to stage games at Murrayfield due to main stand delay"
.
Edinburgh Evening News
. Retrieved
4 August
2017
.
- ^
Wales, Peter (28 October 2018).
"Hearts-Celtic semi-final is second largest football attendance in Edinburgh"
.
Edinburgh Evening News
. Retrieved
6 June
2019
.
- ^
Lindsay, Matthew (28 July 2019).
"Liverpool 0 Napoli 3: Champions League winners slump to heavy defeat at Murrayfield"
.
The Herald
. Retrieved
4 August
2019
.
- ^
"United 1 Lyon 0"
.
www.manutd.com
. Retrieved
20 March
2024
.
- ^
Cruickshank, Sarah (20 March 2024).
"Manchester United and Rangers to face off at Scottish Gas Murrayfield"
.
Scottish Rugby
. Retrieved
20 March
2024
.
- ^
"The NFL International Series | NFL Football Operations"
.
operations.nfl.com
. Retrieved
20 March
2024
.
- ^
"Acclaim in the rain"
.
The Glasgow Herald
. 29 June 1983. p. 1
. Retrieved
24 October
2017
.
- ^
The Q Encyclopedia of Rock Stars
by Dafydd Rees and Luke Crampton, Dorling Kindersley 1999, page 910
- ^
"U2 criticised for holding Murrayfield concert"
.
The Herald
. 3 September 1997
. Retrieved
29 October
2017
.
- ^
"The Stones (and the years) roll on"
.
BBC News
. 4 June 1999
. Retrieved
24 October
2017
.
- ^
"Murrayfield ordered to bid for booze licence before every gig"
.
The Scotsman
. 18 August 2009
. Retrieved
24 October
2017
.
- ^
"Supersonic: The inside story of Oasis at Loch Lomond"
.
HeraldScotland
. 18 September 2021
. Retrieved
24 October
2021
.
- ^
"BBC News | SCOTLAND | Oasis roll with the punches"
.
news.bbc.co.uk
. Retrieved
24 October
2021
.
- ^
"Bon Jovi Live 2011 Tour Page"
. Island Records. Archived from
the original
on 27 July 2011.
- ^
Dingwall, John (8 September 2015).
"Review: Foo Fighters at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh"
.
Daily Record
. Retrieved
28 November
2021
.
- ^
"Year-End Top 300 Concert Grosses"
(PDF)
.
Pollstar
. 2023.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 26 February 2024
. Retrieved
26 February
2024
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Related articles
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Heineken Cup era
|
- Cardiff Arms Park
, Wales (1996)
- Cardiff Arms Park
, Wales (1997)
- Parc Lescure
, France(1998)
- Lansdowne Road
, Ireland (1999)
- Twickenham
, England (2000)
- Parc des Princes
, France (2001)
- Millennium Stadium
, Wales (2002)
- Lansdowne Road
, Ireland (2003)
- Twickenham
, England (2004)
- Murrayfield
, Scotland (2005)
- Millennium Stadium
, Wales (2006)
- Twickenham
, England (2007)
- Millennium Stadium
, Wales (2008)
- Murrayfield
, Scotland (2009)
- Stade de France
, France (2010)
- Millennium Stadium
, Wales (2011)
- Twickenham
, England (2012)
- Aviva Stadium
, Ireland (2013)
- Millennium Stadium
, Wales (2014)
|
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Champions Cup era
|
- Twickenham
, England (2015)
- Parc Olympique Lyonnais
, France (2016)
- Murrayfield
, Scotland (2017)
- San Mames
, Spain (2018)
- St James' Park
, England (2019)
- Ashton Gate
, England (2020)
- Twickenham
, England (2021)
- Stade Velodrome
, France (2022)
- Aviva Stadium
, Ireland (2023)
- Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
, England (2024)
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