Headingley Stadium in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos rugby league and Yorkshire Carnegie rugby union clubs.
There are two separate grounds, Headingley Cricket Ground and Headingley Rugby Stadium, with a two-sided stand housing common facilities. Initially owned by the Leeds Cricket, Football and Athletic Company, the ground is now managed jointly by Yorkshire C.C.C. and Leeds Rugby.
From 2006 until 2017, the stadium was officially known as the Headingley Carnegie Stadium as a result of sponsorship from Leeds Metropolitan University, whose sports faculty is known as the Carnegie School of Sport Exercise and Physical Education. Since 1 November 2017, the stadium is known as the Emerald Headingley Stadium due to the purchase of the naming rights by Emerald Group Publishing.
Video Headingley Stadium
Owning the ground
In December 2005, Yorkshire County Cricket Club obtained a loan of £9 million from Leeds City Council towards the cost of purchasing the cricket ground for £12 million. Shortly afterwards, 98.37% of members who participated in a vote backed the deal. On 11 January 2006, the club announced plans to rebuild the stand next to the rugby ground with 3,000 extra seats, taking capacity to 20,000. The club also announced plans to redevelop the Winter Shed (North) stand on 25 August 2006 providing a £12.5 million pavilion complex.
Maps Headingley Stadium
Cricket ground
The cricket ground sits to the Northern side of the complex. It opened in 1891 and has been used for test matches since 1899. It is the main home ground of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Yorkshire Vikings Twenty20 cricket team. The ground last held The Ashes in 2009. Since 2015 the cricket ground has been floodlit. The ground has a seated capacity of 17,500, executive facilities and a new media centre opened in 2010. All but the stand at the football ground end have been rebuilt since 2000, it is proposed to replace this stand in conjunction with redeveloping its other side facing the rugby ground.
Rugby ground
The rugby ground sits to the Southern side of the complex. Historically a rugby league ground it now hosts both codes. It is home to Leeds Rhinos rugby league team and Yorkshire Carnegie rugby union club. The ground consists of three stands and an open terrace at one end, one stand is completely seated, one standing and one mixed. It has a capacity of 21,000.
Future developments
Yorkshire County Cricket Club have shown keen interest in redeveloping the northern side of the ground. This is a major inconvenience to Leeds Rugby Limited as they wish to redevelop their North Stand, which backs onto the Cricket Ground, any redevelopment of this stand cannot go ahead until Yorkshire Cricket are also willing to redevelop their side of the cricket pitch. If Headingley is to retain Test Ground Status it is likely that further improvements will need to be made to the ground. On 5 June 2014 Yorkshire CCC announced the "Headingley Masterplan". The phased redevelopment costing around £50 million will take place over the next 20 years.
Phase One Erection of four permanent floodlight pylons. The work should start for the start of the 2015 season.
- The floodlights are now complete. The head is built in the shape of the Yorkshire Rose. The first game to be played under them was the T20 against Derbyshire Falcons on Friday 15 May 2015.
Phase Two The rebuild of the Football Ground End, in conjunction with Leeds Rugby, to incorporate a three-tiered seating area, which will accommodate 5,060 seats, enhanced corporate facilities and new permanent concession units.
Phase Three To incorporate an additional 915 seats to the upper tier of the North East Stand with the possibility of a cantilever roof from the side of the Carnegie Pavilion to the existing scoreboard.
Phase Four The development of a new Pavilion located in the North West area of the stadium complex. Built on five levels, the Pavilion will be adjacent to the existing Carnegie Pavilion. To include state-of-the-art corporate facilities, new dressing rooms for the players and coaching staff, Members' Long Room and seating and the creation of a main entrance to the stadium on Kirkstall Lane.
Phase Five The erection of a translucent cantilever roof to cover the White Rose Stand on the western side of the ground.
Phase Six Landscaping on the White Rose Stand and North East stand concourses.
Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Metropolitan University have collaborated in building the Headingley Carnegie Pavilion, which replaced 'The Shed' to the northern side of the Cricket Ground (which, dating from the early 1970s, was the oldest surviving structure). The new pavilion replaces 'The Winter Shed' and 'The Media Centre' at the Kirkstall Lane end of the ground, which had become obsolete, according to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, no longer meeting the requirements of modern broadcasting. The changing facilities are replaced by 'state of the art' changing facilities, designed specifically for cricket, while the new executive boxes will provide the expected level of service. Yorkshire County Cricket Clubs offices will also be relocated into the pavilion, which boasts environmentally friendly features such as a ground source heat pump and solar hot water heating.
The rugby ground has also been significantly rebuilt since 2006, when the Carnegie Stand at the east end was opened containing both standing and seated areas, private boxes and catering. In 2017 both the North and South Stands were torn down following Leeds' last home game of the season: the new South Stand will be a two-tier structure similar to the Carnegie Stand with an expanded terrace, while the North Stand's replacement will feature additional executive boxes and state-of-the-art facilities for players, staff and media, as well as thousands of new seats for the cricket ground.
Gallery
Cricket ground
Rugby ground
See also
- List of cricket grounds in England and Wales
- List of Test cricket grounds
- List of international cricket centuries at Headingley
- Sport in Leeds
- Architecture of Leeds
- Cricket (musical)
References
External links
- Official site of The Yorkshire County Cricket Club
- stadium improvements info @ bbc
- A rotating 360 degree view of the cricket ground from the BBC
- A rotating 360 degree view of the rugby ground from the BBC
- Stadium renamed
- stadium info @ napit
- pictures of rugby ground at a leeds tykes match
- pictures of rugby ground
- picture of leeds tykes at headingley
Source of article : Wikipedia
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