Aviva Stadium

Not to be confused with Aviva Centre or Aveva Stadium.
This article is about the rebuilt Lansdowne Road stadium. For the original stadium that was built in 1872, see Lansdowne Road.

Aviva Stadium
UEFA
Aviva Stadium is located in Dublin
Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium
Location within Dublin
Former names • Lansdowne Road
 • Dublin Arena
Location62 Lansdowne Road
Dublin 4
D04 K5F9
Ireland
Coordinates53°20′7″N 6°13′42″W / 53.33528°N 6.22833°W / 53.33528; -6.22833
Public transitLansdowne Road
Owner • Irish Rugby Football Union
 • Football Association of Ireland
OperatorNew Stadium Ltd[1]
Capacity • 51,711 (rugby union, association football)[2]
 • 49,000 (American football)[3][4]
 • 65,000 (concerts)
Field size106 m × 68 m (348 ft × 223 ft)
SurfaceEnglish Ryegrass
Construction
Broke groundMarch 2007
Built2007–2010
Opened14 May 2010; 14 years ago (2010-05-14)
Construction cost€410 million
(including €191 million of government funding, 2010)[5]
Architect • Populous (formerly HOK Sport)[6]
 • Scott Tallon Walker[7]
BuilderSisk Group[8]
Structural engineerBuro Happold
Services engineerME Engineers
Tenants
Ireland national rugby union team (2010–present)
Republic of Ireland national football team (2010–present)
Leinster Rugby (2010–present)
Lansdowne Football Club (2010–present)
Website
www.avivastadium.ie

Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (Irish: Bóthar Lansdún, IPA: [ˈbˠoːhəɾˠ ˈl̪ˠan̪ˠsˠd̪ˠuːnˠ]) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators (all seated).[9] It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and replaced it as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. Aviva Group Ireland signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009,[10] and subsequently extended the arrangement until 2025.[11]

The stadium, located beside Lansdowne Road railway station, officially opened on 14 May 2010. The stadium is Ireland's first, and only, UEFA Category 4 Stadium, and hosted the 2011 UEFA Europa League final and the 2024 UEFA Europa League final. It also hosted the 2011 Nations Cup, as well as the regular home fixtures of the national rugby team, national football team and some home fixtures for Leinster Rugby and Lansdowne Football Club from 2010 onwards.

Unlike its predecessor, which was solely owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the current stadium is controlled by the IRFU and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) through a 50:50 joint venture known as the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company (LRSDC). The joint venture has a 60-year lease on the stadium;[12] on expiry the stadium will return to the exclusive ownership of the IRFU.[13]

History

[edit]
For the history of the previous stadium on the same site, see Lansdowne Road § History.

The stadium was officially opened on 14 May 2010 by then Taoiseach Brian Cowen.[14][15][16] In 2011, the stadium won a British Construction Industry Award.[17]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Irish Army (operating under Operation Fortitude) used the stadium for testing from 14 May onwards, following the handover from the Naval Service (which had been conducting tests under Operation Fortitude at Sir John Rogerson's Quay until that time).[18]

Rugby union

[edit]

Internationals

[edit]
The stadium during a match between Ireland and the United States

The Ireland national rugby union team plays its home games at the stadium, as it did previously at Lansdowne Road, taking over from their temporary home, Croke Park, where games were played during Aviva's construction. Ireland's first international game was on 6 November 2010 against South Africa, with the Springboks winning 23–21. The game drew a crowd of 35,515, mainly due to a backlash by Ireland supporters over the IRFU's controversial ticketing strategy for the November Test series.[164] Initially, the IRFU announced that tickets to the November Tests would only be sold as packages for all four matches. Later, it announced that the tickets would instead be split into two packages, with the South Africa Test bundled with the following week's match with Samoa for a minimum of €150, and the New Zealand and Argentina Tests bundled for a minimum of €190. single-game tickets were to be available only for the Samoa and Argentina Tests. On 1 November, the IRFU backed away from this plan amid heavy criticism from member clubs that had problems selling the packages in a difficult economy.[165]

Lansdowne Road was replaced by the Aviva Stadium, shown here during construction

The first rugby union game at the Aviva was an exhibition game on 31 July 2010, billed as the O2 Challenge, involving under-18 and under-20 players from all four of Ireland's provincial sides, with a Leinster/Ulster side defeating a Munster/Connacht combination 68–0.[166] As part of the run-up to the event, O2 ran a promotion which gave the winner the opportunity to attempt to score the ceremonial first points at the Aviva via a simulated conversion kick on the day before the match. The winner of the promotion, John Baker of Ennis, was successful.[167] The first official points at the Aviva were scored by Ulster's Craig Gilroy with a try in the O2 Challenge.[166]

Ireland won twelve consecutive matches at the Aviva between 2016 and 2018.[168] They bested that record achieving their 13th consecutive home win in week two of the 2023 Six Nations.[169] Ireland extended that record to 14 straight wins and achieved their 4th ever Grand Slam in 29–16 victory over England on 18 March 2023.[170] Ireland beat Scotland at the Aviva on 16 March 2024, to become back-to-back Six Nations outright champions for only the third time in history, extending their record of 19 consecutive home wins.[158]

Ireland's record at the Aviva
Competition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won
Test Match 40 31 0 9 77.5%
Six Nations 35 28 2 5 80%
Total 75 59 2 14 78.67%

Updated 17 March 2024

Club competition

[edit]

The stadium also hosts some home games for Leinster when the RDS Arena's smaller capacity does not satisfy demand. Leinster won their opening home game in the Aviva against Munster 13–9, in the Celtic League (now United Rugby Championship) season, in front of a then record league attendance of 50,645.[171] This league record was exceeded on 29 March 2014 when Leinster again beat Munster, 22–18, in front of 51,700 people.[54]

Leinster won their first Heineken Cup game in the stadium 24–8, against Clermont Auvergne in a pool game during the 2010–11 season.[172] During Leinster's successful run to the Heineken Cup title that season, they took their quarter-final and semi-final matches to the stadium, defeating Leicester Tigers[173] and Toulouse respectively.[174] Ulster took their 2012 Heineken Cup semi-final to the stadium as well,[175] defeating Edinburgh.[176]

The 2013 Heineken Cup Final took place in the stadium on 18 May 2013[177] where Toulon beat Clermont Auvergne 16–15.[178] The Heineken Cup final had last been held in Dublin in 2003, when Toulouse beat Perpignan 22–17 at Lansdowne Road in front of 28,600.[179]

The stadium hosted a second European Champions Cup final in 2023 when La Rochelle beat Leinster 27–26.[180]

Leinster's record at the Aviva
Competition Played Won Drawn Lost % Won
United Rugby Championship 22 20 0 2 90.91%
European Rugby Champions Cup 31 26 0 5 83.87%
Total 53 46 0 7 86.79%

Updated 3 November 2024

Association football

[edit]
Ireland vs. Poland Euro 2016 Qualifier
Ireland vs. Argentina from 2010