Kingspan Stadium
| Kingspan Stadium | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Main Stand (2005) | |
| Data | |
| place |
 Belfast , Northern Ireland
|
| Coordinates | 54 ° 34 '35.4 " N , 5 ° 54' 15.8" W |
| owner | Irish Rugby Football Union |
| opening | 1923 |
| Extensions | 2009 |
| surface | Natural grass |
| capacity | 12,300 (expandable to 19,000) |
| Societies) | |
The Kingspan Stadium (previously Ravenhill Stadium ) is a stadium for rugby union in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The home ground of the Ulster Rugby team is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has a capacity of 12,300 spectators (this can be temporarily expanded to 19,000).
The stadium opened during the 1923/24 season. It has hosted 18 international matches so far, including one group match each at the 1991 and 1999 World Championships . The Irish national rugby union team's last game so far was against Italy on August 24, 2007 . Before that, Scotland was the last guest at the Five Nations in 1954 . After that, Lansdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium ) in Dublin was the only venue for international matches for four decades.
Kingspan is the home ground of the Ulster Rugby team in the international Pro14 league and in the European Heineken Cup . Since 1924, Ravenhill has hosted the annual final of the Ulster Provincial Rugby Schoolchildren 's Cup (usually on St. Patrick's Day ) and the Ulster Towns Cup on Easter Monday. In 2007 the final of the U-19 World Youth Championship took place at Ravenhill Stadium.
