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Welford Road is a stadium in Leicester, England and is home to one of England's traditional rugby union powers, Leicester Tigers. It is located between Aylestone Road and Welford
Road on the edge of the city centre. The stadium has a capacity of 24,000, making it the largest purpose-built club rugby union ground in England.
History
The Leicester Tigers moved there in 1892 and the first stands accommodated 1,100 spectators. The club house is located on
Aylestone Road, where a small temporary stand is erected, with the other sides having permanent stands built on them.
The Crumbie Stand was built in the 1920s with the terrace being added later. The stand is named after the club's secretary
who built the stand, Tom Crumbie. The members' stand – now replaced by the Caterpillar stand – was built on the side of the
ground adjoining the former Granby Halls site; this stand was also built in the twenties. This expansion almost bankrupted the
club but it helped attract top players and laid the foundations for Leicester first glory years in the 1920's and 1930's as well as their subsequent success.
The Alliance and Leicester Stand was opened at the Welford Road end in 1995. In 2010 this was renamed the Goldsmiths stand.
In 2004, the Tigers announced a plan to abandon Welford Road in favour of a groundshare at Walkers Stadium with the city's
main football club, Leicester City F.C. However, the two clubs could not agree on which one would have priority at Walkers Stadium, and formally shelved the plan in 2005.
The new stand
Leicester purchased the freehold to land adjacent to the ground in 2006. Plans have now been approved for the ground to be
radically altered. It will eventually see capacity expanded from 16,815 to 30,000.[2] In 2008, phase I of the redevelopment
started with the construction of the Caterpillar Stand on the north side that increased capacity to 24,000. The stand opened on
19 September 2009 with a capacity crowd watching a match between Leicester Tigers and Newcastle Falcons.
An official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 2009 when Tigers played and beat South Africa.
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