St Helens Stadium | |
Full name | Totally Wicked Stadium [1] |
---|---|
Location | Totally Wicked Stadium McManus Drive Peasley Cross St Helens WA9 3AL |
Coordinates | 53°26′51″N2°43′39″W / 53.44750°N 2.72750°W |
Owner | St Helens R.F.C. |
Operator | St Helens R.F.C. |
Capacity | 18,000 [2] |
Record attendance | 17,980 (St. Helens vs Wigan 6 April 2012) [3] (St. Helens vs Wigan 18 April 2014) [4] |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Built | 2010–2011 |
Opened | 2011 |
Construction cost | £25 Million [5] |
Architect | Barr Construction |
Main contractors | Langtree Group |
Tenants | |
St. Helens (2011–present) Liverpool F.C. Women (2024–present) | |
Website | |
https://www.totallywickedstadium.com/ |
Totally Wicked Stadium [6] is a rugby league stadium in the Peasley Cross area of St. Helens. Known as Langtree Park until 2017, it has a capacity of over 18,000 and is the home ground of St Helens R.F.C. The stadium was granted full planning permission on 20 May 2008. On 11 July 2008 the go-ahead was given without the need for a public enquiry and construction started in 2010. [7]
The first rugby league match to be played at the stadium was between St. Helens and Widnes on Friday 20 January 2012. St. Helens won the opening game by 42–24 and they moved in ready for the 2012 Super League season. [8]
From the 2024/25 season, Liverpool FC Women will play at the stadium, after signing a 10 year deal. [9]
The proposed plans came in three parts. The proposed parts were:
1. The transformation of the derelict former United Glass site to create a new 18,000-capacity stadium for St. Helens as well as a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) Tesco Extra next to the rugby ground. The stadium itself was to be a seating and standing arena with an oval shaped roof extending out from the south stand.
2. The redevelopment of the existing town centre Tesco store in Chalon Way into alternative high quality retail use, enhancing the retail available in St Helens town centre.
3. The development of the existing St. Helens site at Knowsley Road to create high quality residential accommodation, regenerating the local area.
The club stressed that if one of the three parts fell through, the whole project would have been in jeopardy. However councillors in St Helens approved the new Saints' stadium. Members of the Planning Committee endorsed the triple planning application granting permission subject to terms and conditions and a health and safety risk assessment
Demolition of the former UGB Glass plant began in late January 2009, with construction due to begin after the clearance of the 46-acre (190,000 m2) site had been completed. [10] [11] In July 2010, the building contractor Barr Construction Ltd was selected to build the new stadium. [12] Construction commenced on 23 August 2010, with the Tesco store completed in October 2011 and the stadium in November 2011. [13]
The stadium has two terraced stands and two seated, the pitch is grass although the touchline has some astro-turf. The match day hospitality consists of the sale of the Saints Gold beer which is served inside the ground at a number of kiosks and in the Redvee cafe bar. The stadium has a large Saints badge on the outside with the recently restored town motto: Ex Terra Lucem underneath. A bronze statue of former club captain Keiron Cunningham stands over the main entrance. [14]
The stadium can be accessed via a number of routes, including the recently[ when? ] erected Steve Prescott bridge in memory of Steve Prescott MBE, a former St. Helens and Hull F.C. player renowned for his fund raising contributions to charity.
Capacity – 4,718 (seated)
The North Stand runs parallel to the South Stand along the side of the pitch. The stand is completely seated and has SAINTS V spelt out in the seats and is occupied by home fans.
Capacity – 5,233 (seated)
The South Stand is the main stand of the ground and holds the club's hospitality boxes, tunnel and player changing rooms, ticket office, bar and club shop as well as the TV gantry.
Capacity – 3,899 (standing)
The East Stand is located behind the goal posts and is completely terraced. The stand also houses the score board in the North East corner and the stand is used by away fans.
Capacity – 3,796 (118 seats)
The West Stand is mostly terracing but also has 118 seated in the corner of the stand.
St Helens played their first league game at the ground in 2012, when they won against Salford. Their record victory at the stadium was 76–0 against Oldham in the Challenge Cup. The highest recorded attendance for a match so far was 17,980 against Wigan on 6 April, with an average attendance of 14,212 for the 2012 season. [15]
The venue hosted the first of two Rugby league International Origin Match in 2012 between England and the Exiles. [16] Langtree Park held a group match in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup between Australia and Fiji. [17] [18] The stadium hosted three group games in the 221 Rugby League World Cup.[ citation needed ]
The stadium also hosted the opening match of the 2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England.
Date | Winner | Score | Runners up | Competition | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
16 June 2012 | England | 18-10 | Exiles | International Origin | 11,083 |
England Knights | 62-4 | Ireland | Friendly | 11,083 | |
2 November 2013 | Australia | 34-2 | Fiji | 2013 World Cup | 14,137 |
18 October 2022 | Tonga | 24-18 | Papua New Guinea | 2021 World Cup | 10,409 |
24 October 2022 | Tonga | 32-6 | Wales | 7,752 | |
29 October 2022 | Australia | 66-6 | Italy | 5,586 | |
23 October 2023 | England | 22-18 | Tonga | 2023 Tonga rugby league tour of England | 12,898 [19] |
The stadium played host to the Challenge Cup Semi Final between Warrington and Leeds on 9 August 2014.
All of Liverpool U19s NextGen matches in the 2012–13 season were held at Langtree Park, as were many Under 21s matches. [20]
From 2024, Liverpool FC Women will play at the Totally Wicked Stadium, moving from Prenton Park. The stadium is expected to be re-branded, to cater to both St Helens and LFC Women. Because of this new partnership, the pitch will be replaced with a "Premier League standard pitch". [21]
It was announced on 15 November 2011 that primary developers, the Langtree Group, had gained the naming rights and that the stadium would be named Langtree Park. [8] In 2016 the club signed a five-year deal with Totally Wicked, a vaping and e-cigarettes company, for the naming rights to the stadium, effective in early 2017. [22]
Year | Sponsor | Name |
---|---|---|
2012–2016 | Langtree Group | Langtree Park |
2017–2021 | Totally Wicked | Totally Wicked Stadium |
Cardiff Arms Park, also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the third-place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup Final of 1995–96 and the following year in 1996–97.
Edgeley Park is a football stadium in Edgeley, Stockport, England. Built for Stockport RFC, a rugby league club, in 1891, by 1903 the rugby club was defunct and Stockport County Football Club moved in. The ground is set to be increased to a capacity of around 18,000 with the start of the project in 2025.
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of 50,987. The stadium was designed by renowned football stadium architect Archibald Leitch, with renovations to the stadium between 1978 and 1981, as well as 1990 and 1991, being designed by The Miller Partnership and Gareth Hutchison respectively.
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,350 seats, it is the 8th largest football stadium in England.
The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, two games of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and four games of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
St Helens R.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. They play home games at the Totally Wicked Stadium and currently compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league.
Adams Park is an association football stadium in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Built in 1990, it is the home ground of the local Wycombe Wanderers in League One. It was also leased from 2002 to 2014 to the rugby union club London Wasps from Aviva Premiership, and from 2016 to 2020 to the Reading F.C. Women football club. From the 2003–04 season to the 2005–06 season, the stadium was officially called Causeway Stadium, named after its sponsor Causeway Technologies.
Netherdale is a sports complex in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, consisting of two adjacent stadiums used for rugby union and football. The rugby ground is the home of Gala RFC and was formerly used by the professional Border Reivers team. It hosted one match of the 1999 Rugby World Cup. It has also occasionally been used for rugby league matches. The football ground is home to Gala Fairydean Rovers and has a Category A listed grandstand.
Newport Stadium, also known as Spytty Park, is an association football, rugby and athletics stadium in Newport, South Wales. It is the home of Newport City Football Club, Newport RFC and Newport Harriers Athletic Club. It was previously also used for home matches by Newport County and Albion Rovers football clubs. Newport County continue to use the stadium as a base for youth teams and senior squad training.
Musgrave Park, known as Virgin Media Park for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby football stadium in the city of Cork, Ireland. The ground is situated on Pearse Road in Ballyphehane. The ground is named after Jimmy Musgrave, a past-president of the Irish Rugby Football Union. Owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), it is primarily used by Dolphin RFC, Sundays Well RFC, and Munster Rugby.
The Coventry Building Society Arena is a complex in Coventry, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currently home to football team, Championship club Coventry City F.C. along with facilities which include a 6,000 square metres (65,000 sq ft) exhibition hall, a hotel and a casino. The site is also home to Arena Park Shopping Centre, containing one of UK's largest Tesco Extra hypermarkets. Built on the site of the Foleshill gasworks, it is named after its sponsor, Coventry Building Society who entered into a ten-year sponsorship deal in 2021. For the 2012 Summer Olympics, where stadium naming sponsorship was forbidden, the stadium was known as the City of Coventry Stadium.
Caerphilly Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team founded in 1887. Their home ground is Virginia Park in Caerphilly and their nickname is The Cheesemen. Caerphilly RFC currently play in the WRU Division Two East Central and are a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
The Halton Stadium is a multi-purpose rugby league, football and American football stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, football team Widnes Football Club of the Northern Premier League who play their home games at the stadium, and also the American football side Halton Spartans of the BAFA National Leagues, the Halton Spartans having competed in the BAFANL national American football league since 2015. The stadium is all seater and has a total capacity of 13,350.
St Mirren Park, more commonly known as Love Street, was a football stadium located on Love Street in Paisley, Scotland. At one time the stadium was capable of accommodating almost 50,000 spectators, however in its final years it had an all-seated capacity of 10,800. Until its closure in 2009, it was the home ground of St Mirren F.C.
Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted Liverpool F.C. Reserves. The stadium was demolished during spring 2011 and a new construction then known as Cunningham Grange, named after club legend Keiron Cunningham, was built on the site.
Rodney Parade is a stadium in the city of Newport, South Wales. It is located on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre. The ground is on Rodney Road, a short walk from the city's central bus and railway stations via Newport Bridge or Newport City footbridge. There is no spectator car park at the ground but a number of multi-storey car parks are nearby.
St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground, commonly known simply as St Helens Ground, is a sports venue in Swansea, Wales, owned and operated by the City and County of Swansea Council. Used mainly for rugby union and cricket, it has been the home ground of Swansea RFC and Swansea Cricket Club since it opened in 1873.
The 2014 St Helens R.F.C. season is the club's 140th in its history; its 119th in rugby league. The Saints will be looking to end a 6-year silverware drought this season by competing for the Super League XIX title as well as the 113th edition of the Challenge Cup. This season marks Australian Nathan Brown's second season as head coach of the club, continuing from his first season in 2013 which ended in a 5th-place finish and an early playoff exit courtesy of an 11–10 defeat at Leeds Rhinos. They began their season by taking on last seasons runner-up Warrington Wolves at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, which ended in an 8–38 win for Saints. This win sent Saints on a win streak that lasted for eight Super League games before being defeated on 18 April 2014 by arch-rivals Wigan Warriors at Langtree Park in the annual Good Friday derby match. Easter was a period to forget for the Saints as they were beaten by Widnes Vikings for their second league defeat in a row, following the Good Friday defeat to bitter rivals Wigan, and then by Leeds Rhinos in Round 5 of the Challenge Cup meaning the Saints will miss out on the trophy for a sixth year. The Saints bounced back however on 1 May with a 48–18 win over the London Broncos. Saints suffered another Magic Weekend to the Warrington Wolves on 18 May with the game ending 41–24 to the Wolves. Results picked up after the Magic Weekend with two straight wins at home against Huddersfield & Salford however the Saints then traveled to Perpignan where they suffered a humiliating 42–0 loss to the Catalans Dragons. Once again, the Saints bounced back with an impressive win over Castleford Tigers at Langtree Park and with another outstanding performance in a pulsating game at the DW Stadium against arch-rivals Wigan Warriors that ended 12–16 in favour of the Saints; the win avenging the Good Friday defeat at Langtree Park. Following this win, Saints suffered a shock 40–10 defeat to Hull Kingston Rovers but bounced back with three straight wins before losing to Hull KR's cross-town rivals, Hull FC, 19–12. However, a 40–16 win over Wakefield Trinity Wildcats & an extremely tight 12–13 win over Leeds Rhinos at Headingley put the Saints in a position where a win against Warrington on 4 September would hand them their first League Leaders' Shield since the 2008 season; with Castleford Tigers being the only other team in contention for the top spot. Despite losing their last two games of the regular season, Saints acquired the League Leaders' Shield following Castleford's failure to beat Catalans Dragons in their last game of the season; meaning that the Saints took their first piece of silverware since 2008. The unlikely success of the 2014 season culminated in a 14–6 win over arch-rivals Wigan Warriors in the 2014 Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford making Saints the Super League champions for the first time since 2006 in an extremely lively, well-fought contest that saw Wigan player Ben Flower sent off for a sucker punch on a defenceless Lance Hohaia in the 2nd minute of the game.
The 2015 St Helens R.F.C. season is the club's 141st in its history; its 120th in rugby league. The Saints entered the season as defending champions after winning the Super League XIX title against Wigan Warriors 14-6 at Old Trafford after also winning the minor-premiership by topping the Super League ladder. Following the departure of previous head coach Nathan Brown, Saints entered the season with a new coach, former Saints player Keiron Cunningham
Headingley Rugby Stadium is a Rugby League stadium in Headingley, Leeds and shares the same site as Headingley Cricket Ground. It is the home ground of the Leeds Rhinos. Headingley is the 5th largest rugby league stadium in England.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)