Cardiff City visitor guide | Ninian Park guide

Ninian Park has been the home ground of Cardiff City F.C. since it's opening in 1910. Sloper Park was the name originally planned for the ground, due to its location on Sloper Road, but the ground was eventually named Ninian Park, after Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who played a large part in its construction. As well as football matches, Ninian Park has, during its history, hosted rugby matches, a Bob Marley Concert, a rally by Pope John Paul II and Commonwealth show-jumping. Cardiff City F.C. is moving to a new stadium in September 2009. The last competitive football game to be held at Ninian Park will be the Ipswich Town match on the 25th April 2009.

Visiting supporters will find themselves housed in a section of the John Smiths Grange End. The stand is a mixture of seating at the front and terrace to the back with home and away fans being separated by a gap. Cardiff fans are know for their passion, so matches at Ninian Park are always lively but some may find the atmosphere to be overly vocal and intimidating at times. Match sustenance such as chips, pies, pasties, bacon rolls and the patriotic Welsh Burger are available throughout the game.

The stadium is only a 20-minute walk from the city centre, so fans can easily make the most of their stay in Cardiff by choosing a Ninian Park hotel right in the heart of the city.  

Getting To Ninian Park

By Car

If travelling to Ninian Park by car is it best to avoid driving through the centre of Cardiff. Exit the M4 at Junction 33, picking up the A4232 dual carriageway towards Cardiff. Keep to this road and take the B4267 exit for Cardiff (Leckwith) Athletics Stadium; this stadium is right by Ninian Park so keep following the subsequent signs, after about a half mile Ninian Park will be to the right. Match day car parking can be found over the road at the athletic clubs huge car park. Fans staying in a hotel near Ninian Park may find it more convenient to leave their car parked at the hotel and walk to the ground on foot.

By Public Transport

Ninian Park Halt train station is just a few minutes walk from the stadium. It is on a local line so it is unlikely that you will arrive in Cardiff here but trains do stop regularly on the way to/from Cardiff's main station, Cardiff Central. An alternative station also served by regular train from Cardiff Central is Grangetown, which is about 10-15 minutes away from Ninian Park by foot.

Those arriving in the city for the first time should note that Cardiff's central railway and bus stations are located close to the city's grand Millennium Stadium and are just a 20 minute walk away over the river Taff; so even if you don't make use of public transport the ground will not be hard to reach.