Ashton Gate Stadium is home to the Bristol Bears and Bristol City FC who play in the English Rugby Premiership and the EFL Championship respectively. The stadium has a capacity of 27,000, was built in 1887 and is located next to the River Avon in Bristol, England. It’s built of 4 stands: the Lansdown Stand, Dolman Stand, Atyeo Stand and South Stand.
Table of Contents
Stadium Guide by Rugby Tripper
History
Bedminster FC played in Ashton Gate Stadium until 1900 before they merged with Bristol South End to form Bristol City FC. They moved to St John’s Lane for 4 seasons before returning to Ashton Gate in 1904 where they still play at to this day.
The stadium has held 2 International rugby matches with a Home Nations match between England and Wales in 1908 with Wales emerging victorious 28-18. A Pool 2 1999 Rugby World Cup match was also held between New Zealand and Tonga with the All Blacks winning 45-9.
One Rugby League match was held in 1911 with Australia beating the “Wales & West” side 23-3 in the 1911/12 Kangaroo Tour. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2019/20 Heineken Champions Cup final was moved from Marseille to Ashton Gate Stadium where Exeter Chiefs beat Racing Metro.
In 2014, Bristol rugby moved from the Memorial Stadium to Ashton Gate Stadium to share with Bristol City FC in order to have larger crowds at matches. The ground also underwent development in 2014 with a view to increasing the capacity, relay the pitch and build new executive boxes. The work ended before the start of the 2016/17 season.
Numerous concerts have taken part at Ashton Gate Stadium with Bon Jovi, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Westlife, Bryan Adams, Neil Diamond, The Best, Elton John, Spice Girls, Meat Loaf, Muse, Spice Girls and Take That all having concerts in Bristol over the years.