RDS Arena
RDS | |
| File:RDSARENA.jpg | |
 | |
| Full name | Royal Dublin Society Arena |
|---|---|
| Location | Ballsbridge Dublin Leinster Ireland |
| Owner | Royal Dublin Society |
| Capacity | 18,500 |
| Record attendance | 18,500 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1868 |
| Renovated | 2007 & 2008 |
| Expanded | 2007 |
| Tenants | |
| Leinster Rugby (Magners League) | |
RDS Arena is owned by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and is located in Dublin, Leinster.
The arena was originally developed to host equestrian events, including the annual Dublin Horse Show, which was first held there in 1868. The site was acquired in 1879 by the RDS.
The DART runs close to the RDS premises with Lansdowne and Sandymount being the closest stops. The RDS is serviced by bus route numbers 4, 4A, 5, 7 and 45, which stop outside the Main Hall Entrance to the RDS on Merrion Road.
The Arena is the current home of Heineken Cup champions Leinster Rugby, the arena has also served as the home of Shamrock Rovers, Ireland and St. Patrick's Athletic. The Ireland national rugby union team will play Fiji national rugby union team at the RDS in November 2009.
The Arena has also held concerts and a WWE event.
Sporting Events
Association Football
The Stadium first hosted a soccer game when Shamrock Rovers used it as a home ground from 1990-1996 as Rovers at the time did not have a home ground. The Stadium held its first international match on 19 February 1992 it played host to a home game between Ireland and Wales national football team. The Stadium also held the 2007 & 2008 FAI Cup finals, as the new Aviva Stadium was under construction, it is expected to host the 2009 final as well. The RDS hosted a game between St. Patrick's Athletic and Hertha Berlin in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup First round.[1] St. Pat's also played Steaua Bucureşti in the Arena on 27 August 2009 in the Play-off round of the opening season of the Europa League.
Horse Riding
The Arena was originally constructed to host Horse-Riding events, the Dublin Horse Show has been held at the RDS annually since 1868.The RDS also hosted the Show Jumping World Championships in 1982
Rugby Union
The the stadium first opened its doors to rugby union on Saturday 15 October 2005, hosting a game between Leinster Rugby and the Cardiff Blues, which Leinster won 34 - 15, the arena hosted 4 further games that season.The following season, the RDS was not used by Leinster rugby as the RDS arena was being renovated.
The 2007 / 2008 season saw the RDS become the official home of Leinster rugby when the branch signed a 20 year lease on the ground, with all of the home games for the season to be hosted there. After renovation and expansion, the Grandstand and North and South Stands were expanded, boosting the capacity to 18,500 along with floodlights being installed and a new playing surface being laid, to withstand the demands of a full rugby season and show jumping events.
The RDS had proven to be a very successful hunting ground for Leinster, as they won 11 of their 12 home games that season, culminating on Saturday 3 May 2008 in a 41 - 8 victory over the Newport Gwent Dragons and lifting the Magners League trophy that day. In all, Leinster had played 18 games in the RDS, losing only twice, to Bath and Llanelli Scarlets.
For the beginning of the 2008 / 2009 season, a roof had been erected above the Grandstand section of the ground, and Leinster hosted their defence of the Magners League trophy and the European Heineken Cup campaign, which saw Leinster defeat English champions London Wasps, Castres of France and Edinburgh, before marching on to become champions of Europe for the first time, with a 19 - 16 victory over Leicester Tigers in Edinburgh on 23 May 2009.
In March 2009, the final of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup was played in the RDS due to the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road, its traditional venue.
An autumn rugby international between Ireland and Fiji is also scheduled for 21 November 2009.[2]
Tennis
In 1983, the Ireland team played in the World Group of the Davis Cup for the only time. The match against a United States team including John McEnroe was played in the RDS rather than the usual venue, Fitzwilliam, to accommodate crowds of 6,000 each day.[3]
Wrestling
The Arena hosted a WWE event which featured Kurt Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, John Cena and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Concerts
Popular acts such as Boyzone, McFly, Fall Out Boy, Shania Twain, Avril Lavigne, Michael Jackson, Dolly Parton, Shirley Bassey, Gwen Stefani, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Britney Spears, George Michael, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, and Rihanna have all played the RDS Arena. In June 2008 American band Paramore played their debut Irish concert in the RDS Arena. Bruce Springsteen has played there five times since 1988, including during "The Rising Tour" in 2003, May 2008 as part of the "Magic Tour"[4], and returned in July 2009 as part of the forthcoming "Working on a Dream Tour"[5].
References
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008) |
- ^ StPatsFC.com - Match Report
- ^ Watterson, Johnny (16 May 2009). "RDS to host Fiji for debut on international rugby stage". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2009-05-16.
- ^ "1980's - Matt Doyle and Sean Sorenson". Tennis Ireland. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
- ^ ""Bruce Springsteen rocks the RDS…"". Hot Press. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ ""Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream Tour Dates 2009"". Pop Crunch magazine website. 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
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