Sandy Park is a
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
stadium and conference and banqueting centre in
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is the home ground of
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...
, who from the 2010–11 season have been playing in
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...
, the top flight of the English rugby union league system. The club relocated there from their former stadium at the
County Ground in 2006. The stadium can hold 15,600 spectators and is located adjacent to M5 junction 30, which is around 5 miles from Exeter City Centre.
Sandy Park played host to the
England Saxons vs
Ireland Wolfhounds on 28 January 2012; the England Saxons won 23–17.
Expansion
In the summer of 2012 the club announced a five-year plan to redevelop the ground to hold 20,600, which will be carried out in phases, starting with the existing west stand to provide a much larger bar area and extending the grandstand the full length of the pitch (in place of the existing temporary seating). The second phase (subject to finance) will involve building a large conference centre to the south and then extending the main grandstand around the corner and along the south end of the ground. The proposed stands behind each of the goal posts will be much larger than the existing main grandstand, but the proposed east stand will be similar in size to the main stand, due to its proximity adjacent the M5 motorway restricting its size.
The first phase of the redevelopment (costing £10million) was carried out over the summer of 2014 and Sandy Park reopened in September that year with an increased capacity of 12,500, the capacity that the stadium will have when it hosts matches at the
2015 Rugby World Cup
The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...
. The Conference & Banqueting facilities of Sandy Park were also increased, doubling the capacity for conferences and other events.
The second phase was announced in July 2021 and involves expansion of the East stand to create a further 1,948 seats and taking capacity to 15,600.
2015 Rugby World Cup matches
Sandy Park was one of thirteen venues in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
that hosted
2015 Rugby World Cup
The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...
games.
2025 Women's Rugby World Cup
In August 2023, Sandy Park was confirmed as one of eight host venues for the
2025 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Gallery
File:Sandy Park West Stand.jpg, West Stand
File:Sandy Park East Stand.jpg, East Stand
References
External links
Sandy Park
Rugby union stadiums in England
Exeter Chiefs
Sports venues completed in 2006
Sports venues in Devon
2025 Women's Rugby World Cup venues
2006 establishments in England
Buildings and structures in Exeter
Rugby union in Devon
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