The Swansea.com Stadium (; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated multi-use sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the

Landore Landore () is a district and community in Swansea, Wales. The district falls in the Landore council ward. A mainly residential area, it is located about 2.5 miles north of Swansea city centre. The north-easterly part of Landore is known as ...

area of

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, Wales, hosting both

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 ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It had an opening capacity of 20,750, making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea; minor layout changes have since increased this to 21,088. It is the home stadium of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

, who took full operational control of the stadium in 2018, and the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

rugby team. As a result of Swansea City's promotion in 2011, the stadium became the first

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

ground in Wales. It is the third largest stadium in Wales – after the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

and the

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium () is a stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City and the Wales national football team, Wales national team. Following expansion of the Ninian S ...

. In European competitions, the stadium is known as Swansea Stadium due to advertising rules.

History

With

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

, and

' St Helen's and

The Gnoll The Gnoll () in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for rugby union, rugby league, and cricket, in addition to having previously been used for association football. Description In Jul ...

no longer being up-to-date venues to play at, and both the Swans and the Ospreys not having the necessary capital to invest into a new stadium, Swansea council and a developer-led consortia submitted a proposal for a sustainable '

bowl A bowl is a typically round dish or container generally used for preparing, serving, storing, or consuming food. The interior of a bowl is characteristically shaped like a spherical cap, with the edges and the bottom, forming a seamless curve ...

' venue for 20,520 seats on a site to the west of the

River Tawe The River Tawe (; ) is a long river in South Wales. Its headwaters flow initially east from its source below Llyn y Fan Fawr south of Glasfynydd Forest, Moel Feity in the Black Mountain (range), Black Mountains, the westernmost range of the ...

on the site of the

Morfa Stadium Morfa Stadium was an athletics stadium in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. Constructed and in use since 1980, it was officially opened as Morfa Stadium on 20 April 1989 by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. The stadium was subsequently ...

, an

athletics stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

owned by the

City and County of Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

council. It was funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The final value of the development was in excess of £50m. On 10 July 2005, the stadium was opened and became the home to Swansea City and Ospreys. On 23 July 2005, it was officially opened as Swansea City faced

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, (then managed by former Swansea player Chris Coleman) in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with the first goal being scored by Fulham's

Steed Malbranque Steed Claude Malbranque (born 6 January 1980) is a former professional association football, footballer. Born in Belgium, he represented France at international level. Malbranque started his professional career with Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon, bef ...

. Swansea's Marc Goodfellow scored during the game to level the match. The first league game was held on 6 August, with Swansea defeating

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

through a single goal by debutant

Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed " the Beast", he was renowned for his physical prowess and goalscoring ability, in a career where he amassed more than 2 ...

. Before a league match between

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in October 2005, a statue of

Ivor Allchurch Ivor John Allchurch (16 October 1929 – 10 July 1997) was a Welsh professional association football, footballer who played as an inside forward. Known as the "Golden Boy of Welsh football", Allchurch began his career playing for his hometown ...

(1929–1997) was unveiled to commemorate the

-born star who during two spells for the club scored a record 164 goals in 445 appearances. The first capacity crowd recorded at Liberty Stadium was on 1 November 2006 when The Ospreys beat Australia A 24–16. The stadium has hosted multiple

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

football internationals, listed below. Seating at Liberty Stadium is often sold out during Swansea City football matches. Swansea City have expressed a desire to have the capacity of the stadium increased and have held talks with Swansea Council during the 2011–2012 season for the future expansion of the Liberty Stadium which would be completed in a number of phases beginning with expansion or redevelopment of the east stand. Plans for a new

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

fast food restaurant to be opened near the stadium threw expansion plans into doubt. However, the planning application was withdrawn. In December 2013, it was reported by ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'' that the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

had requested details of the funding of the stadium, as part of a wider inquiry into state aid for sports clubs. At the start of the 2014–15 Premier League season, a number of changes were made to the stadium. These included two new 'Jumbotron' screens inside the north and south stands, measuring approximately 200 inches. Due to sponsorship by LG all televisions in food outlets and concourse were replaced by 50" LG TV screens and the south stand renamed The LG Stand. New advertising boards with a crowd facing side were also added. Expansions planned would expand the stadium to 33,000, with another expansion upgrading the stadium to above the 40,000 mark. This would make Wales national football matches a possibility. In July 2018,

took full ownership of the stadium, after reaching an agreement with Swansea City Council. It was agreed that the

could continue to share the stadium.

Naming

During its construction, a variety of names were suggested for it: most commonly used was "White Rock" stadium (after the copper works of the same name which existed on the site historically). However "White Rock" was only used as a temporary name during its construction and when work was finished, the name was dropped and the stadium owners began looking for sponsors for the stadium. While sponsors were being searched for, it was called "New Stadium Swansea". On 18 October 2005, Swansea-based developers Liberty Properties Plc won the naming rights to call it "Liberty Stadium". In

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

matches, it is called Swansea Stadium due to UEFA regulations on sponsorship. On 8 May 2015, for one night only, the stadium was renamed The Katie Phillips Stadium, after an Ospreys supporter chosen at random. On 9 August 2021, the stadium was renamed the Swansea.com stadium following a 10-year contract being agreed with Swansea.com, a business which shares director Martin Morgan with Swansea City.

International fixtures

The ground has also hosted eight

international football fixtures. The first was the first Wales match in Swansea for 17 years, and saw local player

John Hartson John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and TNT Sports. As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his ti ...

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

the team for the first time, in a goalless draw against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. The first competitive game and first victory was a 2–0 win over Switzerland in

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

on 7 October 2011. The most recent game was a goalless draw against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on 12 November 2020, the first Wales game at the venue for seven years. The results were as follows:

Other uses

Concerts

Politics

In April 2014, the stadium held a

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of parliament (both through defect ...

conference.

Statistics and average attendances

*Stadium capacity: 21,088 *Record attendance: 20,972 vs Liverpool 1 May 2016 *First international game held:

, 17 August 2005. ''Average attendances are for home league matches only.'' ''Note: During the 2025-26 season, the Ospreys moved to the St Helens Ground.''

Gallery

File:Liberty Stadium rugby.jpg File:Liberty Stadium interior - 1.jpg File:Liberty Stadium interior - 2.jpg File:Liberty Stadium interior - 3.jpg File:Ivor Allchurch.JPG File:Robbie James Wall of Fame.JPG

References

External links

*
Swansea City Council

Swansea City AFC

Ospreys Regional Rugby Team
{{Authority control Football venues in Wales Rugby union stadiums in Wales Swansea City A.F.C. Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom Ospreys (rugby union) Sports venues in Swansea Stadiums in Swansea Buildings and structures in Swansea Sports venues completed in 2005 Premier League venues English Football League venues Venues of the United Rugby Championships