Cardiff City Stadium has been announced as the host venue for next year’s final of the Pro14 rugby union competition.
It will mark the first time that Cardiff has staged the event in the era of the Pro14’s ‘destination finals’ hosting model. The match will be held on June 20.
The 2019 edition of the Pro14 Final was held at Glasgow’s Celtic Park in a move that marked a change in strategy for the league. It marked the first time that a non-traditional rugby union venue has staged the match and this trend will continue in 2020 as the home of Championship football club Cardiff City plays host.
Dublin’s Aviva Stadium hosted the 2017 and 2018 editions, with Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium staging in 2016. The Pro14 opted to start staging the final at ‘destination venues’ in 2015, with the match having previously been awarded to the home ground of the highest-placed team that season.
The Pro14 Final has enjoyed four record attendances in succession and the league hopes this trend will continue next year at the 33,280-seat Cardiff City Stadium.
Pro14 Rugby chief executive Martin Anayi said: “Choosing Cardiff City Stadium as the location for next year’s Final allows us to aim for a sell-out event after four successive years of setting new attendance records.
“Bringing the final to Wales is another move in making the Championship decider about supporters of rugby, not just fans of the teams involved, and we know from experience that Welsh supporters are the most vocal. Cardiff City Stadium also brings us to a football venue for the second year in a row after the tremendous success of our most recent Final in Glasgow’s Celtic Park.”
The Pro14 is made up of teams from across Wales, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and South Africa. The new season gets underway on September 27.
Image: Pro14
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