RODNEY PARADE
2012-PRESENT
Rodney Parade has been the home of Newport County AFC since 2012 after it was decided that current home Spytty Stadium no longer met the Football Club's requirements.
In May 2012, it was agreed that the Exiles would move to Rodney Parade for the 2012-13 Season. The Club extended their stay at the ground by signing a ten-year lease on the 28th February 2013.
By moving to Rodney Parade, County were now ground-sharing with Newport RFC who had been using the stadium since the 1800s and Newport Gwent Dragons (now Dragons).
Rodney Parade’s history is a long one. In fact, the stadium is one of the oldest sporting venues currently used in the Football League.
The stadium opened in 1877 and was owned by Newport Athletic Club whose cricket, tennis, rugby and athletic teams all used the ground.
Rodney Parade was the first stadium in Wales to install floodlights. In October 1879, the stadium made history by hosting the first floodlit a rugby match in Wales when Newport RFC faced Cardiff RFC.
Rodney Parade also hosted six full-cap Wales Rugby Matches between 1884 and 1912 and is the famous venue of a 3-0 victory for Newport RFC over the All Blacks. This was the Kiwis' only defeat on their 1963 tour of the British Isles, France and Canada.
For much of the 1900s, Rodney Parade remained the home of these Newport Sports Clubs but in 1993, Newport Cricket Club relocated to the Newport International Sports village in Spytty. The Newport Athletic Bowls Club relocated to Caerleon in 2013.
In the summers of 2013 and 2014 new drainage systems were installed in order to help the pitch cope with three sports teams. Despite this, there were major drainage problems throughout the 2016/17 Season.
In 2017, after Newport RFC Shareholders agreed the sale of the ground to the Welsh Rugby Union, work was started to install a hybrid grass pitch which would be robust enough to host two rugby teams and a football team.
Rodney Parade is the location where Newport County AFC completed the 2016/17 Great Escape and registered a victory over Leeds United and a draw against Tottenham Hotspur.
County's highest attendance at Rodney Parade was 9,836 for Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match vs Tottenham Hotspur. This was achieved thanks to the construction of two temporary stands (one in the home and one in the away end).
The highest League attendance for County at Rodney Parade was 7,326 for the final match of the 2016/17 vs Notts County.
The highest ever attendance at Rodney Parade was 31,000 which was acheived on 10th January 1952 when Newport RFC faced South Africa. (South Africa went onto with that game 12-6).