The oldest stadiums still in use
Lord's in London has the earliest opening year of the 2,233 stadiums on this site: 1787. Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and Arena Civica in Milan follow with 1807. Altogether 90 listed stadiums opened before 1900, and 54 of them are in the United Kingdom.
The opening year used here is the one given in the infobox of each stadium's Wikipedia article; for 6 of the 90 it is the completion year from the article's categories instead. It dates the ground rather than every stand on it: 44 of these 90 grounds also have renovation or expansion years recorded, and Fratton Park has the most, 17.
| Stadium | Nation | Opened | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lord's | United Kingdom | 1787 | 31,100 |
| Racecourse Ground | United Kingdom | 1807 | 10,771 |
| Arena Civica | Italy | 1807 | 10,000 |
| Trent Bridge | United Kingdom | 1838 | 17,500 |
| The Oval, London | United Kingdom | 1845 | 27,500 |
| Sydney Cricket Ground | Australia | 1851 | 48,000 |
| NTCA Ground | Australia | 1851 | 10,000 |
| Melbourne Cricket Ground | Australia | 1853 | 100,024 |
| Bramall Lane | United Kingdom | 1855 | 32,050 |
| Old Trafford Cricket Ground | United Kingdom | 1857 | 19,000 |
| Malahide Cricket Ground | Ireland | 1861 | 11,500 |
| Field Mill | United Kingdom | 1861 | 10,022 |
| Eden Gardens | India | 1864 | 68,000 |
| North Sydney Oval | Australia | 1867 | 10,000 |
| RDS Arena | Ireland | 1868 | 18,500 |
Cricket first, football in numbers
Of the 15 earliest grounds, 10 are listed for cricket, starting with Lord's and running through Trent Bridge, The Oval and the Sydney and Melbourne cricket grounds. Across all 90 pre-1900 openings the count turns: 48 are listed for football, 24 for cricket, 10 for rugby union and 10 for athletics. A ground can be listed for several sports, so these numbers overlap.
The decades show when the pace picked up. The 1880s account for 24 of the pre-1900 openings and the 1890s for 42, against 5 in the 1850s and 5 in the 1860s. Many of the grounds from those two last decades, 34 are grounds in England and Scotland listed for football.
Where the old grounds are
The United Kingdom holds 54 of the 90: 40 in England, 12 in Scotland, 1 in Wales and 1 in Northern Ireland. Australia follows with 12, then Ireland with 4. By continent, Europe has 64, Oceania 14, North America 6, Asia 3, Africa 2 and South America 1.
| Continent | Earliest listed stadium | Opened |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | Lord's, United Kingdom | 1787 |
| Oceania | Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia | 1851 |
| Asia | Eden Gardens, India | 1864 |
| North America | Kensington Oval, Barbados | 1871 |
| South America | Bourda, Guyana | 1884 |
| Africa | Newlands Cricket Ground, South Africa | 1888 |
Of the six continental leaders, 6 are listed for cricket: Lord's, Sydney Cricket Ground, Eden Gardens, Kensington Oval, Bourda and Newlands Cricket Ground. Only Europe's earliest, Lord's, is also the earliest on the whole site. Milan's Arena Civica, which shares second place, is listed for athletics, football and rugby union.
Within the United Kingdom the home nations differ widely. England's oldest listed ground is Lord's (1787), Wales's is the Racecourse Ground (1807), Scotland's is Cappielow (1879) and Northern Ireland's is The Oval, Belfast (1892). England alone has 40 of the pre-1900 grounds.
The oldest in the largest nations
Outside the United Kingdom, the oldest listed stadium of each large nation is often much younger. In the United States it is Memorial Field (1893); in Japan, Koshien Stadium (1924); in Brazil, Estádio da Curuzu (1914); in China, Guangdong Provincial People's Stadium (1932). India's oldest, Eden Gardens (1864), ranks 2nd by capacity among the 92 listed stadiums in India, and France's, and in France it is the Parc des Princes (1897). Germany's oldest listed ground dates from 1905, Spain's from 1908 and Argentina's from 1902.
| Nation | Oldest listed stadium | Opened | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Memorial Field | 1893 | 11,000 |
| United Kingdom | Lord's | 1787 | 31,100 |
| Japan | Koshien Stadium | 1924 | 47,757 |
| Brazil | Estádio da Curuzu | 1914 | 16,200 |
| China | Guangdong Provincial People's Stadium | 1932 | 15,000 |
| India | Eden Gardens | 1864 | 68,000 |
| France | Parc des Princes | 1897 | 47,929 |
| Germany | Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 1905 | 11,410 |
| Italy | Arena Civica | 1807 | 10,000 |
| Argentina | Estadio GEBA | 1902 | 12,133 |
These differences say more about which grounds survive and are listed today than about when each nation started building: a nation whose early stadiums were later replaced shows a recent oldest year here.
Old is not the same as small
Of the pre-1900 grounds, 15 have a recorded capacity of 40,000 or more today. The largest is Melbourne Cricket Ground with 100,024, which also makes it the largest stadium in Australia on this site. Croke Park (82,300) and Eden Gardens (68,000) come next. At the other end, 44 of the old grounds hold fewer than 20,000.
The next generation, 1900 to 1919
The two decades after 1900 added 96 more of today's listed stadiums. They include some of the largest on the site: Kyle Field in the United States opened in 1905 and now has a recorded capacity of 102,733, and Twickenham Stadium followed in 1909 with 82,000 today. Europe accounts for 55 of the 96 and North America for 14.
Capacity growth over time is visible in these early grounds too. Of the 90 stadiums opened before 1900, 44 have at least one renovation or expansion year in their article; across the whole site the share is 42%.
To see every listed ground that opened before a given year, open the stadium finder with "Opened to" set to 1899; the list starts with the largest.
Sources: infobox opening years and categories of the English Wikipedia article of each stadium, read on 28 October 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How we count.