 | |
 Front facade of Murrayfield Stadium, 2018 | |
 Interactive map of Murrayfield Stadium | |
| Location | Roseburn Street Edinburgh EH12 5PJ |
|---|---|
| Public transit |  Haymarket Murrayfield Stadium |
| Owner | Scottish Rugby Union |
| Operator | Scottish Rugby Union |
| Capacity | 67,144 |
| Record attendance | 104,000 (1975 Five Nations –Scotland vsWales) |
| Surface | DessoGrassMaster hybrid pitch |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 21 March 1925; 100 years ago (1925-03-21) |
| Renovated | 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Tenants | |
| Scotland national rugby union team (1925–present) Edinburgh Rugby (1996–2017, 2018–presentselected matches) Edinburgh Sevens (2007–2011) Scottish Claymores (1995–2002) | |
Murrayfield Stadium is arugby unionstadium located in theMurrayfield area ofEdinburgh, Scotland. The stadium is owned by theScottish Rugby Union (SRU) who has its headquarters based at the stadium, and is the national stadium of theScotland national rugby union team. With a seating capacity of 67,144, it is the largest stadium in Scotland, the fifth largest in theUnited Kingdom, and the twenty-second largestin Europe.[1]
It officially opened on 21 March 1925 with a game between Scotland andEngland.[2] The game was won by Scotland who came out victorious following aGrand Slam.[3] The stadium hosts most ofScotland's home test matches and theScottish Hydro Electric Cup final, as well asURC andEuropean Rugby Champions Cup matches.
Although primarily a rugby union stadium, Murrayfield has in the past hostedAmerican football,rugby league andassociation football matches, as well as numerous music concerts. Currently, the stadium is known asScottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons.
The SRU identified 19 acres of land at Murrayfield, purchasing this from Edinburgh Polo Club at Murrayfield, having raised money throughdebentures.[4] A stand and three embankments were constructed, which took two years.[4] Previous internationals had been played atInverleith[5] but it was not large enough to cope with the increasing number of spectators.[6]Arthur Sellers was the stadium's first groundsman, having previously prepared the pitches at Inverleith.[7] On 21 March 1925England were the first team to visit Murrayfield, with 70,000 people watchingScotland beat them to win their firstFive Nations ChampionshipGrand Slam.[5][8]
During theSecond World War the ground at Murrayfield was offered to the nation and was taken over by theRoyal Army Service Corps and used as a supply depot. During the war years thearmed forces sports authorities managed to arrange two Scotland v. England services internationals each year, on a home-and-away basis. Scotland's home matches were played at Inverleith for the first two years with a return to Murrayfield in 1944 after that ground's derequisition.
Murrayfield's record attendance of 104,000 was set on 1 March 1975 when Scotland defeatedWales 12–10 during the1975 Five Nations Championship.[9] This attendance stood as a world record until 1999, and remains a European record.[5] The East stand was built in 1983.[10]
In October 1991 another debenture scheme was launched, to finance a more comprehensive redevelopment of the West Stand.[11] The new West Stand was designed with a 48-metre cantilever roof.[12] The old West Stand housed a museum, but this was not replaced and plans for a new visitor centre were shelved when the game turned professional.[13] The first phase was completed in January 1993 with the new north and south stands opening.[12] In February 1994 the centre section of the new West Stand opened.[10] The work was carried out byTilbury Douglas.[14]
In 1994, Murrayfield completed a £50-million renovation where floodlights were installed for the first time.
In October 2012, SRU chief executive Mark Dodson told the BBC that it was actively seeking a name sponsor for Murrayfield:[15]
The single biggest piece of our inventory is our national stadium. We would like to see if we can monetise that. It would be crazy for us not to look at using our single biggest piece of inventory to drive revenue. We want to get the right price for it.
In addition, Dodson indicated that the SRU was actively seeking a site for a completely new stadium with a capacity of 10,000 to 15,000 as a future home for Edinburgh Rugby.[16] The pitch was damaged bynematodes in the lead up to the 2013 autumn internationals. This led the SRU to replace the grass with aDesso surface from the start of the 2014 season.[17] A naming rights deal withBT was agreed in May 2014, resulting in the stadium being officially named as the BT Murrayfield Stadium.[18]
Scottish Rugby andScottish Gas agreed a new five-year partnership deal starting in July 2023. This will result in the creation of a Club & Community Net Zero Fund worth £2 million to ensure Scottish clubs can save on energy bills and carbon emissions. Scottish Gas will also invest in the women's game through shirt and stadium sponsorship, resulting in an official name change for the stadium to Scottish Gas Murrayfield.[19]
Murrayfield is located next toMurrayfield Ice Rink, Murrayfield Curling Rink, and is close toEdinburgh Zoo. It is named after the area of Edinburgh it is located in,Murrayfield. There are two cricket pitches in the immediate vicinity at Roseburn Park used by Murrayfield DAFS CC and four rugby pitches owned by the SRU which were used by teams including the amateur clubMurrayfield Wanderers RFC. Wanderers and their predecessors had played there since 1902 but were asked to vacate in 2018 as the governing body had plans to develop the land.[20][21] Wanderers moved their training base to Roseburn but continued to hire the Murrayfield pitches for some matches.
The stadium is served byLothian Bus services 12, 22, 26, 31 and theAirlink 100 along Corstorphine Road.[22][23] Post-match traffic congestion is common along this route.
Despite the line running adjacent to the stadium, the closest railway station to the stadium isHaymarket, which lies a mile to the East.
Interchange with theEdinburgh Trams is available at Haymarket,Edinburgh Park andEdinburgh Gateway stations.Edinburgh Waverley is a short walk from theSt Andrew Square tram stop.
Murrayfield Stadium tram stop is located adjacent to the stadium entrance turnstiles on Roseburn Street. Access to the platform is by a flight of stairs or lift. As part of crowd-management measures, ticketing machines are situated at the bottom of the staircase and not the platform.
| Preceding station | Edinburgh Trams | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haymarket towardsNewhaven | Newhaven - Edinburgh Airport | Balgreen towardsAirport |
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Murrayfield is used for mostScottish internationalrugby union matches, with all Scotland'sSix Nations home games being played in the stadium. The stadium also hosted all ofEdinburgh's matches between 1996 and January 2017. (For Pro14 matches, only the lower tier of the East Stand is typically used.) Since February 2018 all Edinburgh matches are once again held at Murrayfield; with work now finished on the construction of anew 7,800 capacity stadium on the back pitches to host Edinburgh Rugby from the start of the 2021/22 season.
From2007 to2011, Murrayfield hosted theEdinburgh 7s, then the final event in the annual IRB Sevens World Series (now known asSVNS) inrugby sevens, but that tournament was moved toGlasgow starting in2012 due to low attendance. Murrayfield hosted select matches from the2007 Rugby World Cup. The stadium also hosted theHeineken Cup Final in2005, whenToulouse beatStade Français 18–12, again in2009, with Leinster defeating Leicester 19–16 and finally in2017 with Saracens defeating Clermont 28–17.[24]
Murrayfield hosted matches of the1991,1999 and2007Rugby World Cups.
| Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 October 1991 | 1991Rugby World Cup Pool 2 |  Scotland | 47 |  Japan | 9 | 40,000 |
| 9 October 1991 | 1991Rugby World Cup Pool 2 | Scotland | 51 |  Zimbabwe | 12 | 35,000 |
| 12 October 1991 | 1991Rugby World Cup Pool 2 | Scotland | 24 |  Ireland | 15 | 54,000 |
| 19 October 1991 | 1991Rugby World Cup Quarter-final 2 | Scotland | 28 |  Western Samoa | 6 | 54,000 |
| 26 October 1991 | 1991Rugby World Cup Semi-final 1 | Scotland | 6 |  England | 9 | 54,000 |
| Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Pool A | Scotland | 29 |  South Africa | 46 | 57,612 |
| 8 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Pool A | Scotland | 43 |  Uruguay | 12 | 9,463 |
| 10 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Pool A | South Africa | 47 |  Spain | 3 | 4,769 |
| 16 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Pool A | Scotland | 40 | Spain | 0 | 17,593 |
| 20 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Quarter-final play-off 3 | Scotland | 35 | Samoa | 20 | 20,000 |
| 24 October 1999 | 1999Rugby World Cup Quarter-final 3 | Scotland | 18 |  New Zealand | 30 | 59,750 |
| Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 2007 | 2007Rugby World CupPool C | Scotland | 42 |  Romania | 0 | 31,222 |
| 23 September 2007 | 2007Rugby World CupPool C | Scotland | 0 | New Zealand | 40 | 64,558 |
Although primarily arugby union stadium, Murrayfield hosted theRugby LeagueChallenge Cup Finals of2000 and2002. The stadium hosted rugby league'sSuper LeagueMagic Weekend in 2009. The record for a rugby league attendance at the stadium is 67,247 for the 2000 Challenge Cup Final.
Murrayfield has also hostedassociation football matches. In December 2003, the SRU board agreed to let localScottish Premier League sideHearts lease the stadium for match days.[25] Later that month,UEFA confirmed that Hearts' own ground,Tynecastle did not meet the minimum criteria for European matches from the 2004–05 season.[26] Hearts used Murrayfield as their home venue for European matches for three years[27] until Hearts made adjustments to Tynecastle that made it compliant with UEFA regulations.[28] Additionally, both Hearts and Edinburgh neighboursHibernian have played preseason friendlies againstFC Barcelona at Murrayfield.[29][30] Almost 58,000 people attended to watch Hearts play Barcelona in July 2007, recording the largest crowd at an association football match in Edinburgh for 51 years.[31]
In 2014, Glasgow clubCeltic played two qualifying matches at the stadium due toCeltic Park being unavailable because of Glasgow's hosting of the2014 Commonwealth Games.[32] Hearts again used the stadium for home games during the2017–18 Scottish Premiership, due to the delays in construction of a new main stand at Tynecastle.[33] Murrayfield hosted one of the2018–19 Scottish League Cup semi-finals, played between Hearts and Celtic, in October 2018.[32] That match attracted an attendance of 61,161, the second-largest ever recorded for a football match in Edinburgh.[34] In July 2019, Murrayfield hosted apre-season friendly betweenLiverpool andNapoli, that attracted a crowd of 65,442 which was the highest attendance of fans at a football match in Scotland since the1989 Scottish Cup Final.[35] On 19 July 2023,Manchester United facedOlympique Lyonnais at Murrayfield in front of a crowd of 48,484.[36] On 20 March 2024, it was announced that Manchester United would return for the second successive year to play a pre-season match at Murrayfield, taking onRangers on 20 July 2024.[37] in front of 56,574
Murrayfield has played host toAmerican football and was one of two home venues for the now defunctScottish Claymores in theNFL Europa between 1995 and 2004, the other beingHampden Park inGlasgow. Additionally, it hostedWorld Bowl '96 on 23 June 1996. It has been mentioned[by whom?] as a potential future host site for theNFL International Series, should theNational Football League add future games outside the series' current permanent home,Tottenham Hotspur Stadium inLondon. Two other London stadiums,Wembley Stadium andTwickenham Stadium, are the only other grounds in Britain to host NFL matches.[38]
David Bowie played to a capacity crowd of 47,000 people on 28 June 1983.[39]Simple Minds were scheduled to play at the stadium in 1989, but pulled out because ofJim Kerr's objections to the venue's administrators allowing Scottish rugby players to attend the sport's centenary celebrations in South Africa, which was then still under apartheid.[40] On 30 June 1996,Tina Turner played at Murrayfield as part of herWildest Dreams Tour. In September 1997U2 played at Murrayfield as part of theirPopmart Tour.[41] On 3 June 1999,The Rolling Stones played to 51,000 on theirNo Security Tour.[42] On 8 July 1999Celine Dion performed herLet's Talk About Love World Tour as she sold out the full venue of 67,000, on her first ever show inScotland. In July 2005, Murrayfield hosted the finalLive 8 concert,Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push, with performances includingJames Brown,Texas andThe Proclaimers.Oasis played a sold-out show on 17 June 2009, as part of their world tour. Some antisocial behaviour at this event affected the stadium's licensing arrangements when they were reviewed a few months later.[43] This was the last time Oasis would play a concert in Scotland[44] and the second time they had played the stadium, the first being on theirStanding on the Shoulder of Giants Tour in 2000.[45]
Bon Jovi performed at the stadium on 22 June 2011 as part of their tour.[46]Madonna performed to a sell-out crowd of 52,160 on 21 July 2012 as part of herMDNA Tour. On 3 June 2014,One Direction performed to over 64,000 fans at Murrayfield as part of theirWhere We Are Stadium Tour.Foo Fighters performed at Murrayfield Stadium as part of theirSonic Highways World Tour on 8 September 2015. The band were originally supposed to play Murrayfield on 23 June 2015 but this was cancelled and rescheduled afterDave Grohl broke his foot at European Festival that same month.[47] TheSpice Girls performed to over 55,000 fans on 8 June 2019 as part of theirSpice World tour, it was their first Scottish concert in 21 years. On May 20, 2023,Beyoncé became the first Black woman sinceTina Turner in 1996 to perform at the stadium in front of a sold-out audience of 55,000 people as part of her triumphantRenaissance World Tour.Taylor Swift broke the all time Scottish concert attendance record 3 times whenThe Eras Tour came to Murrayfield for 3 nights on 7, 8 and 9 June 2024, playing to 73,000 people each night, and nearly 220,000 people over the 3 nights.
2005: Plans were produced for a new Main Stand that could take the capacity of the stadium up to 25,000. In the meantime, the removal of 280 seats from the front of the Gorgie and Roseburn Stands allowed the club to extend the length of the playing pitch to meet UEFA Cup requirements. The capacity of the ground is now 17,400.
| Preceded by None | Rugby World Cup Sevens host venue 1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Heineken Cup final venue 2004–05 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Heineken Cup final venue 2008–09 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Rugby Champions Cup Final Venue 2016–17 | Succeeded by |
| European Rugby Challenge Cup Final Venue 2016–17 |
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