96-615: The Cardiff City Stadium ( Welsh : Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd ) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff , Wales . It is the home of Cardiff City and the Wales national team . Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2014, the stadium officially holds 33,280 supporters. The stadium replaced Ninian Park as Cardiff City's home ground in 2009, and is managed by Cardiff City Stadium Ltd., which
192-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
288-586: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
384-647: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
480-509: A long term target by former owner Sam Hammam , the new stadium first gained public approval after a meeting between Hammam and then Cardiff Lord Mayor Russell Goodway in January 2002, giving the club 12 months to agree a planning and business plan. In November 2002 the club and Cardiff Council signed an outline agreement for the development, subject to later agreement for outline planning permission. In March 2003, stories began to emerge that
576-430: A planning application to the local authority for the first phase of a stadium expansion. Phase 1 will entail adding a second tier to the Ninian Stand increasing the capacity to approximately 33,280. 5,150 extra seats are to be provided, including extra commercial and hospitality facilities catering for around 1500. On 9 October 2013 the local authority granted planning permission for this first phase. The stadium expansion
672-749: A pre-tax loss of £288m on total revenues of £3.4 billion (including £2.18bn turnover from its Europe operations and £1.13bn in Australia). In January 2024, it began company-wide cutbacks as financial analysts warned about the company's financial safety. People on sites across the group were served redundancy notices, including 60 at the Laing O'Rourke Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction (CEMC) at Steetley in Nottinghamshire . Laing O'Rourke has operations in two major geographic hubs, Europe and Australia . European operations span Abu Dhabi , Canada , Dubai and
768-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
864-540: A statue of 1927 FA Cup -winning captain Fred Keenor would be built. In May 2012, the £85,000 needed to build the statue was raised by the Cardiff City Supporters Trust and was revealed on 10 November 2012. The "Cardiff City Total" games column contains all competitive games, including all league games, including play-offs; as well as cup competitions such as The F.A. Cup and The Football League Cup. There
960-401: A summer sale of players, the entry of former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale and numerous rumours, the development was given a period of 90 days from 31 December 2005 by Cardiff Council to finalise the underlying business plan. On 31 January 2006 the developers secured Asda as the lead retailer of the new development, which enabled the final funding of the stadium to start. This allowed
1056-770: Is a multinational construction company headquartered in Dartford , England . It was founded in 1978 by Ray O'Rourke. It is the largest privately owned construction company in the United Kingdom. The company was founded by Ray O'Rourke and his brother Des in 1978. Initially a specialist concrete subcontractor, it was originally based in East London , and was known as R. O'Rourke & Son . In September 2001, R. O'Rourke bought main contractor Laing Construction from John Laing plc for £1. Laing's construction business had been making significant losses, in part due to additional costs on
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#17328558588381152-538: Is a separate column recording all competitive home league games which have taken place at the Cardiff City Stadium. 51°28′22.01″N 3°12′11.02″W / 51.4727806°N 3.2030611°W / 51.4727806; -3.2030611 Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that
1248-601: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. Laing O%27Rourke Laing O'Rourke
1344-667: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
1440-793: Is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
1536-802: Is owned by Cardiff City Football Club Holdings Ltd. It also hosted the home matches of the Cardiff Blues rugby union team until the 2011–12 season, although originally the Blues had a lease until 2029. After the Millennium Stadium , it is the second largest stadium in Cardiff and in Wales. The stadium is part of the Leckwith development , which also includes the Cardiff International Sports Stadium . A branded sponsor name will be assigned as and when
1632-505: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
1728-704: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
1824-564: The 2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup final between English club Harlequins and French club Stade Français on 20 May 2011 with Harlequins pipping Stade Français 19–18. Stereophonics headlined the first gig at the stadium on 5 June 2010, having already played a record-breaking 13 previous sell-out shows at the Cardiff International Arena , as well as at the Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Castle . The concert, known as Summer in
1920-399: The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid and the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla . Real Madrid won 2–0. On 1 June 2017, it hosted the final of the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League . In March 2021, it was announced that Newport County would play two games at the Cardiff City Stadium due to the poor pitch conditions at Rodney Parade . On 20 July 2023,
2016-494: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
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#17328558588382112-461: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
2208-525: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
2304-727: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
2400-519: The United Kingdom . Australian operations cover Australia, Hong Kong , New Zealand and South East Asia The company operates in building construction, infrastructure construction, investment & development, modular manufacturing, engineering expertise and support services. Its projects span a range of sectors including, building, transport, power, water & utilities, mining & natural resources and oil & gas. Major projects involving
2496-618: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
2592-614: The city centre . Cardiff Bus service 95 between Central Station and Barry Island stops outside the stadium. The stadium is next to Leckwith Interchange on the A4232 dual carriageway, linking it northbound to the A48 and M4 (J33 Cardiff West) and southbound to Cardiff Bay and the city centre. There is limited parking at the stadium itself. Some spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis, but most are pre-allocated to season ticket holders. On 17 December 2009, Cardiff City confirmed
2688-525: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
2784-589: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
2880-522: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
2976-466: The 2012–13 season and onwards. On 14 June 2012 Vincent Tan , Malaysian co-owner of Cardiff City FC, set out plans for an additional £35m investment in the Championship football club. This investment was to pay off debts, upgrade the training facilities to Premier League standards and spend £12m upgrading the stadium's capacity by 8,000 seats from 26,828 to around 35,000. On 1 August, Peter's Pie became
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3072-481: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
3168-688: The Cardiff Millennium Stadium project, the National Physical Laboratory , and No 1 Poultry in the City of London . The name of the company was changed to Laing O'Rourke . In May 2004, the company acquired Crown House Engineering, a mechanical and electrical engineering business, from Carillion . Laing O'Rourke went on to expand its operations in Australia in July 2006, when it acquired Barclay Mowlem , also from Carillion. In 2015,
3264-573: The Cardiff City Stadium for the first time on 14 November 2009 against Scotland , which they won 3–0. On 10 August 2010, the Football Association of Wales announced that it would also play at the Stadium in Wales' opening game of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria on 8 October 2010. On 8 May 2012, Cardiff Blues confirmed they would leave the Stadium to return to Cardiff Arms Park for
3360-550: The Chief Executive of the Millennium Stadium wanted Cardiff City to use their stadium instead, and saw no viable plan for two 50,000+ seat capacity stadia in the Welsh capital. This was increased in light of Cardiff City's promotion to the Championship in May 2003 with local fears over traffic and access problems. However, on 20 August 2003 Cardiff councillors gave unanimous approval to the stadium plans, although expressed concerns over
3456-607: The City , was supported by Kids In Glass Houses and Doves . Elton John performed at the stadium in June 2019. The stadium and surrounding area is served by Ninian Park railway station (on the Cardiff City Line ) on one side of Sloper Road, by and Grangetown railway station (on the Vale of Glamorgan Line ) on the other side. Trains operate frequently to Central and Queen Street stations in
3552-542: The GMB union, and described by the Scottish Affairs Select Committee as "an act of bad faith". In October 2016, Laing O'Rourke and the other construction companies admitted that the blacklist was unlawful and apologised to those damaged by it. In December 2017, Unite announced it had issued High Court proceedings against twelve major contractors, including Laing and Crown House. In April 2019, Laing O'Rourke
3648-539: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
3744-525: The United Kingdom. In December 2016 it was rumoured the Australia arm has been taken off the market after Laing O’Rourke failed to find a buyer. The sale process was later discontinued and the Australian business was refinanced in 2017. In March 2017, the company withdrew 800 of its workers from the Ichthys LNG storage tank project after not receiving payments from Kawasaki for its work for several months:
3840-489: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
3936-673: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
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4032-584: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
4128-515: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
4224-481: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
4320-606: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
4416-449: The amount in dispute was $ 250 million although Kawasaki rejected claims that it owed the disputed money. In the year to 31 March 2017, the group made a pre tax loss of £67m, largely due to losses of £81m (on revenues of just over £2 billion) at the largest operating division, Laing O'Rourke plc, mainly attributed to its PFI hospital contract at CHUM in Montreal, Canada. The contracting business then employed 8,539 people, more than half of
4512-414: The capacity and right now it stands at 26,830. The task is to raise that even further, and we believe it could be almost 28,000 when the stadium opens." When work finally commenced Peter Ridsdale stated that he expected the stadium to be ready by Christmas 2008 but it was finally completed in May 2009. Although some believe this slight delay was caused by Cardiff City's ongoing legal action with Langston, it
4608-402: The capacity to 27,978. On 19 September 2007, it was announced that Cardiff City F.C. and Cardiff Blues had signed a Heads of Terms agreement for Cardiff Blues to become tenants of Cardiff City. On 24 May 2008, the two clubs signed a contract officially finalising the deal. The licence agreement was set at 20 years, meaning Cardiff Blues would leave Cardiff Arms Park and play their home games at
4704-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
4800-420: The club had reduced a £24 million debt to Swiss-based financiers Langston agreed under the chairmanship of Sam Hammam to £15 million, by agreeing to sell the stadium's naming rights to Langston for £9 million. The stadium name was unveiled in March 2009 as Cardiff City Stadium and on 1 May, the official logo of the Cardiff City Stadium and the management company Cardiff City Stadium Ltd was unveiled. The stadium
4896-479: The company became a member of the Housing and Finance Institute . In December 2015, the chief executive officer of the company, Anna Stewart , stepped down with immediate effect due to ill health. Ray O'Rourke, the company's executive chairman, assumed her role although it was reported that O’Rourke could only spend a limited number of days in the United Kingdom, due to his tax exile status in Jersey . On 11 January 2016, Laing O'Rourke announced that it had begun
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#17328558588384992-399: The company have included; Laing O'Rourke and its acquisition of 2004, Crown House, were revealed as subscribers to the United Kingdom's Consulting Association , exposed in 2009 for operating an illegal construction industry blacklist . Laing O'Rourke was later one of eight businesses involved in the launch in 2014 of the Construction Workers Compensation Scheme, condemned as a "PR stunt" by
5088-507: The council authority and the office of the Deputy Prime Minister . In March 2007, the stadium plans were altered to allow construction to begin as soon as possible. To minimise construction costs, the 30,000 capacity was reduced to 25,000 by removing three-quarters of the second tier of seating, however the plans allow the option of completing the second tier to reach the 30,000 capacity if required. The former chairman of Cardiff City, Steve Borley, said in March 2008 that "We are working to raise
5184-446: The council gave approval to three detailed plans for the retail development, subject to agreement of suitable underlying business plans. Although development could have then started in May 2005, the underlying need for seed financing revealed the financial status of Cardiff City football club as poor, with over £30 million of debt and the need to sell star player and club captain Graham Kavanagh to Wigan Athletic F.C. in March 2005. It
5280-428: The council timetable to extend by four months to September 2006. On 24 October 2006, Laing O'Rourke won the contract to develop the 30,000-seat stadium, which Ridsdale stated would be ready for December 2008. On 27 November 2006 Cardiff Council approved the business plan for the stadium, and granted a 125-year lease for the land on which the stadium was to sit upon, allowing the final planning approval to be gained from
5376-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
5472-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
5568-408: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
5664-431: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
5760-422: The formal sale process of selling its Australian business. This was a result of multiple unsolicited offers and a desire to invest more heavily in the company's operations in the United Kingdom. In the year to 31 March 2016, the group made a pre tax loss £246m, after being hit by poor performance on its £1.3bn PFI hospital contract (at CHUM ) in Montreal , Canada, and on several now completed problem contracts in
5856-442: The group's then 15,273 staff. Publication of the group's results of 2018 was delayed due to "historic turbulence in the construction sector" following the January 2018 collapse of Carillion ; in December 2018, the company said increased scrutiny from lenders and accountants was delaying a refinancing move, finally closed in January 2019. With its operations refinanced in the United Kingdom, Laing O’Rourke published accounts for
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#17328558588385952-411: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
6048-413: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
6144-401: The highway improvements necessary to cope with the increased capacity, as well as the demolition of the Cardiff Athletics Stadium and the construction of the retail park. Cowlin was picked as the preferred contractor for the new athletic stadium. Required analysis of soil and water for the site was performed by TES Bretby, part of the Environmental Services Group Ltd. Schedule Leckwith Road
6240-400: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
6336-527: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
6432-431: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
6528-449: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
6624-468: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
6720-402: The naming rights are sold. The stadium was officially opened on 22 July 2009, with Cardiff City playing a friendly match against Celtic . The stadium was built on the site of the former Cardiff Athletics Stadium and forms part of the larger Leckwith development . The 60-acre (240,000 m) development was estimated to cost £100m and include construction of the following: First mooted as
6816-404: The need and scale of the retail development but understood its need to fund the stadium. On 9 September 2003 the Welsh Assembly gave approval to the plan. In April 2004, Cardiff Council gave the first phase covering the stadium with a capacity of 30,000 seats and new athletics track approval. The next phase was held up by various legal and technical delays from November 2004 to January 2005, when
6912-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
7008-468: The official sponsor of the Family Stand on a two-year deal. In April 2013 it was announced by a Cardiff City director that the capacity at the stadium could be expanded to 35,000 before the beginning of the 2014/15 season. Extra seats were added around the stadium during the first few months of the 2013–14 season, increasing the capacity to around 28,000. In August 2013 the club announced it had submitted
7104-464: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
7200-534: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
7296-484: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
7392-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
7488-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
7584-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
7680-409: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
7776-627: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
7872-495: The stadium hosted a 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying match between Haverfordwest County and KF Shkëndija . Following a 1-1 draw on aggregate, Haverfordwest advanced on penalties. Between the 2009–10 season and the 2011–12 season, it was the home of the Cardiff Blues . The Blues left after the 2011–12 season, after a mutual agreement to return to the Arms Park was agreed. The Cardiff City stadium also hosted
7968-533: The stadium until 2029. As well as being the new home for Cardiff City, the stadium has since become the home of the Wales national football team except for the international friendly against Luxembourg which was at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli , two UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G home matches with the first against England which was at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and the second against Switzerland which
8064-518: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
8160-405: The year to 31 March 2018, showing the group made a pre tax loss of £46.5m (down from £60.6m in 2017) on turnover down to £2.93bn from £3.17bn. In March 2023, Ray O'Rourke's son Cathal O'Rourke was appointed the company's chief operating officer. In June 2024, it was announced that Cathal would succeed his father as Laing O'Rourke CEO. Laing O'Rourke accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 showed
8256-528: Was actually caused by unexpectedly poor weather during the summer of 2007. Land clearance started on 21 February 2007, while on 9 May, final finances were put in place for Laing O'Rourke to bring equipment on site and start construction. Developers and contractors The lead developer was PMG Developments, a Cardiff-based property developer led by Cardiff City director Paul Guy and former Wales rugby captain Mike Hall . Laing O'Rourke were contracted to build all
8352-474: Was also revealed that players and staff had not been paid for a month as the club struggled to honour a wage bill believed to be £750,000 a month, while auditors were looking at possible cutbacks. On 1 March 2005 the club delayed the development until at least July 2005. After a 1–0 home loss to Sheffield United and a mobbing by fans, on 6 March 2005 Hammam apologised to fans, and released club accounts which showed club debt at March 2004 at £29.6 million. After
8448-678: Was at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea , an international friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina which was at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli, another international friendly, which was against Austria and a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A match against Croatia , both of which were at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. On 12 August 2014, the stadium hosted the 2014 UEFA Super Cup between
8544-608: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
8640-552: Was completed at the beginning of August, a few weeks before the stadium was due to host the UEFA Super Cup . At a later stage, phases 2 and 3 of the development will see up to 3,000 seats added to both the Canton and Grange ends of the ground, bringing the overall capacity up to around 38,000. However, in March 2015, it was announced that the Ninian Stand extension was to be shut for the 2015–16 season due to poor ticket sales, dropping
8736-427: Was completed several weeks ahead of schedule and was officially opened with a pre-season friendly against Celtic on 22 July 2009, which ended in a 0–0 draw. There were two games played in the stadium prior to this: a Cardiff City Legends game on 4 July, and a friendly against Chasetown on 10 July. The first league game was played on 8 August 2009, a 4–0 win for Cardiff against Scunthorpe United . Wales played at
8832-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
8928-505: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
9024-498: Was scheduled to begin on the new athletics stadium in January 2007 with the track and throwing areas expected to be open for use by the end of July 2007. The new athletics stadium was expected to be completed by October 2007 and it was hoped that Cardiff City F.C.'s stadium would be able to open in December 2008, however the stadium finally completed in May 2009. Detailed timetable In August 2007, chairman Peter Ridsdale revealed that
9120-685: Was suspended from the UK Government's Prompt Payment Code for failing to pay suppliers on time. It was reinstated in November 2019. In January 2024, at a meeting of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee , Conservative MP for Ipswich Tom Hunt criticised Laing O'Rourke for doing what he described as a "shocking job" as design-and-build contractor for The Mill, a 327-home high-rise development in central Ipswich , completed in March 2009. Some homes have been deemed unsafe since 2013, when "gale-force winds caused damage and tore cladding from
9216-429: Was widened to a dual carriageway over 18 months, with the scheme allowing for an extra access lane to become available on matchdays. The plan required the demolition of the previous Cardiff Athletics Stadium, of which the council insisted the replacement is built before the start of construction on the new football stadium. This was to avoid the city being without a major athletics facility for any length of time. Work
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