League One club announce plans to overtake Aston Villa and Chelsea with stadium capacity

Cardiff City’s home ground could be expanded by 12,000 seats if the club return to the Premier League.

The move would see the Cardiff City Stadium become the 16th largest in the United Kingdom.

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Cardiff have played at their 33,000-capacity home since 2009, with the venue expanded in 2014.

However, the addition of 5,000 seats to the Ninian Stand was the last renovation work carried out at the site.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) are now keen to increase the capacity of what has become the national team’s home stadium.

Craig Bellamy’s side will play their World Cup play-off against Bosnia & Herzegovina at the ground later this month.

The match will be played on March 26, with the winner to face Italy or Northern Ireland at home five days later for a place at the finals.

FAW CEO Noel Mooney has revealed that talks have been held with the Bluebirds over adding 12,000 seats to take the capacity to 45,000.

It would see the Cardiff City Stadium move ahead of the likes of Villa Park and Stamford Bridge in terms of capacity.

The homes of Aston Villa and Chelsea currently hold a capacity of 42,657 and 40,173 fans, respectively.

Any potential expansion appears dependant on Cardiff returning to the top-flight, though.

The Bluebirds played the last of their two seasons in the Premier League during the 2018/19 campaign.

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Cardiff stadium plans

During an appearance on the Business of Sport podcast, Mooney lifted the lid on the FAW’s plans for the Cardiff City Stadium.

He explained: “I suppose what you’d love to see is if Cardiff City get promoted back to the Premier League.

“We’ve spoken to the club that there is an opportunity to develop two ends, to turn that from 33,000 seats into close to 45,000 seats. That for us would be about right.

“We have a brilliant Red Wall that’s got a great brand all across the world and they’ve lit up tournaments.

“We want to deliver for them what they want, there’s no rocket science to it. Our fans are pretty clear. They want to stay in Cardiff City Stadium.

“But then we’ve got a brilliant fan base up north and for Wrexham to develop their stadium, we are really happy to work with our partners in these clubs and with the Principality Stadium to use them for tournaments.

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“And I don’t see any change to that model over the next decade or so.”

Mooney also hinted at Wales playing matches at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground in the future.

The Championship club are currently developing their stadium with the building of a new Kop Stand.

Meanwhile, the national team are set to play matches at the Principality Stadium in preparation for the ground serving as a host venue during Euro 2028.

Cardiff’s promotion push

As for Cardiff, the Bluebirds are currently chasing an immediate return to the Championship.

Relegation last season saw the club drop into the third tier for the first time since 2003.

Brian Barry-Murphy’s side currently sit one point ahead of Lincoln City at the top of League One.

Meanwhile, they are 11 points clear of third placed Bolton Wanderers with 12 matches of the season remaining.