With
Swansea City's
Vetch Field, and
Ospreys'
St Helen's and
The Gnoll no longer being up-to-date venues to play at, and both the Swans and the Ospreys not having the necessary capital to invest into a new stadium,
Swansea council and a developer-led consortia submitted a proposal for a sustainable '
bowl' venue for 20,520 seats on a site to the west of the
River Tawe on the site of the
Morfa Stadium, an
athletics stadium owned by the
City and County of Swansea council. It was funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The final value of the development was in excess of £50m. On 10 July 2005, the stadium was opened and became the home to Swansea City and Ospreys. On 23 July 2005, it was officially opened as Swansea City faced
Fulham, (then managed by former Swansea player
Chris Coleman) in a
friendly match. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with the first goal being scored by Fulham's
Steed Malbranque. Swansea's
Marc Goodfellow scored during the game to level the match. The first league game was held on 6 August, with Swansea defeating
Tranmere Rovers through a single goal by debutant
Adebayo Akinfenwa. Before a league match between
Swansea City and
Oldham Athletic in October 2005, a statue of
Ivor Allchurch (1929–1997) was unveiled to commemorate the
Swansea-born star who during two spells for the club scored a record 164 goals in 445 appearances. The first capacity crowd recorded at Liberty Stadium was on 1 November 2006 when The Ospreys beat Australia A 24–16. The stadium has hosted multiple
Wales football internationals, listed below. Seating at Liberty Stadium is often sold out during Swansea City football matches. Swansea City have expressed a desire to have the capacity of the stadium increased and have held talks with Swansea Council during the 2011–2012 season for the future expansion of the Liberty Stadium which would be completed in a number of phases beginning with expansion or redevelopment of the east stand. Plans for a new
McDonald's fast food restaurant to be opened near the stadium threw expansion plans into doubt. However, the planning application was withdrawn. In December 2013, it was reported by
BBC News that the
European Commission had requested details of the funding of the stadium, as part of a wider inquiry into state aid for sports clubs. At the start of the 2014–15 Premier League season, a number of changes were made to the stadium. These included two new 'Jumbotron' screens inside the north and south stands, measuring approximately 200 inches. Due to sponsorship by LG all televisions in food outlets and concourse were replaced by 50" LG TV screens and the south stand renamed The LG Stand. New advertising boards with a crowd facing side were also added. Expansions planned would expand the stadium to 33,000, with another expansion upgrading the stadium to above the 40,000 mark. This would make Wales national football matches a possibility. In July 2018,
Swansea City took full ownership of the stadium, after reaching an agreement with Swansea City Council. It was agreed that the
Ospreys could continue to share the stadium. In the summer of 2024, the Ospreys announced that they would be returning to the St Helen's ground, ending their 20 year tenure at the stadium. They were due to relocate at the start of the 2025–26, but due to ongoing redevelopment they played at Bridgend's
Brewery Field. ==Naming==