The Gnoll ( cy, Y Gnol) in

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000 (formerly 15,000). It is used primarily for

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

, although it has also been used previously for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

. The stadium has hosted international rugby matches, with it being the home ground of the

Wales women's national rugby union team The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship History Wales Women have played as a team officially since 5 April 1987 when a Wales Women te ...

, and men's matches included one during the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

against the

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Description

In July 2009, Neath RFC presented plans for the redevelopment of the Gnoll, including building a community centre on the site, which were criticised by Neath town councillors as being "too woolly".

Rugby

Rugby union

The Gnoll is the traditional home of

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with onl ...

, one of the leading

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

clubs in the pre-regional era of rugby. It has hosted Neath since the club was founded in 1871. The ground has a capacity of 6,000. The Gnoll has been used as the home ground for the

, including during the

2016 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2016 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 15th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union ...

where it was the site of a victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

following a try by

Megan York Megan York (born 16 April 1987) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays prop for Ynysddu RFC and the Wales women's national rugby union team. She won her first international cap against Scotland in the 2012 Women's Six Nations Championship, and her ...

which qualified the team for the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dubl ...

Rugby league

South Wales Scorpions The South Wales Scorpions, known as the South Wales Ironmen in 2017, were a semi-professional rugby league club based in South Wales. They played in the third tier of the British rugby league system (currently known as RFL League 1, League 1) be ...

have played at the Gnoll since their formation in 2010. The ground hosted a

Wales national rugby league team The Wales national rugby league team represents Wales in international rugby league football matches. Currently the team is ranked 17th in the IRL World Rankings. The team was run under the auspices of the Rugby Football League, but an indepen ...

match during the

2010 European Cup The 2010 European Cup, known as the Alitalia European Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league football tournament. Three of the competing teams participated in the 2009 European Cup, with France also being included in the tournament after ...

, where Wales defeated

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

31–30. It also hosted Ireland at the Gnoll in at the

2011 Rugby League Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

. Wales won the game by 30 points to 6. The stadium also hosted Wales v

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at the

; it was the smallest venue used at the tournament and only hosted a single game.

Association football

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

club Neath Athletic played at The Gnoll between 2008, and their liquidation in 2012. The ground hosted its first ever football match when Neath Athletic played

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

in a pre-season friendly in July 2008.

Cricket

The Gnoll started to host some

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

fixtures in the 1930s, and in 1954 an indoor cricket school was opened at the site. However, problems with the pitch meant that from the late 1960s the ground was only used for one-day matches - in 1969 the Gnoll staged the county's first-ever home game in the Sunday League. In 1974, the Gnoll was dropped from the county's 1st XI fixture list, although it played host to Glamorgan's matches against the touring Australians in 1985 and 1993. Championship cricket returned to The Gnoll between 1986 and 1992 with Glamorgan staging five home games there, and one further

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

game was played against a Young Australia team in 1995. Glamorgan returned to The Gnoll in August 2022, scheduling two 50-over matches in the

2022 Royal London One-Day Cup The 2022 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that formed part of the 2022 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side, having List A cricket status, with a ...

References

External links

{{Glamorgan CCC Buildings and structures in Neath Gnoll, The Ospreys (rugby union) Neath RFC South Wales Scorpions Gnoll, The Gnoll, The Stadiums in Wales Rugby league stadiums in Wales Rugby League World Cup stadiums Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom Sports venues completed in 1871