This article is about the British stadium. For the 2008 album by Little Jackie, see The Stoop (album).

The Stoop

Full name	Twickenham Stoop Stadium
Location	London, England
Coordinates	51°27′1″N 0°20′39″W / 51.45028°N 0.34417°W / 51.45028; -0.34417Coordinates: 51°27′1″N 0°20′39″W / 51.45028°N 0.34417°W / 51.45028; -0.34417
Built	1963
Opened	1963
Capacity	14,816 [1]
Tenants
Harlequin F.C. (Guinness Premiership) (1963-present) Harlequins Rugby League (Super League) (2006-present) London Broncos (Super League) (1997-1999)

The Stoop in the western suburbs of London, England, officially the Twickenham Stoop Stadium, is the home stadium of both Harlequins rugby union team and Harlequins Rugby League who play in the Guinness Premiership and Super League respectively. The stadium has a capacity of 14,816.

[edit] History

The new South Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

The LV Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between the Kangaroos and the Kiwis

The North Stand pre-match at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

The Etihad Stand pre-game at the Four Nations game between Australia and New Zealand

View from the old South Stand at the first ever home game for the rebranded Harlequins Rugby League team

In 1906, Harlequins were invited by the Rugby Football Union to use the new national stadium in Twickenham. In those early days, only one or two internationals were played there during the season, and it wasn't long before the RFU ground became the headquarters of the Harlequin Football Club.

In 1963, the Quins acquired an athletics ground with 14 acres (57,000 m²) just over the road from the RFU ground, which became the Harlequin training pitch. The ground was named Stoop Memorial Ground after Adrian Stoop, a former England international and longtime Harlequins player and president but is generally known as "The Stoop" with even the Harlequins' official website frequently using the informal name.

The ground's official name changed in July 2005 to Twickenham Stoop Stadium.

The redeveloped Lexus Stand on the western side of the ground opened in September 2005.

In 2006, the rugby league club formerly known as London Broncos joined Harlequins at The Stoop, becoming Harlequins Rugby League. In 2006 the stadium held a Harlequins rugby union match and a Harlequins rugby league game on the same day. The rugby union match was played first, and in just a few hours the stadium was switched over for the Super League match. This involved changing field markings, advertising hoardings and such.

Since 2006, The Stoop has also been home to the annual Rugby League Varsity Match between Oxford University and Cambridge University.

For the beginning of the 2007-2008 season there will be a new temporary stand in place until Richmond council agree to a permanent one. The difference with the old temporary stand is the new one will have a roof. Mark Evans (Chief Executive) confirmed at the pre season conference there will be no increase or reduction in the number of seats. He announced that the stand served purely to improve comfort for supporters with a small increase in ticket prices in this stand from £15-£17. The club may not break even on the stand by the time the season ends.

On October 24, 2009 the ground hosted the second match of the 2009 Rugby League Four Nations between world champions New Zealand and defending tournament champions (in Tri-Nations mode), Australia which resulted in a 20-all draw, 12,360 people attended the game making it the largest rugby league crowd at the venue beating the 1997 World Club Challenge match between the London Broncos and Canberra Raiders where 7,819 people attended.

In September 2010 the ground will host the final of the IRB Women's World Cup.

[edit] External links

• Twickenham Stoop Stadium at Google Maps.
• The Stoop on Worldstadia.com
• Harlequins Rugby League

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