Twickenham: England’s iconic stadium to be renamed Allianz Stadium after RFU agree new sponsorship deal
By Oli Gent
Published 05/08/2024 at 18:28 GMT+1
The 'home of rugby', Twickenham, will be renamed the Allianz Stadium from September after the insurance company struck a sponsorship deal with the Rugby Football Union. The RFU were looking for additional funding, and reportedly considered selling the stadium in order to obtain it, but instead decided to refurbish the ground, which was built in 1907.
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The ‘home of rugby’ Twickenham will be renamed the Allianz Stadium from September after the Rugby Football Union struck a new sponsorship deal.
Twickenham, based in south-west London, is the home of the England national teams and has a capacity of 82,500.
Allianz, the insurance company, proposed the deal to the RFU to expand their interest in elite sporting stadia, and they are already sponsors of Bayern Munich’s home ground, the Allianz Arena, and Juventus’ home stadium in Turin.
Twickenham, which has played host to England’s men's games since 1909, has been the subject of much deliberation from the RFU, who were reportedly considering the sale of their headquarters in a bid to raise funds.
Instead, the organisation decided to refurbish the stadium, which was built in 1907 and opened in April 1909, with English rugby chiefs believing that the sponsor would give “a significant, long-term investment in the game [of rugby]”.
Bill Sweeney, the RFU chief executive, said in a statement: “This is an opportunity to celebrate our stadium’s proud legacy while developing it for the future.
"This partnership will support us in moving the game in a direction which serves all rugby, from minis to the elites, from club coaches to our national coaches and everything in between."
The first game to be played upon the stadium’s opening was on October 2 1909, between local rivals Harlequins and Richmond, while the first international game was England against Wales in 1910 where the hosts enjoyed an 11-6 victory.
Since then, the ground has hosted three Rugby World Cup finals, including the All Blacks’ 34-17 triumph over Australia in 2015, and it will be one of the eight host venues for the 2025 tournament.
The next matches to be staged at Twickenham will be the Red Roses, the England women's side, taking on New Zealand on September 14, before the men's team face the All Blacks in the first of their Autumn Nations Tests on November 2.
They then play Australia, South Africa, and Japan to round off the series.
By that time, the ground will have been renamed.
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