Cardiff Calling as Heineken Cup hits 15 million milestone.
Following a tournament high total attendance of 921,196 for the pool stage, the Heineken Cup is set to celebrate another attendance milestone on Sunday when the competition’s 15 millionth supporter will be part of the capacity crowd at the Stade Felix Mayol in Toulon.
This weekend’s quarter-finals are the hottest tickets in Europe with all four venues in Ireland and France sold out for weeks for what is being billed as the greatest quarter-final line-up in the tournament’s history.
Capacity attendances at Thomond Park (26,600), Stade Marcel-Michelin (18,030), the new-look Ravenhill Stadium (17,000) and at Sunday’s quarter-final at Mayol (15,000) will push the total number of fans who have passed through the turnstiles at the 1,369 matches in 19 seasons to over the 15 million mark.
In recognition of this milestone, a total of 15 supporters are being selected randomly across the weekend as winners of Cardiff 2014 finals tickets, with one lucky fan in Toulon set to receive a VIP trip to both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup finals in the Welsh capital next month.
The overall winner, representing the 15 millionth Heineken Cup fan, will be presented with the prize pitchside before the Toulon v Leinster Rugby quarter-final at the Stade Felix Mayol by Miss Wales 2013, Gabrielle Shaw, who will be representing the ERC finals host city.
A reported 3,000 fans turned out for the first match in the tournament’s history when Farul Constanta welcomed French champions, Toulouse, to the Black Sea resort in Romania on 31 October 1995. While that inaugural season attracted just 97,535 supporters, the popularity of European club rugby quickly spread and from the 2008/09 onwards, the Heineken Cup has attracted more than one million fans each season.
In this weekend’s Heineken Cup quarter-final match programmes, ERC Chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux, says: “Over the past 19 years, the Heineken Cup has the developed into one of Europe’s most compelling and dynamic sporting tournaments, with the passion, colour and loyal support of fans at the very heart of it all. Thank you for your continued support particularly in these turbulent times for European club rugby and I look forward to seeing our 15 winners and many more of you in Cardiff for another memorable European finals weekend.”
The 15 winners will be made up of 10 lucky enough to be among the capacity crowds at Thomond Park, Stade Marcel-Michelin, Ravenhill Stadium and Stade Felix Mayol, and five more will be selected from those who show their support through the official tournament digital platforms, ercrugby.com ezine, facebook.com/HeinekenCup and @ercrugby Twitter account.
Attendance Milestones
Total attendance (end of 2013/14 Pool stage): 14,926,362 (1,365 matches)
Season record: 1,175,057 (2008/09)
Pool stage record: 921,196 (2013/14)
Pool match record: 76,569 Stade Francais Paris v Harlequins, Stade de France (2007/08)
Quarter-final record: 55,000 Perpignan v Toulon, Olympic Stadium Barcelona (2011/12)
Semi-final record: 82,208 Leinster Rugby v Munster Rugby, Croke Park (2008/09)
Final record: 81,774 Leinster Rugby v Ulster Rugby, Twickenham (2011/12)
