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The £50m state of the art stadium was backed by the ruling Labour group of Cardiff County Council.

The project will include a retail development and mean the existing Cardiff Athletic Stadium moving across Leckwith Rd onto the fields leading to Fitzalan HS. New roads will need to be built and the 60 odd acre site would be fully developed. The current site of Ninian park would be turned into housing.

Sam Hammam has taken full control of the project and was very excited by these developments.

He said

"The realisation of this stadium, which is the dream of every Cardiff City fan, is by far the most important single thing for the people of Wales in general, the Valleys and city of Cardiff in particular,"

"There is nothing that is going to crystalize the people of Wales and their togetherness as much as a successful football club. But we cannot have a successful football club without the vehicle - the stadium.

"Our ambition is that one day, maybe when I am dead and gone, maybe before, we will lock horns with the biggest clubs in Britain and Europe. We cannot do that without a stadium.

"If Wales start attracting the biggest clubs in the land and Europe it will give everybody a sense of pride and belonging."

"This is down to Russell Goodway and the Labour group in 2001.

"Their vision is for the City of Cardiff and for the whole Welsh nation. They are making the right move.

"The amount of money this will generate for the city and surrounding areas on match days is incredible - the FA Cup, Worthington Cup and play-off finals at the Millennium Stadium has made people aware of the hospitality to be found in Wales.

"What Russell Goodway is doing for the fans of Cardiff City and football fans who will start supporting us is incredible. In the future the likes of Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Zinadine Zidane, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham will be representing the biggest club in Wales."

The project still has to go to the council cabinet and the full council but the boost its been given by the council initially is massive.

Sam has also taken control of the building of the Athletic Stadium and that project will be managed by Cardiff City FC.

News report form the S.Wales Echo.
A new home for Cardiff City Football Club will be built at Leckwith, complete with a massive shopping complex, it was revealed today.

Cardiff County Council's ruling Labour group last night gave its support to the state-of-the-art stadium for the Bluebirds, but there is concern at the huge 400,000 sq ft of retailing planned for the site.

The area earmarked for shopping is almost as much as at Culverhouse Cross, but retailing is seen as crucial to the funding of the development.

Under the proposals, the existing Cardiff Athletics Stadium will be moved across Leckwith Road and rebuilt.

The scheme will also see the Ninian Park ground redeveloped with social housing likely to be built to meet a strong demand in the Grangetown, Canton and Riverside areas of the city.

Senior Labour councillors backed the idea of giving “preferred bidder status” to City owner Sam Hammam, giving him 12 months to get the scheme off the ground.

Around 62 acres of land will be involved in the deal which has been the subject of intensive talks between Mr Hammam and senior civic officials, spearheaded by Lord Mayor Russell Goodway.

There was strong support among Labour councillors for Mr Hammam's dream of taking the Second Division side into the elite of British football.

The scheme will still have to win planning permission and could be called in for examination by the National Assembly because of the extensive plans for retailing.

Mr Goodway said today: "We share Sam's ambitions to have a Premier League soccer club in Cardiff.

"It would do an immense amount to raise the profile of the city and attract business.

"We could have acted as developers ourselves but will give Sam a go at getting things off the ground."

Asked about concerns over the amount of retailing proposed, Mr Goodway said: "We have to get a balanced development which local people can live with."

The Lord Mayor said that further discussions would take place over the amount of retailing.

Mr Hammam said: "It's great news for Cardiff and the whole of Wales. It will bring pride and jobs to the city."

Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan said: "I think most people would support the idea of a new stadium but we have to be very careful at the amount of retailing.

"We don't want to create another environmental disaster like Culverhouse Cross.

"The amount of retailing may be difficult to justify."

Leckwith was chosen ahead of five or six alternatives including the former Arjo Wiggins site in Ely.

The plans for Leckwith are expected to be discussed by councillors later this month.