Images: Netball Super League & URC
The Netball Super League (NSL) has announced it will stage its first Grand Final at The O2, while Glasgow Warriors will return elite rugby union to Hampden Park for the first time in two decades.
The NSL Grand Final announcement comes as part of the wider reimagining of the League for its 2025 season. In May, the NSL announced the eight teams that will feature in the relaunched competition next year, with Premier League football club Nottingham Forest to operate a new franchise that will play at the city’s Motorpoint Arena.
The revamped league will feature six existing clubs – LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons, Leeds Rhinos, London Mavericks, London Pulse, Loughborough Lightning and Manchester Thunder – and two new entities: Nottingham Forest Netball and Birmingham Panthers.
The NSL staged its 2024 Grand Final at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena on June 29. The previous five editions were held at London’s Copper Box Arena and the Grand Final will now return to the capital on July 6.
The NSL said the decision to host the Grand Final at The O2 reflects the League’s ambition to elevate the sport to new heights and marks a significant milestone as it continues its journey towards professionalisation.
Super League Basketball, the new competition that has replaced the British Basketball League, also announced last week that its season-ending play-off finals will take place at The O2.
Claire Nelson, managing director of Netball Super League, said: “It’s only fitting that our showpiece event takes place at one of the most prestigious arenas in the world and this will be a significant moment for our sport as we deliver not just a world class event, but also an unforgettable experience for fans, players and everyone involved.
“This coming season, our League will be even bigger and better than ever before with lots of exciting new things for our existing and new fans to experience. So bringing our first season in the new era to a climax in a venue as iconic as The O2 will be a major moment for us all, and will make a real statement for the ambitions we have for our League and the boundaries that we will continue to push.”
The dates and full fixture list for the 2025 season have also been released, with a total of 14 regular rounds building to a new post season format featuring major and minor semi-finals followed by the preliminary final.
The NSL has also announced that a new one-day competition, the Netball Super Cup, will open the season on March 8 with all eight teams taking to Utilita Arena Sheffield. Half of the matches throughout the season will also take place at major arenas across the country. The home venues for the eight teams have been outlined as:
Birmingham Panthers: Birmingham, Worcester and Coventry – venues to be confirmed
LexisNexis Cardiff Dragons: Utilita Arena Cardiff and House of Sport in Cardiff
London Mavericks: OVO Arena in Wembley, Brentwood Centre in Essex and Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield
London Pulse: Copper Box Arena in London
Loughborough Lightning: Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham and Sir David Wallace Arena in Loughborough
Manchester Thunder: AO Arena in Manchester, M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool and Belle Vue Arena in Manchester
NIC Leeds Rhinos Netball: first direct arena in Leeds and Canon Medical Arena in Sheffield
Nottingham Forest Netball: Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham
Hampden Park to welcome URC’s Warriors
In other news, United Rugby Championship (URC) team Glasgow Warriors will break new ground in December, after it was officially confirmed that the opening leg of the 2024-25 1872 Cup clash against Edinburgh will be played at Hampden Park.
The fixture will mark the first time in the club’s professional history that the Warriors will run out at the home of Scottish football, with Scotstoun Stadium its traditional venue. The move to Hampden Park will also see the first derby of the season move to a new date and kick-off time to accommodate the shift in venue, with the two teams now set to meet on December 22.
Hampden Park has held four full international rugby union matches since the stadium’s opening, most recently Scotland’s game against Australia in an autumn Test in November 2004.
Hampden Park will become the 55th venue to host a URC fixture and now means that both of the 1872 Cup derby games will be hosted in national stadiums. The return leg plays a week later at Scottish Gas Murrayfield.
Glasgow Warriors managing director, Al Kellock, said: “This is a massive moment in the history of not just our club, but rugby within our city and our Glasgow Warriors community.
“To be able to take one of our biggest games of the season to one of Scotland’s national stadia is a reflection of the journey that we have been on as a club, as we continue to grow the game in our city, the west of Scotland and Caledonia regions.
“It’s a journey that has seen the Warrior Nation follow us through thick and thin; from the club grounds across Scotland that shape our Warriors, to the high veldt in Pretoria where we became URC champions. To be able to take this fixture to Hampden is a reflection of the support upon which this club is built, and we know that our supporters will make Hampden an atmosphere unlike any other.
“We’re excited by the opportunity this fixture presents, not only on the field but off it as well – we also hope to welcome a new audience that may otherwise not attend a Glasgow Warriors match, especially in the run-up to the festive holidays.”
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