Where a 45,000-seater Cardiff City Stadium would rank in Britain's biggest grounds | OneFootball

Football League World looks at where a potential 45,000-seater Cardiff City Stadium could rank in the biggest grounds throughout the United Kingdom

Cardiff City can currently boast a strong stadium capacity, even if the attendancies have varied in recent years in line with mixed fortunes both on and off-the-pitch for the Welsh outfit.

At 33,280, Cardiff City Stadium ranks as the largest stadium in League One following the Bluebirds' relegation from the Championship last term, with the ground usurping Bolton Wanderers' Toughsheet Community Stadium, Wigan Athletic's Brick Community Stadium and Valley Parade, home of fellow promotion-chasers Bradford City, for total capacity.

That's no great surprise considering Cardiff's stature compared to many of their third-tier counterparts, with the Welsh capital side having competed at Premier League level as recently as 2019.

It's also the home of the Welsh national team and even hosted the 2014 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid and Sevilla months after City's first Premier League relegation, though the Bluebirds have seldom sold out the ground when competing outside of the top-flight.

Better times are coming for Cardiff, however, and Brian Barry-Murphy's side are now on course to gain promotion at the first time of asking ahead of Saturday afternoon's crunch showdown at home to second-placed Lincoln City, which is poised to represent the club's highest league attendance of the campaign.

There's now plenty of reason for positivity and excitement on and away from the field, and as Cardiff bid to progress through the divisions under Barry-Murphy, they could also see a stadium expansion in the years to come.

Where a 45,000-seater Cardiff City Stadium would rank in Britain's largest grounds

Football Association of Wales (FAW) CEO Noel Mooney recently spoke on Business of Sport podcast to discuss the national team's future stadium plans, with the Red Dragons set to return to the unpopular Principality Stadium in the event of reaching EURO 2028.

Wales have not played a single competitive match at the 73,931-seater stadium since 2011, and supporters have been able to generate a perhaps-unrivalled atmosphere in the smaller Cardiff City Stadium instead.

But there is a lingering school of thought that the Bluebirds' home may require an expansion in order to further fuel Wales' own ambitions, and Mooney has now admitted that's a possibility in a huge new update.

Indeed, Mooney himself has revealed that conversations have been undertaken with Cardiff over the prospect of expanding the ground into a 45,000-seater stadium, having recognised that the Red Wall faithful want to see Wales continue to play their football there.

Such an expansion could mark seismic change for both club and country, and if Cardiff are to return to the Premier League, having a 45,000-seater stadium to host top-flight football would be extremely exciting and profitable.

It would rank among the larger stadiums in Britain too, with the current capacity placing Cardiff City Stadium as the 21st-biggest football grounds throughout the country.

With a capacity increase of 12,000, though, the Bluebirds' present home would elevate to the 14th-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom.

A 45,000-seater Cardiff City Stadium would rank above revered grounds such as Aston Villa's home stadium, Villa Park, Chelsea's Stamford Bridge and Leeds United's Elland Road.

It would also be the largest ground in the Championship come next season - at the time of writing, that is - with Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium currently taking that mantle with a total capacity of 39,732 amid the Owls' relegation to League One.

An expanded Cardiff City Stadium would still be usurped by the proposed new ground of Birmingham City, which is set to hold up to 60,000 supporters upon its 2030 completion.

Cardiff City Stadium expansion plans are seriously exciting on one key condition

Although Mooney is rightly intending to further the best interests of the Welsh national side, which Cardiff City fans would be extremely encouraged by in any case, it's a multi-beneficial plan that could have a seriously exciting impact for the Bluebirds.

Cardiff have long been regarded as a sleeping giant, having often underachieved on the pitch and in terms of attendances, owing to what has been served up for much of City's recent history, but there's a huge catchment area to tap into and the place can be rocking on its day.

Promotion pushes and Premier League campaigns are where we've seen the best of what Cardiff City Stadium can conjure up at club level, and it would perhaps only be in the top-flight where the benefit of having such a large ground to call home could shine through.

The Bluebirds are, one would like to imagine, beginning an exciting trajectory that could eventually lead Wales' capital club back to the big time with a progressive and intelligent head coach at the helm, a litany of enormously-talented young homegrown academy prospects proving the heartbeat of a title-chasing side and a re-engaged fanbase cheering it all on.

The reality is that Premier League football is where Cardiff will regularly see sell-outs at home once more, and while they're still some way off that, the good times could be rolling back and a 45,000-seater stadium may just take the Bluebirds to the next level in the long run.