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Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for concerts, with Elton John playing to 15,000 in a first for the venue. In 2002, the club constructed the Park Hotel, a 4-star hotel complex next to the ground. The stadium underwent a major redevelopment in 1994–1995, becoming an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 17,889. During 1994–95 season the stadium capacity was significantly reduced as a result of the construction of three new stands within the groups which were the Moffat Stand, the Chadwick Stand and the East Stand. The completion of these three stands reduced the capacity of the stadium to 18,128. The renovated stadium opened on 6 August 1995, with a friendly match against Blackburn Rovers F.C. Rugby Park has since undergone recent developments regarding further renovations, with an artificial pitch being installed in the summer of 2014, safe standing available from November 2019 and underground heating installed underneath the pitch in 1999. In August 2010, the West Stand was renamed the Frank Beattie Stand in honour of former player Frank Beattie who captained Kilmarnock to the historic Scottish League Championship victory in 1965. As well as football matches, Rugby Park has also hosted rugby matches, most recently between Scotland and Georgia in July 2016. The venue has also hosted four international football matches for the Scotland national football team in 1894, 1910 and two most recently in 1997.
