The 60-acre (240,000 m2) development was estimated to cost £100m and include construction of the following: First mooted as a long term target by former owner Sam Hammam, the new stadium first gained public approval after a meeting between Hammam and then Cardiff Lord Mayor Russell Goodway in January 2002, giving the club 12 months to agree a planning and business plan.

[13] This was increased in light of Cardiff City's promotion to the Championship in May 2003 with local fears over traffic and access problems.

[16] In April 2004, Cardiff Council gave the first phase covering the stadium with a capacity of 30,000 seats and new athletics track approval.

[21] After a summer sale of players, the entry of former Leeds United chairman Peter Ridsdale and numerous rumours, the development was given a period of 90 days from 31 December 2005 by Cardiff Council to finalise the underlying business plan.

[24] On 24 October 2006, Laing O'Rourke won the contract to develop the 30,000-seat stadium, which Ridsdale stated would be ready for December 2008.

[27] The former chairman of Cardiff City, Steve Borley, said in March 2008 that "We are working to raise the capacity and right now it stands at 26,830.

Laing O'Rourke were contracted to build all the highway improvements necessary to cope with the increased capacity, as well as the demolition of the Cardiff Athletics Stadium and the construction of the retail park.

Required analysis of soil and water for the site was performed by TES Bretby, part of the Environmental Services Group Ltd. [citation needed] Schedule Leckwith Road was widened to a dual carriageway over 18 months, with the scheme allowing for an extra access lane to become available on matchdays.

[citation needed] Work was scheduled to begin on the new athletics stadium in January 2007 with the track and throwing areas expected to be open for use by the end of July 2007.

[34][35] The stadium was completed several weeks ahead of schedule and was officially opened with a pre-season friendly against Celtic on 22 July 2009, which ended in a 0–0 draw.

[39] On 14 June 2012 Vincent Tan, Malaysian co-owner of Cardiff City FC, set out plans for an additional £35m investment in the Championship football club.

[citation needed] In August 2013 the club announced it had submitted a planning application to the local authority for the first phase of a stadium expansion.

At a later stage, phases 2 and 3 of the development will see up to 3,000 seats added to both the Canton and Grange ends of the ground, bringing the overall capacity up to around 38,000.

[citation needed] However, in March 2015, it was announced that the Ninian Stand extension was to be shut for the 2015–16 season due to poor ticket sales, dropping the capacity to 27,978.

In March 2021, it was announced that Newport County would play two games at the Cardiff City Stadium due to the poor pitch conditions at Rodney Parade.

[47] On 20 July 2023, the stadium hosted a 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying match between Haverfordwest County and KF Shkëndija.

On 17 December 2009, Cardiff City confirmed a statue of 1927 FA Cup-winning captain Fred Keenor would be built.

There is a separate column recording all competitive home league games which have taken place at the Cardiff City Stadium.