In the late 1860s, Wards Park consisted of rough grassland, and is considered the earliest site of both Kilmarnock F.C.

The new Rugby Park pitch had been moved south-westwards and a new grandstand for spectators being built, which was designed by football stadium architect Archibald Leitch.

Delays to the construction by joinery strikes caused workers to still be working on finishing the grandstand on the morning of the first match at the new stadium with Celtic.

[14] The clubs board of directors "reluctantly" agreed to the requisition of the stadium, announcing the suspension of playing "for the duration".

[14] In the Summer of 1944, the War Department prepared to hand Rugby Park over to the board of directors at Kilmarnock Football Club.

[15] On 28 October 1953, floodlights began operating at Rugby Park and were officially opened between a friendly; Manchester United F.C.

[17] Demolition work began at Rugby Park on 8 May 1994, with the stadiums West Stand receiving a major refurbishment including new roofing and floodlights.

The official opening of the reconstructed Rugby Park occurred on 8 August 1995, with a match between English Premiership Champions Blackburn Rovers F.C.

[18] Safety regulations cut the capacity of Rugby Park to 17,528 by the 1980s, but this figure was rarely troubled as the club fell to the Second Division.

[10] The new board initially proposed to move the club to an out-of-town site besides the A77 road as part of a wider development, but this was rejected by planning restrictions.

[19] Kilmarnock officially opened the new Rugby Park on 6 August 1995, in a friendly match against English league champions Blackburn Rovers.

On 12 May 1998 Rugby Park hosted the last Ayrshire Cup final, as Kilmarnock fought back from 0–2 to beat Ayr United 4–2.

The hotel was built on the site of Kilmarnock's training pitch and accommodates fifty twin/double bedrooms, a conference centre, a café, bar and restaurant.

[22] In November 2023 the club announced their intention to replace the artificial surface with natural grass in 2025, if work on a separate training facility can be completed.

[23] In February 2019 Kilmarnock received approval to install a new safe-standing section in areas of the East and Moffat stands.

[25] During the 2021–22 season offices were installed in the upper deck of the Moffat Stand, which reduced the seating capacity of the stadium to 15,552.

One advantage is that since the public smoking ban has come into force it has been possible for fans to stand in the open areas at half-time for a cigarette.

[28] In August 1999, Rugby Park was used for a fictitious Scottish Cup semi-final in the Robert Duvall film A Shot at Glory.

During the 1997 match against Wales, Kilmarnock were able to parade the Scottish Cup at half time, having captured the trophy at Ibrox on the previous Saturday.