The stadium has a capacity of 25,849, making it the largest purpose-built club rugby union ground in England.

A committee was formed to find a suitable new ground, and in December 1891 accepted the town corporation's offer of a ten-year lease on the ground between Aylestone Road and Welford Road, at the time this was on the southern edge of the built-up town.

The first stands accommodated 3,000 spectators[4] and that season saw derby matches produce attendances up to 7,000 whilst 10,000 saw Leicester lose 12–0 to Coventry in the second round of the Midlands Counties Cup.

The east side of the ground was developed in 1995; originally terracing on an ash bank, it became an all-seater modern stand.

[9] However, after several months of talks, the two clubs could not agree as to which side would have priority at the stadium, and they ended any groundshare plans in July 2005.

[10] Leicester Tigers purchased the freehold to the ground and adjacent land in 2006;[11] prior to this, the club operated on a long-term 99-year rolling lease from the city council.

The first phase of the development would include space for 10,000 supporters in a new North Stand (Granby Halls side), raising capacity from 17,498 to 24,000.

[17] An official opening ceremony took place on 6 November 2009, when Tigers beat world champions South Africa.

The new five-year deal is to run until the end of the 2024–25 season and includes naming rights to the stadium, which became known as Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

£850,000 in 2016) was officially opened on 2 October 1920 before a match against Headingley by the President of the RFU Ernest Prescott, Tigers celebrated with a 33–3 victory.

After a controversial decision in which the RFU announced that Welford Road would not host any World Cup 2015 matches, opting instead for the nearby King Power Stadium, Tigers released plans for the second stage of redevelopment, in which the 100-year-old clubhouse and the temporary stand were demolished, and a new stand built.

The screens are used for showing the match, scores, TMO replays, advertisements from sponsors and the line-ups for each team.

[27] Welford Road has also played host to American football; a charity match in aid of Matt Hampson took place on 28 May 2007 between the Loughborough University Aces and reunited 1990s team Leicester Panthers.

[29] On 15 July 2010, Welford Road held its first pop concert with James Morrison playing, followed the next day by Will Young.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic the match was delayed from December 2020 and moved to Welford Road from its usual home of Twickenham.

[31] The record for the highest attendance at Welford Road was set on 4 October 1924, when 35,000 people saw Leicester play the touring New Zealand team.