The site had been in use as a rubbish tip when Cardiff City FC turned professional and moved here in 1910. The ground was named after Lord Ninian Crichton-Stuart, who had secured the site for the club. The facilities, which included a canvas roofed 200 seat stand on the west side and embankments around the remainder of the ground, remained fairly basic until the 1920s when covers were installed at each end. The final alteration prior to WWII took place in 1937 when the main stand, on the west side, was replaced following a fire on January 18th.

Post war improvements, including the extension of the paddock in front of the main stand and the enlargement and covering of the east side, were carried out prior to the record attendance of 61,566 being set at the International match between Wales and England on October 14th, 1961. During the 1970s the main stand was extended to seat 6,000 and the roof removed from the south end for safety reasons whilst the 1990s saw the addition of seating on the east side, in the main stand paddock and at the north end. In 2001 a cover was supplied over the south end and seats installed on the west side to give a capacity at the start of the 2007/8 season of 22,000 with 12,647 seats. The pitch size was 110 x 70 yards.

The club plans to move to a new ground being built on the site of the old Cardiff Athletics Stadium.