OLD AND NEW CLASH ON OPENING NIGHT OF 16th HEINEKEN CUP

The Heineken Cup returns for its 16thseason on Friday, 8 October when one of only four teams who have figured in every tournament, Ulster Rugby, host one of three new clubs to the competition, Aironi Rugby, at Ravenhill.

The Pool 4 clash in Belfast is one of three fixtures on the opening night of a campaign that will reach its climax at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Saturday, 21 May, 2011.

The Heineken Cup Final will be returning to the Welsh capital for the sixth time and ERC, the tournament organisers, have set a kick-off time of 5.00pm local time for the most prestigious club game in the European calendar.

Tickets for the 16thHeineken Cup Final have been on sale since May this year and close to half the public allocation has already been snapped up.

Ulster, the 1999 winners, are joined by fellow Irish provinces, Leinster (2009 champions) and Munster (2006 and 2008 champions) and the current Heineken Cup holders, Toulouse, as the four teams to have played every season.

The new boys to the tournament this season are Aironi Rugby, Toulon and Racing Metro 92. They will take the total of teams who have played in the Heineken Cup to 58.

As well as new teams, the tournament will also welcome some iconic new venues. Toulon’s Stade Felix Mayol will be first up in Round 1, when last season’s Amlin Challenge Cup runners-up host the Magners League champions the Ospreys, while Round 2 will see two former Olympic venues come on stream.

Racing Metro 92’s Stade Yves du Manoir will be the Parisian setting for Racing’s home Heineken Cup debut against newly crowned French champions ASM Clermont Auvergne. The venue for the ‘Chariots of Fire’ Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, it was also home to the French national team until the Seventies.

Saracens will also break new ground by taking their Pool 2 clash with Leinster to Wembley Stadium in the second round. Although recently re-built, Wembley was host to the 1948 Olympic Games.

Fans wishing to purchase tickets for the world's biggest club rugby final will be able to log-on to www.ticketmaster.co.uk or secure their seats by calling the following telephone numbers:

UK - 0844 847 1530

Republic of Ireland - 0818 220 813

International - 0044 208 616 5111 (please note that this number will not be available to UK customers).

Disabled Tickets can be purchased by contacting: 0044 (0) 29 20 822427 or jhill@wru.co.uk. Group Sales: 0044 (0) 29 20 822433 or rosst@wru.co.uk.

Tickets are priced at £30, £50, £60, £65 and £70, and may be subject to booking fees.

- The 16th Heineken Cup final will be played at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, 21 May, 2011.

- It will be the sixth tournament final played in the Welsh capital.

- The first two Heineken Cup finals were played at the old Cardiff Arms Park with the Millennium Stadium hosting three of the last eight finals.

- The 2006 Heineken Cup between Munster and Biarritz Olympique at the Millennium Stadium had an economic impact of over £25 million on the Welsh economy. Research produced by the Welsh Economy Research Unit reported that Cardiff had benefited by £17.7 million and the rest of Wales by £7.4 million. The report stated that the 2006 final was "the most important single day event at the stadium to date in terms of spectator impact."

- The 74,600 fans at the 2002 final between Leicester Tigers and Munster was a then tournament attendance record.

- The five finals have been watched by 287,015 fans.

- The first final between Toulouse and Cardiff was watched by a crowd of 21,800. A year later that almost doubled to 41,664 when Brive clashed with Leicester Tigers.

- The 15 Heineken Cup finals have been staged at seven grounds - Cardiff Arms Park /Millennium Stadium (1996, 1997, 2002, 2006 and 2008), Stade Lescure (1998), Lansdowne Road (1999 and 2003), Twickenham (2000, 2004 and 2007), Parc des Princes (2001), Murrayfield (2005 and 2009) and Stade de France (2010)

- The 16th Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in just over eight months time will be the 1,135th tournament match.