North Sydney Oval
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| North Sydney Oval | |
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| Game in progress at North Sydney Oval | |
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| Location | North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Opened | 1867 (Redeveloped 1929, 1931, 1983, 1985) |
| Owner | North Sydney Council |
| Operator | North Sydney Council |
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North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility primarily used for rugby league (as home ground of the North Sydney Bears) and rugby union but is also utilised for cricket, Australian rules football and football (soccer). It is located in the south-west corner of St Leonards Park, North Sydney.
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[edit] History
[edit] Development
- The first cricket pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in Australia.
- The first structure built, in 1879, was a simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground. This was replaced by another pavilion which in turn was replaced by what is now the Duncan Thompson Stand in 1929.
- The venue was renovated in 1931 due to complaints that the surface was 'like concrete' and that the ground was liable to cause serious injury to players. Nonetheless, as late as the 1980s, the ground was sometimes referred to as "Concrete Park".
- In 1935 the timber fence was replaced by a high brick wall and concrete terrace seating 1,200 people was built.
- Between 1983 and 1988 major renovations were undertaken. The old grandstand was named after North Sydney Bears player Duncan Thompson. New stands were built and named after cricketers Bill O'Reilly, Charlie MacCartney and Mollie Dive. In 1983, the venerable Bob Stand was moved to North Sydney Oval from the Sydney Cricket Ground. The hill became known as the Doug Walters Stand.
- Drainage and irrigation systems were installed and the pitch was re-laid in 1989.
- In 1992 the oval won a Sydney Cricket Association award for "Ground of the Year".
[edit] Usage
[edit] Rugby league
North Sydney Oval has been the home ground of the North Sydney Bears since their inception in 1908. The club currently plays in the NSWRL Premier League and still attracts spectators to home games at the oval. Only two grounds have hosted more first grade rugby league matches.
In 2004, South Sydney Rabbitohs experimented with playing two home games at the ground. The first match between Souths and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles attracted 14,855 spectators.
The ground record crowd of 23,089 was reached in 1994 for a regular season premiership match with North Sydney's local rivals Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
[edit] Cricket
The NSW Blues Cricket team play regular Pura Cup, ING Cup and Twenty20 Cricket matches at the Oval. Most recently, the oval hosted the final of the inaugural Twenty20 domestic knock-out cup competition between NSW Blues and Victoria Bushrangers. It also plays home to the North-Sydney Grade club.
[edit] Rugby union
Rugby union has been played at the St Leonards Park complex since the late 1890s with the North Shore Football Club (known as the 'Pirates') playing matches there. In 1900 North Shore merged with the Wallaroos club to form Northern Sydney Rugby Club which is now known as Northern Suburbs Rugby Club.
[edit] Football (soccer)
North Sydney Oval was the home ground for Northern Spirit FC, a now defunct club of the defunct Australian National Soccer League. In its inaugural season in 1998, an average of 15,000 spectators attended Northern Spirit FC games at North Sydney Oval including 18,985 for their first game against Sydney Olympic FC. It is generally accepted that North Sydney Oval is a poor venue for football. The ground is hard and compacted to cater for cricket, and for many months there is a cricket wicket in the middle of the ground. Northern Spirit FC paid to have a removable cricket wicket installed, but the ongoing costs of this were prohibitative.
[edit] Australian rules football
The Australian Football League club, Sydney Swans, has played a number of matches at the oval against both Sydney Football League opposition and an annual exhibition match against fellow Australian Football League team Essendon Bombers.
In 2005 the Sydney Swans played a pre-season friendly match against Essendon Bombers in front of a crowd of 9,654.
In the 2006 match, a full strength Essendon (89) defeated the young outfit of the reigning premiers (71) in front of a crowd of 8,461.
[edit] Starlight cinema
Since 2003, North Sydney Oval has been used during evenings in January and February as a venue for outdoor cinema on an inflatable screen.
