Bicentennial Park South

Bicentennial Park South
Location	West Botany St, Rockdale, New South Wales
Coordinates	33°57′50″S 151°8′40″E / 33.96389°S 151.14444°E / -33.96389; 151.14444Coordinates: 33°57′50″S 151°8′40″E / 33.96389°S 151.14444°E / -33.96389; 151.14444
Opened	1988 (Opening of Bicentennial Park) December 2009 (Opening of football venue)
Owner	Rockdale City Council
Operator	Rockdale City Council
Surface	Grass
Project manager	Boyd Properties
Capacity	5,000 (Maximum Capacity) 500 (Provided Seating)
Tenants
Rockdale City Suns FC (NSW Premier League) (2010-present)

Bicentennial Park South is a football (soccer) stadium in Rockdale, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.

Redevelopment of the venue started in October 2008,^[1] and finished in September 2009 to become the new home of New South Wales Premier League team, the Rockdale City Suns.

History

Bicentennial Park was opened in 1988. The football ground was opened to the general public as an idle soccer pitch. The ground was used as a local training ground for football, rugby league and athletics while holding matches by a local soccer team, the Monterey Stingrays. In 2006, redevelopment plans were announced, relocating many sporting teams to Bicentennial Park and Scarborough Park grounds. The Rockdale Ilinden Football Club is a 21 year tenant of the new ground.

Re-Development

Development work begun on Bicentennial Park South in October 2008 as part of the Bicentennial and Scarborough Park Upgrade,^[2] including surface reconstruction for buildings to house change rooms and training rooms on the western hill and extended car park spaces. Stage 2 involves the installation of additional floodlights and a new grandstand seating area. The Rockdale Ilinden Football Club had originally announced the completion of the upgrade to be by March 2009 in time for the 2009 NSW Super League season,^[3] however various issues caused delays in the completion of the venue.

The stadium was eventually completed in September 2009 and was opened during the month of December, where the first football match was played with the home team Rockdale clashing with Preston Lions FC on December 12.^[4] The first official NSW Premier League match was contested during the second round of the 2010 NSW Premier League season against fellow competition rivals Bankstown City Lions with Rockdale prevailing 1-0.^[5]

Gallery

• 

  View of the West of the ground during ground surfacing re-development. November 2008.

• 

  Change Rooms building being constructed on western hill. November 2008.

• 

  Venue nearing completion, view of Change Rooms building to the left. February 2009.

• 

  Club House building, view from the Northern hill. February 2009.

• 

  Inside the Club House during development. February 2009.

Bicentennial Park East

Bicentennial Park East is a nearby park consisting of 3 football surfaces specifically designed for the use of junior football players. The development consisted of two large soccer fields and one small field. Cricket pitches have also be constructed in the centre of the two large fields for use in summer. Bicentennial Park East is accessible to the north and south via a footbridge, connecting senior and junior playing fields along with the main car parks. Geographically, Bicentennial Park East is located on the border of three suburbs, Monterey, Rockdale and Brighton-Le-Sands, but is officially in Brighton-Le-sands according to the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.

References

External links

• Bicentennial Park official-site at Rockdale City Suns
• Rockdale City Suns Official Website
• Football NSW
• NSW Premier League