Carlaw Park

Carlaw Park in November 2006, in use as a carpark

Carlaw Park was a multi-purpose stadium in Parnell, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It neighboured the Auckland Domain's Northern end. It was primarily used for rugby league and had a peak spectator capacity of around 28,000 in the 1930's, though this fell to around 17,000 by the time the ground was closed in 2002.

History

The stadium's grandstands and terraces were built in 1916, and it became the home of rugby league in Auckland from 1921. It was named after James Carlaw, the chairman of the Auckland Rugby League managing committee who secured the land in 1920 and developed the ground further.[1]

The ground was officially opened on 25 June 1921 and City Rovers defeated Maritime 10-8 on the opening day in front of 7,000 fans.[2] Herb Lunn scored the first try and Eric Grey kicked the first goal on the ground.

The ground hosted the sole test match in the New Zealand leg of the 1951 French rugby league tour of Australasia.

The Auckland Rugby League spent ₤4,322 on capital expenditure in developing the ground.[2] The ground was purchased for $200,000 in 1974.

During its long history it hosted many matches in various Rugby League World Cups. The stadium capacity was officially listed as 17,000 when it closed in 2002 due to health and safety reasons. Between 1924 and 1999 Carlaw Park hosted sixty-six Test matches.[2] The largest Test crowd was an estimated 28,000 during the 1928 England tour. New Zealand won the game, defeating England 17-13. The final rugby league test at the ground came on 22 October 1999 when New Zealand defeated Tonga 74-0 in front of the grounds lowest ever test crowd of 4,528.

Later years

In August 2006 the Auckland Rugby League reached an agreement to lease the property off to be developed as a retirement home. No development has started as of August 2007.[3] However the site has been officially 'handed over' in August 2007 in a ceremony involving Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Carlaw Park was one of the venues under consideration for Stadium New Zealand, a proposed stadium to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup.[4] Complications over the lease of the property, the requirement for additional land to be taken from Auckland Domain, and the proximity of the heavy traffic on Stanley Street led to other options being preferred by the Government.[5] The backers of Carlaw Park hosting the Cup secured NZ$200 million for its possible development,[6] but the government finally chose Eden Park to host the World Cup games.

Carlaw Park has now been replaced by commercial buildings and a multi-storey car park, since 2008. It is also the site of the Carlaw Park Student Village complex of apartments, belonging to the University of Auckland, which opened in February 2014.[7]

Rugby League Test Matches

List of rugby league test matches played at Carlaw Park.[8]

Test# Date Result Attendance
1 2 August 1924 New Zealand def. England 16-8 22,000
2 4 August 1928 New Zealand def. England 17-13 28,000
3 30 July 1932 England def. New Zealand 24-9 25,000
4 20 August 1932 England def. New Zealand 20-18 6,500
5 28 September 1935 New Zealand def. Australia 22-14 20,000
6 2 October 1935 Australia def. New Zealand 29-8 8,000
7 4 October 1935 Australia def. New Zealand 31-8 20,000
8 8 August 1936 England def. New Zealand 10-8 25,000
9 15 August 1936 England def. New Zealand 23-11 17,000
10 7 August 1937 Australia def. New Zealand 12-8 12,000
11 14 August 1937 New Zealand def. Australia 16-15 25,000
12 10 August 1946 New Zealand def. England 13-8 11,000
13 8 October 1949 Australia def. New Zealand 13-10 12,361
14 12 August 1950 New Zealand def. Great Britain 20-13 20,000
15 4 August 1951 New Zealand def. France 16-15 19,229
16 18 July 1953 Australia def. New Zealand 18-16 16,033
17 24 July 1954 Great Britain def. New Zealand 27-7 22,097
18 14 August 1954 Great Britain def. Zealand 12-6 6,186
19 6 August 1955 France def. New Zealand 19-9 20,500
20 13 August 1955 New Zealand def. France 11-6 12,000
21 26 July 1958 New Zealand def. Great Britain 15-10 25,000
22 9 August 1958 Great Britain def. New Zealand 32-15 25,000
23 23 July 1960 New Zealand def. France 9-2 17,914
24 6 August 1960 New Zealand def. France 9-3 14,007
25 1 July 1961 New Zealand def. Australia 12-10 11,485
26 8 July 1961 Australia def. New Zealand 10-8 12,424
27 23 July 1962 New Zealand def. Great Britain 19-0 14,976
28 10 August 1962 South Africa def. New Zealand 4-3
29 11 August 1962 New Zealand def. Great Britain 27-8 16,411
30 25 July 1964 New Zealand def. France 24-16 10,148
31 15 August 1964 New Zealand def. France 10-2 7,279
32 19 June 1965 Australia def. New Zealand 13-8 13,205
33 26 June 1965 New Zealand def. Australia 7-5 11,383
34 6 August 1966 Great Britain def. New Zealand 25-8 14,494
35 20 August 1966 Great Britain def. New Zealand 22-14 10,657
36 1 June 1969 Australia def. New Zealand 20-10 13,459
37 7 June 1969 New Zealand def. Australia 18-14 9,848
38 11 July 1970 Great Britain def. New Zealand 19-15 15,948
39 25 July 1970 Great Britain def. New Zealand 33-16 13,137
40 26 June 1971 New Zealand def. Australia 24-3 13,917
41 27 July 1974 New Zealand def. Great Britain 13-8 10,466
42 10 August 1974 Great Britain def. New Zealand 20-0 11,574
43 21 July 1979 Great Britain def. New Zealand 16-8 9,000
44 11 August 1979 New Zealand def. Great Britain 18-11 7,000
45 1 June 1980 Australia def. New Zealand 27-6 12,321
46 15 June 1980 Australia def. New Zealand 15-6 9,706
47 7 June 1981 New Zealand def. France 26-3 12,200
48 21 June 1981 New Zealand def. France 25-2 8,100
49 12 June 1983 Australia def. New Zealand 16-4 18,000
50 2 October 1983 New Zealand def. Papua New Guinea 60-20 7,000
51 14 July 1984 New Zealand def. Great Britain 12-0 10,238
52 28 July 1984 New Zealand def. Great Britain 32-16 7,967
53 30 June 1985 Australia def. New Zealand 10-6 19,132
54 7 July 1985 New Zealand def. Australia 18-0 15,327
55 6 July 1986 Australia def. New Zealand 22-8 14,566
56 13 June 1991 New Zealand def. France 60-6 7,000
57 22 October 1999 New Zealand def. Tonga 74-0 4,528

Rugby League World Cup

List of Rugby League World Cup matches played at Carlaw Park.
Results are from the 1968, 1975, 1977 and 1985–1988 World Cups.

WC Game# Date Result Attendance
1 25 May 1968 France def. New Zealand 15-10 18,000
2 2 June 1968 France def. Great Britain 7-2 15,760
3 21 June 1975 New Zealand drew with England 17-17 12,000
4 21 June 1975 New Zealand def. Wales 13-8 9,368
5 27 September 1975 Australia def. New Zealand 24-8 18,000
6 29 May 1977 Australia def. New Zealand 27-12 18,000
7 5 June 1977 Great Britain def. France 23-4 10,000
8 19 June 1977 New Zealand def. France 28-20 8,000
9 10 July 1988 New Zealand def. Papua New Guinea 66-14 8,392

References

  1. ↑ Jessup, Peter (29 June 2002). "Carlaw Park chapter closes". nzherald.co.nz (New Zealand: APN Holdings NZ Limited). Retrieved 5 February 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Coffey, John and Bernie Wood Auckland, 100 years of rugby league, 1909-2009, 2009. ISBN 978-1-86969-366-4, p.p.62-63
  3. ↑ "Carlaw Park for Cup final?". The New Zealand Herald. 4 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
  4. ↑ "Carlaw Park pitched as World Cup venue". The New Zealand Herald. 5 November 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  5. ↑ "Stadium decision: Mallard dismisses Carlaw Park proposal". The New Zealand Herald. 13 November 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "$200m cash injection for Carlaw Park as World Cup host". The New Zealand Herald. 4 February 2007.
  7. ↑ http://www.accommodation.auckland.ac.nz/en/self-catered-apartments1/carlaw-park-student-village.html
  8. ↑ Carlaw Park @ Rugby League Project

Coordinates: 36°51′13″S 174°46′33″E / 36.85361°S 174.77583°E