Concord Oval

Concord Oval (also Waratah Stadium) is a rugby stadium in Concord, Australia. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches, and it was used for eight matches during the 1987 Rugby World Cup. The stadium is able to hold 20,000 people and was opened in 1985.

The stadium has two opposing grandstands. The eastern stand hosts the tennis box-style seats, television gantry and the change rooms. The stand runs approximately from try-line to try-line. The western stand contains a gym and some boxes. This stand runs approximately from dead-ball line to dead ball line. In front of the western stand are two rows of seats, while a concrete path runs around the field (except not in front of the aforementioned two rows of seats, the path runs behind those seats). At each end there is a grassy hill, and at the southern or Parramatta Road end, there is a wooden, manually operated scoreboard with an analogue clock. The stadium is bordered by Gipps Street to the north, Parramatta Road to the south, Loftus Street to the west and the Cintra Hockey Centre to the east. Parking is at a premium with small carparks behind the northern hill, eastern stand and in the south-east corner, although Burwood train station is not too far away, and the 439, L39, 464 and 466 bus routes pass close to the stadium. With the completion of the Sydney Football Stadium, and later Stadium Australia, the New South Wales Waratahs and Australian Wallabies have not played at the stadium in many years, and a return is unlikely, especially considering how expansion is almost impossible due to housing to the west, roads to the north and south, and a hockey complex and canal to the east. Other issues are that the stadium does not have floodlights, a video screen, parking or modern spectator amenities.

History

St Luke's Park, which was the home ground of Sydney's Western Suburbs rugby league club in 1910 and 1911 was where Concord Oval is now located.^[1] Wests started playing their matches at Pratten Park in 1912, but after pressure from local residents there the council refused the club permission to use that ground, forcing them to return to St. Luke's Oval from 1915 to 1919.^[2] From 1920 Wests resumed playing at Pratten Park.

Ground Use

Concord Oval remains the home ground of West Harbour RFC in the Shute Shield rugby union competition. Is also the training and administration base for the Wests Tigers rugby league club. The stadium also hosted four first grade rugby league matches, three of them in 1994 as Canterbury's second home ground during that season. As far as high-profile events go, the stadium currently lies dormant in the heart of the inner west of Sydney. In the early 2010s the City of Canada Bay Council prepared a masterplan ^[3] to bring these events back to an expanded and rejuvenated Concord Oval. This includes construction and installation of broadcasting equipment such as satellite dishes, antennas, camera platforms and commentary boxes, as well as training quality floodlighting and a new scoreboard. Mention is made in the masterplan of attempting to lure Asian Football Confederation games to the renovated ground, however the masterplan may take up to a decade to complete. For the mean time, most events in the area prefer grounds such as Parramatta Stadium, or the Olympic Park and Moore Park venues.

External links

• Concord Oval at Austadiums

References

• Rleague.com - Concord Oval .