Concord Oval

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

Concord Oval
Concord Oval showing the eastern grandstand
LocationConcord, New South Wales
Coordinates33°52′6″S 151°6′34″E
OwnerCity of Canada Bay
Capacity20,000
SurfaceGrass
Opened1985
Tenants
West Harbour RFC
Western Suburbs Magpies (1910-11, 1915-19)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (1994)
Inter Lions SC
Wests Tigers (training + administration)

It is the home ground of West Harbour RFC in the Shute Shield rugby union competition, and the Greater Sydney Rams in the National Rugby Championship. It is also the training and administration base for the Wests Tigers rugby league club. Football club Inter Lions SC also play games at the ground.

Facilities

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.

History

St Luke's Park, which was the home ground of Sydney's Western Suburbs Magpies 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.

Concord Oval in its present form was constructed between 1984 and 1987 to become the home of Rugby union in Sydney[3] and subsequently the redeveloped venue hosted games in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

The stadium also hosted four first grade rugby league matches, three of them in 1994 as Canterbury's second home ground during that season.

In the early 2010s the City of Canada Bay Council prepared a masterplan [4] to bring major 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.

In 2020, it was announced that the Concord Oval will undergo a $51 million redevelopment to accommodate the Wests Tigers new training and administration complex to be completed by mid–2021.[5] Demolition works began in mid-2020 with the Eastern Stand completely demolished by July 2020.[6]

Rugby World Cup

Concord Oval hosted six matches of the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

Date Competition Home team Away team Attendance
23 May 19871987 Rugby World Cup Pool 1 Australia19 England617,896
30 May 19871987 Rugby World Cup Pool 1 England60 Japan74,893
3 June 19871987 Rugby World Cup Pool 1 England34 United States68,785
 Australia42 Japan23
7 June 19871987 Rugby World Cup Quarter-final 2 Australia33 Ireland1514,356
13 June 19871987 Rugby World Cup Semi-final 1 Australia24 France3017,768
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References
  1. westsmagpies.com.au. "Home Grounds". Wests Archives. Western Suburbs Magpies. Archived from the original on 27 January 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  2. Ashfield Municipal Council (2008). Pratten Park Plan of Management (PDF). Australia: ashfield.nsw.gov.au. pp. 6–7.
  3. "West Harbour: The End Of An Era At Concord Oval | Shute Shield". Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  4. http://www.lpma.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/171785/Concord_Oval_draft_POM_for_public_exhibition_May_2012_version.pdf%5B%5D
  5. "$51m Concord Oval redevelopment approved". Austadiums. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. "Future NRL Stadiums part II". League Unlimited. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
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