Belmore Sports Ground
Belmore Sports Ground, formerly known as Belmore Oval, is a multi-purpose stadium in Belmore, New South Wales, Australia. The park covers 22 acres (89,000 m2) and from 1951 has contained the Belmore Bowling Recreation Club green. It is close to Belmore railway station.
Belmore | |
 | |
| |
| Former names | Belmore Oval |
|---|---|
| Location | Belmore, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°55′0″S 151°5′41″E |
| Capacity | 20,000[1] |
| Record attendance | 27,804 |
| Surface | Grass |
| Opened | 1920 |
| Tenants | |
| Sydney Olympic (NPL NSW) (1996–2001, 2004–present) Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (NSWRL/ARL/NRL) (SL) (1935–1994, 1996–1998, 2015–present) | |
The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 people and was built in 1920, with the grandstand itself having the capacity to seat 10,000 people. The ground record crowd for Belmore was set on 12 April 1993 when 27,804 fans saw Canterbury defeat local rivals Parramatta 42–6.[2] The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Olympic Football Club are the current co-tenants of the ground.
History
In 1920, the local council took steps to acquire park areas around the Belmore area. The park was named after the suburb it was located: Belmore Park. Belmore Park was eventually purchased in three sections between 1918 and 1921. The first two parcels were purchased by the State government and the third by Council. The park was opened around the early 1920s, the land was formerly known as Gunn's Paddock. In 1936, council purchased a large stand from the Sydney Cricket Ground and had it re-erected at the park as part of unemployment relief works. This stand was opened on 14 March 1936 by Mayor SE Parry and was named after him. Around 1967, council moved other sports played at the park to grounds else-where and rugby league was given priority.
Ground Use
Association football
The ground is currently (and mainly) used for Association football as the home ground for former Australian National League club Sydney Olympic FC, who now competes in the New South Wales Premier League.
Sydney Olympic competed in the ground from 1977 to 2001 during the National Soccer League. In 2001 they left the ground to join Endeavour Field. Once the league ceased in mid-2004, the team returned to Belmore where they currently compete.
Rugby league
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs NRL team played their home games at Belmore Sports Ground from 1936 until 1998, after which time the club moved its home games to a series of more modern stadiums (currently ANZ Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park). The club still used Belmore for training and administration, but subsequently moved these functions to a facility at Olympic Park in early 2008, leaving the club with no connection to the Sports Ground for the first time since the 1930s. However, the club subsequently announced its intention to redevelop the facilities at Belmore and move training and administration back to the ground. The Canterbury-Bankstown club relocated their offices and resumed training at the ground.[3] In 2011, the Bulldogs NSW Cup, SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams began playing most home games at Belmore once again.
The spectators' hill on the eastern side of the ground is named after Bulldogs legend Terry Lamb.
From 1982 until the end of 1985, the Parramatta Eels used the ground as their temporary home ground while Parramatta Stadium was under construction. The St George Dragons also used the ground for one season in 1988 while Kogarah Oval was re-developed.
Canterbury-Bankstown returned to playing NRL games at Belmore with two home games during the 2015 NRL season against Melbourne and Cronulla as part of its 80th anniversary celebrations.[4][5] The Bulldogs will play the Premiers, North Queensland Cowboys, and Canberra Raiders in the 2016 season at Belmore Sports Ground.
In 2016 it held an International rugby league match between the Cook Islands and Lebanon.[6]
At the end of the 2016 NRL season, Belmore Sports Ground will have hosted 661 games of first grade rugby league since the first game on 13 April 1936. Of the active and semi-active grounds used by the NRL, only the SCG, Leichhardt Oval and Brookvale Oval have hosted more games.
NRL pre-season trials
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue & Crowd | Match | ||||||
 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
28–16 |  Sydney Roosters |
5:00pm, Sunday, 12 February 2012 |
Belmore Oval (12,000)[7] | Back to Belmore 1 | |||
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
36–14 |  Newtown Jets |
5:00pm, Sunday, 10 February 2013 |
Belmore Oval (12,000)[8] | Back to Belmore 2 | |||
| Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs |
20–28 |  South Sydney Rabbitohs |
5:00pm, Sunday, 9 February 2014 |
Belmore Oval (5,913)[9] | Back to Belmore 3 | |||
| The 2015 "Back To Belmore" Trial match was not played due to other trial commitments. The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs played against the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne, Victoria at AAMI Park. | ||||||||
| The 2016 "Back To Belmore" trial match is to be played against Melbourne. The trial game will be played on 20 February[10] | ||||||||
NRL season games
World Club Championship games
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue & Crowd | Match | ||||||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
18–22 |  Wigan Warriors |
7:00pm, Monday, 9 June 1997 |
Belmore Sports Ground (10,680)[15] | 1997 World Club Championship Round 1 | |||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
58–6 |  Halifax Blue Sox |
7:00pm, Monday, 16 June 1997 |
Belmore Sports Ground (5,034) | 1997 World Club Championship Round 2 | |||
| Canterbury Bulldogs |
34–18 |  London Broncos |
3:00pm, Sunday, 22 June 1997 |
Belmore Sports Ground (4,000) | 1997 World Club Championship Round 3 | |||
Ground record
The ground record attendance was set on 12 April 1993 during Round 5 of the 1993 NSWRL season when 27,804 saw the Bulldogs defeat the Parramatta Eels 42–6.
References
- "Belmore Sports Ground". austadiums.com. Austadiums. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- "Rugby League Tables / Canterbury 42 v Parramatta 6 / Round 5, 1993". Stats.rleague.com. 12 April 1993. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
- Walter, Brad. "Bulldogs moving home base back to beloved Belmore Sports Ground". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- NRL. "Belmore to Host Match in 2015". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "Bulldogs confirm Belmore match against Sharks". Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "Belmore to host Cook Islands v Lebanon clash". asiapacificrl.com. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Roosters | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Newtown Jets | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "NRL Trial: Bulldogs v Rabbitohs | Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "2016 NRL pre-season fixtures". NRL.com. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2015 – Round 16 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2015 – Round 20 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "NRL 2016 – Round 5 – Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
- "NRL: Bulldogs v Cowboys – Austadiums". www.austadiums.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- Wigan Rugby League Old Matches (20 January 2012). "Canterbury v Wigan – 1997 World Club Challenge Tournament". Retrieved 11 April 2018 – via YouTube.