Dairy Farmers Stadium
Encyclopedia
The Willows Sports Complex, currently known as Dairy Farmers Stadium due to sponsorship rights
, is a grass football
stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland
, Australia
. It has historically been used mainly for rugby league
, and is the home ground of the National Rugby League
club the North Queensland Cowboys
. It has also been used for rugby union
. For sponsorship reasons, the stadium was previously known as Stockland Stadium (1995–98) and Malanda Stadium (1998).
competition in 1995, the Willows site was transformed into a basic rugby league venue with a western grandstand as well as eastern side terraces. The northern and southern ends were sloped grass hills.
. A contract was signed by the Stockland Trust Group for three years giving them the naming rights of the venue. The Joint Board of the old Willows Sports Complex (Townsville City Council and Thuringowa City Council) sub-leased the facility to the Cowboys Rugby League Football Limited, who manage the venue on a day-to-day basis. The first stage of development was funded by a combination of borrowings by the Joint Board, the Queensland Government Grants and a considerable amount of community and business donations.
The stadium was first used for any type of football for the North Queensland Cowboys first home game which attracted a crowd of 23,156, a good crowd by Australian Rugby League
(now National Rugby League
) standards. Crowds continued to push the capacity of the stadium and in 1996 the Stockland Stadium was renovated to include both northern and southern seating, where previously there had been only standing room.
Stockland ended their sponsorship after three years, which paved the way for the current sponsor, Dairy Farmers Limited.
home stadium sponsor Stockland
finished up their sponsorship contract seeing out their three year deal. A new sponsorship deal was drawn up by the Cowboys, with local milking organisation Dairy Farmers who owned the local North Queensland
milking dairy in the Tablelands
. Season 1998 saw the stadium renamed with a new sponsorship deal 'Malanda Stadium'. But after its opening season the Dairy Milk corporation felt it more appropriate to rename the stadium 'Dairy Farmers Stadium', after Dairy Farmers bought out the Malanda Milk corporation.
In 2005 the eastern terraces were extended, a new replay screen invested, public address system installed, 30 more corporate boxes and upgraded catering facilities as part of the funding injection. The lighting facilities were upgraded for night time broadcasts. 2006 saw the eastern, northern and southern grandstands receiving even further upgrades with the fitting of extra seating and the eastern terrace was extended completely taking over the old eastern hill.
During the 2011 NRL season
a capacity crowd attended Darren Lockyer
's record-setting 350th NRL match at Dairy Farmer's.
bid. The planning for the bid identified several issues with the existing stadium, particularily sub standard facilities, conjestion and limited transport access. Stadiums Queensland identified that some form of redevelopment or replacement was necissary regardless of the failed World Cup bid.
In 2011, the Cowboys in conjunction with Stadiums Queensland developed a $185 million plan to replace the ageing Dairy Farmers Stadium. The proposed ground would be located at the Saunders Street QR National site close to the Townsville CBD, as part of an urban renewal plan. The existing QR National rail yards are to be relocated in accordance with the Townsville Port Authority Master Plan 2010-2040.
The proposed ground is to seat 30,000 fans, including two 450 seat function rooms, 100 open air corporate boxes and 25 enclosed boxes.
, being the home ground of the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League competition, and the North Queensland Young Guns in the Queensland Cup competition. The stadium has also hosted an Australian
Test match against Papua New Guinea
in 2000, an Australian XIII match in 2005, the Super League
World 9's tournament in 1997 and charity fixtures with State of Origin Legend matches and Australia Legends v New Zealand Legends. It also hosted England vs Papua New Guinea in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
when the touring British and Irish Lions team played a Queensland President's XV team in 2001. In 2003 a number of matches, which involved Japan
in the Rugby Union World Cup were played at the ground, averaging a crowd of 19,249.http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums_crowds.php?id=40. On 12 May 2006 the Queensland Reds
played a Super 14
match at Dairy Farmers Stadium in front of a crowd of 10,580.http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,19117845-23210,00.html In June 2007 the stadium hosted Australia A and Japan in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Naming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
, is a grass football
Football
Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...
stadium situated in Townsville, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It has historically been used mainly for rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, and is the home ground of the National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
club the North Queensland Cowboys
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
. It has also been used for rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
. For sponsorship reasons, the stadium was previously known as Stockland Stadium (1995–98) and Malanda Stadium (1998).
Willows Sporting Complex
Prior to 1995, the stadium site was occupied by the Willows Sporting Complex. It hosted trotting paceway nights, and was the main pacing venue for the Townsville District. With the admission of the North Queensland Cowboys to the Australian Rugby LeagueAustralian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
competition in 1995, the Willows site was transformed into a basic rugby league venue with a western grandstand as well as eastern side terraces. The northern and southern ends were sloped grass hills.
Stockland Stadium
The Willows Sports Complex was renamed 'Stockland Stadium' in 1995 through sponsorship linked with the North Queensland CowboysNorth Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
. A contract was signed by the Stockland Trust Group for three years giving them the naming rights of the venue. The Joint Board of the old Willows Sports Complex (Townsville City Council and Thuringowa City Council) sub-leased the facility to the Cowboys Rugby League Football Limited, who manage the venue on a day-to-day basis. The first stage of development was funded by a combination of borrowings by the Joint Board, the Queensland Government Grants and a considerable amount of community and business donations.
The stadium was first used for any type of football for the North Queensland Cowboys first home game which attracted a crowd of 23,156, a good crowd by Australian Rugby League
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
(now National Rugby League
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
) standards. Crowds continued to push the capacity of the stadium and in 1996 the Stockland Stadium was renovated to include both northern and southern seating, where previously there had been only standing room.
Stockland ended their sponsorship after three years, which paved the way for the current sponsor, Dairy Farmers Limited.
Malanda Stadium
The North Queensland CowboysNorth Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
home stadium sponsor Stockland
Stockland (company)
Stockland is a diversified Australian property development company.Founded in 1952 as a residential developer, it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1957 and diversified into commercial developments in the 1960s.Its current activities include:...
finished up their sponsorship contract seeing out their three year deal. A new sponsorship deal was drawn up by the Cowboys, with local milking organisation Dairy Farmers who owned the local North Queensland
Tropical North Queensland
Tropical North Queensland is general term referring to varying regions of the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland. The generally accepted definition is an area from about the city of Mackay north to the tip of Cape York....
milking dairy in the Tablelands
Malanda, Queensland
Malanda is a medium-sized town on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is located from Cairns and above sea level. Malanda first developed in the 1880s when the discovery of tin and copper at Herberton saw a steady stream of miners and engineers moving over the mountains...
. Season 1998 saw the stadium renamed with a new sponsorship deal 'Malanda Stadium'. But after its opening season the Dairy Milk corporation felt it more appropriate to rename the stadium 'Dairy Farmers Stadium', after Dairy Farmers bought out the Malanda Milk corporation.
Dairy Farmers Stadium
Many stages of redevelopment were taken on and gradually completed over the Cowboys growing success. The venue had changed from a disused Harness Racing facility to the current complex. The management and operation of the stadium was handed over to the Major Sports Facilities Authority in December 2003 in the hope for more cash inflow and government spending.In 2005 the eastern terraces were extended, a new replay screen invested, public address system installed, 30 more corporate boxes and upgraded catering facilities as part of the funding injection. The lighting facilities were upgraded for night time broadcasts. 2006 saw the eastern, northern and southern grandstands receiving even further upgrades with the fitting of extra seating and the eastern terrace was extended completely taking over the old eastern hill.
During the 2011 NRL season
2011 NRL season
The 2011 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the fourteenth run by the National Rugby League. The NRL's main championship, called the 2011 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, was contested by sixteen teams for the...
a capacity crowd attended Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer
Darren Lockyer is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He was the captain of the Australian national team, the Queensland State of Origin team and his National Rugby League club, the Brisbane Broncos. His professional career spanned between 1995 and 2011...
's record-setting 350th NRL match at Dairy Farmer's.
Proposed Replacement
A heavily redeveloped stadium featured as part of Australia's 2022 FIFA World Cup2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that is scheduled to take place in 2022 in Qatar. The competition is scheduled to take place in June and July, although proposals have been made for a winter season. The tournament will involve...
bid. The planning for the bid identified several issues with the existing stadium, particularily sub standard facilities, conjestion and limited transport access. Stadiums Queensland identified that some form of redevelopment or replacement was necissary regardless of the failed World Cup bid.
In 2011, the Cowboys in conjunction with Stadiums Queensland developed a $185 million plan to replace the ageing Dairy Farmers Stadium. The proposed ground would be located at the Saunders Street QR National site close to the Townsville CBD, as part of an urban renewal plan. The existing QR National rail yards are to be relocated in accordance with the Townsville Port Authority Master Plan 2010-2040.
The proposed ground is to seat 30,000 fans, including two 450 seat function rooms, 100 open air corporate boxes and 25 enclosed boxes.
Attendance records
| Crowd | Date | Event | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30,302 | 29 April 1999 | North Queensland Cowboys North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, Queensland. They compete in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership... v. Brisbane Broncos Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the city of Brisbane, the capital of the state of Queensland. Founded in 1988, the Broncos play in Australasia's elite competition, the National Rugby League premiership. They have won six premierships and two... |
Rugby league |
| 30,250 | 8 August 1998 | North Queensland Cowboys v. Brisbane Broncos | Rugby league |
| 30,122 | 5 April 1997 | North Queensland Cowboys v. Brisbane Broncos | Rugby league |
Rugby league
Dairy Farmers Stadium is predominantly used as a rugby league groundRugby league playing field
The rugby league playing field, also referred to as a pitch or paddock, is the playing surface for the sport of rugby league football and is surfaced exclusively with grass....
, being the home ground of the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League competition, and the North Queensland Young Guns in the Queensland Cup competition. The stadium has also hosted an Australian
Australian national rugby league team
The Australian national rugby league team have represented Australia in senior men's rugby league football competition since the establishment of the game in Australia in 1908. Administered by the Australian Rugby League, the Kangaroos' are ranked number one in the RLIF World Rankings...
Test match against Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea national rugby league team
The Papua New Guinea national rugby league team represents Papua New Guinea internationally in the sport of rugby league football.In Papua New Guinea, Rugby league is highly popular and is regarded as the country’s national sport. The national side are known as the Kumuls...
in 2000, an Australian XIII match in 2005, the Super League
Super League (Australia)
Super League was an Australian rugby league football administrative body that conducted professional competition in Australasia for one season in 1997. Along with Super League of Europe, it was created by News Corporation during the Super League war which arose following an unsuccessful attempt to...
World 9's tournament in 1997 and charity fixtures with State of Origin Legend matches and Australia Legends v New Zealand Legends. It also hosted England vs Papua New Guinea in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.
Rugby union
The stadium was first used for first class rugby unionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
when the touring British and Irish Lions team played a Queensland President's XV team in 2001. In 2003 a number of matches, which involved Japan
Japan national rugby union team
The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
in the Rugby Union World Cup were played at the ground, averaging a crowd of 19,249.http://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/stadiums_crowds.php?id=40. On 12 May 2006 the Queensland Reds
Queensland Reds
The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...
played a Super 14
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...
match at Dairy Farmers Stadium in front of a crowd of 10,580.http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,19117845-23210,00.html In June 2007 the stadium hosted Australia A and Japan in the IRB Pacific Nations Cup.
Soccer
- AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Olyroos soccer friendly - In 2009, Dairy Farmers Stadium became home to Townsville's new club, the North Queensland FuryNorth Queensland Fury FCNorth Queensland Fury FC were a professional football club based in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, which competed in the A-League. North Queensland played its home fixtures at Dairy Farmers Stadium. The club was closed on 1 March 2011, due to financial instability.-History:A Townsville bid was...
who played in the A-LeagueA-LeagueThe A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
, the nation's premier soccer competition. Their licence was revoked in March 2011.
Other
- Kostya Tszyu's World Title boxing qualifier
- CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
Super 8's state championships - Crusty DemonsCrusty DemonsThe Crusty Demons are a group of daredevil freestyle motorcyclists from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Boise2011- Background :...
tour. - Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
performed at Dairy Farmers Stadium on 4 December 2007, as part of his "Knight under the stars" tour.
See also
- Dairy Farmers Stadium by the Queensland Government Major Sports Facilities Authority, retrieved 6 December 2005, retrieved 8 April 2006