North Sydney Oval
Encyclopedia
Development
- The first 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...
pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in 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...
.
- The first structure built, in 1879, was a simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground. This was replaced by another pavilion which in turn was replaced by what is now the Duncan ThompsonDuncan ThompsonDuncan Fulton Thompson MBE was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and administrator...
Stand in 1929.
- The venue was renovated in 1931 due to complaints that the surface was 'like concrete' and that the ground was liable to cause serious injury to players. Nonetheless, as late as the 1980s, the ground was sometimes referred to as "Concrete Park".
- In 1935 the timber fence was replaced by a high brick wall and concrete terrace seating 1,200 people was built.
- Between 1983 and 1988 major renovations were undertaken. The old grandstand was named after North Sydney BearsNorth Sydney BearsThe North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
player Duncan ThompsonDuncan ThompsonDuncan Fulton Thompson MBE was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and administrator...
. New stands were built and named after cricketers Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly (cricketer)William Joseph "Bill" O'Reilly , often known as Tiger O'Reilly, was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers to...
, Charlie Macartney and Mollie DiveMollie DiveMary Clouston Dive was an Australian cricketer who played seven women's test matches from 1948 to 1951. She was usually known as "Mollie" or, less often, "Molly", though the stand that is named after her at North Sydney Oval is the Molly Dive Stand....
. In 1983, the venerable Bob StandBob StandThe Bob Stand is a grandstand at North Sydney Oval. Originally constructed on the eastern side at the Sydney Cricket Ground, admission to the stand costs a shilling , which gave the stand its name...
was moved to North Sydney Oval from the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket GroundThe Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. The hill became known as the Doug WaltersDoug WaltersKevin Douglas Walters MBE in Dungog New South Wales, known as Doug Walters, is a former Australian cricketer. He was known as an attacking batsman, and also as a typical ocker.-First-class career:...
Stand.
- Drainage and irrigation systems were installed and the pitch was re-laid in 1989.
- In 1992 the oval won a Sydney Cricket Association award for "Ground of the Year".
Rugby League Football
North Sydney Oval has been the home ground of the North Sydney BearsNorth Sydney Bears
The North Sydney Bears are an Australian rugby league football club based in North Sydney, New South Wales. They currently compete in the New South Wales Cup, having exited the National Rugby League following the 1999 NRL season after 92 years of top-grade competition. The Bears are based on...
since their inception in 1908. The club currently plays in the NSWRL Premier League
NSWRL Premier League
The New South Wales Cup is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales previously known as the NSWRL Premier League. It has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve grade competition. It is now the premier open age competition in the state...
and still attracts spectators to home games at the oval. Only two grounds have hosted more first grade rugby league matches.
In 2004, South Sydney Rabbitohs
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are an Australian professional rugby league football team based in Redfern, a suburb of South-central Sydney, New South Wales. They participate in the National Rugby League premiership and are one of nine existing teams from the state capital...
experimented with playing two home games at the ground. The first match between Souths and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...
attracted 14,855 spectators.
The ground record crowd of 23,089 was set on 13 May 1994 for a Round 10 match with North Sydney taking on local rivals Manly. The Sea Eagles won the match 11-8.
Rugby league great Ken Irvine
Ken Irvine
Kenneth John Irvine was an Australian rugby league footballer of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. He holds the standing record for the most number of tries in a first-grade career – 212. No other player has yet managed 200 tries in their career, apart from Steve Menzies who has scored 216...
has a stand in the oval named after him.
The Stadium Is Still Used For Reserve Grade, Toyota Cup, SG Ball And Harold Matthew Games.
Cricket
The New South Wales BluesNew South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
cricket team play regular Sheffield Shield, Ford Ranger Cup and Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
Cricket matches at the Oval. The oval hosted the final of the inaugural Twenty20
Twenty20
Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...
domestic knock-out cup competition between NSW Blues and Victorian Bushrangers
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
. It also plays home to the North Sydney Grade club. The ground was the host for 6 group matches and the final of the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup
2009 Women's Cricket World Cup
The 2009 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the tournament and was held in Australia from 7 to 22 March 2009, using the sport's One Day International format....
.
It has hosted 4 women's test matches, with Australia playing England there in 1957/58, 1968/69 and 1991/92 and India in 1990/91 and 12 one day internationals. New South Wales have played 3 first class matches there and 21 List A one day games.
Rugby Union Football
Rugby union has been played at the St Leonards Park complex since the late 1890s with the North Shore Football Club (known as the 'Pirates') playing matches there. In 1900 North Shore merged with the Wallaroos club to form Northern Suburbs Rugby ClubNorthern Suburbs RFC
Northern Suburbs Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Sydney, Australia, that was formed in 1900 from the merger of the Pirates and Wallaroos clubs. The club competes in the Shute Shield and Tooheys New Cup competitions run by the New South Wales Rugby Union.The club has produced 42 Wallaby...
and has had North Sydney Oval as their home ground ever since, playing all their home games in the Shute Shield
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...
at the ground.
The stadium was also briefly home to the Sydney Fleet
Sydney Fleet
The Sydney Fleet were an Australian rugby union football club that played in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship. The Fleet were formed as one of New South Wales' three clubs that will participate in the inaugural season of the championship. The team was based out of the North Sydney...
during the short lived (single season) Australian Rugby Championship
Australian Rugby Championship
The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...
. With the elimination of this competition, Rugby events at the oval are limited to Northern Suburbs home games and promotional activities held by the Australian Rugby Union
Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board the sport's governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory...
such as Wallaby 'Fan Days' and open training sessions.
Association Football (Soccer)
North Sydney Oval was the home ground for Northern Spirit FCNorthern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit Football Club was a football club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season...
, a now defunct club of the defunct Australian National Soccer League
National Soccer League
The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
. In its inaugural season in 1998, an average of 15,000 spectators attended Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit Football Club was a football club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season...
games at North Sydney Oval including 18,985 for their first game against Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic FC
Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian football club that plays in the NSW Premier League. It competed in the National Soccer League from 1977 until the league's demise in 2004, having won the championship in 1989–90, 2001–02, the League Cup in 1980, the minor premiership in 2002–03 and the...
. It is generally accepted that North Sydney Oval is a poor venue for football. The ground is hard and compacted to cater for cricket, and for many months there is a cricket wicket in the middle of the ground. Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit FC
Northern Spirit Football Club was a football club based in North Sydney, Australia. Northern Spirit entered the National Soccer League in the 1998-99 season...
paid to have a removable cricket wicket installed, but the ongoing costs of this were prohibitive. Northern Spirit also obtained government funding for half of the new lighting installed, while NSFC paid the other half. This was a major success for the club as before the new permanent lighting was installed, the older lighting was not bright enough to allow television broadcasts of night games. For 2 years Northern Spirit had hired a large amount of lighting for each game to get around the problem.
Australian Rules Football
The Australian Football LeagueAustralian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
club, Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
, has played a number of matches at the oval against both Sydney Football League
Sydney AFL
The "AFL Sydney" is an Australian rules football League, based in metropolitan Sydney, Australia.The AFL Sydney competition comprises 21 clubs playing across 5 senior divisions with 2 under 18 competitions.-History:...
opposition and an annual exhibition match against fellow AFL team Essendon
Essendon Football Club
The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
.
In 2005 the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
played a pre-season friendly match against Essendon in front of a crowd of 9,654.
In the 2006 match, a full strength Essendon (89) defeated the young outfit of the reigning premiers (71) in front of a crowd of 8,461.
In 2007, the Collingwood
Collingwood Football Club
The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
replaced Essendon in what has become a regular pre-season friendly against the Swans over the past five years. In the 2007 match held on Friday 16 February, Sydney (66) defeated Collingwood (51) in front of a crowd of 9,560.
Starlight cinema
Since 2003, North Sydney Oval has been used during evenings in January and February as a venue for outdoor cinema
Outdoor cinema
An outdoor cinema consists of a digital or analog movie projector, scaffolded construction or inflatable projection screen, and sound system....
on an inflatable screen
Inflatable movie screen
An inflatable movie screen is an inflatable framework with an attached projection screen. Inflatable screens are used for outdoor movies, film festivals, drive-in theaters, sports, social and other events requiring outdoor projection.- Design :...
.