Carrara Stadium
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| or Carrara Sports Complex | |
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| Former names | Carrara Oval Gold Coast Stadium |
| Location | Nerang-Broadbeach Road, Broadbeach, Queensland |
| Coordinates | 28°00′23″S 153°22′2″E / 28.00639°S 153.36722°ECoordinates: 28°00′23″S 153°22′2″E / 28.00639°S 153.36722°E |
| Broke ground | 1986 |
| Opened | 1987 |
| Owner | Gold Coast City Council |
| Operator | Gold Coast City Council |
| Surface | Grass |
| Capacity | 25,000 |
| Tenants | |
| Gold Coast Football Club (AFL) (2011-) | |
Carrara Stadium or Carrara Sports Complex is a sporting venue on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara.
It received substantial redevelopment work prior to the entry of the Brisbane Bears for their entry to the VFL/AFL in 1987, but since the Bears relocated to Brisbane Cricket Ground in 1993, it has been used for other sports including rugby league, rugby union and even baseball.
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[edit] History
Carrara Stadium was redeveloped by Christopher Skase after the Brisbane Bears were granted a licence to enter the VFL Australian rules football competition. The stadium was built with makeshift stands designed for night games to maximise the television audience. The Fitzroy Football Club defeated the Brisbane Bears in the first VFL game played at Carrara Oval before a crowd of 17,795 in 1987.[1] (The Brisbane Lions website records this crowd as 22,684, however the stadium did not have this capacity in 1987.)[1]
The Bears onfield performance proved poor and VFL crowds at Carrara stadium never reached these heights again. In 1993 the Bears relocated to the Gabba.
The ground was then sold to the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC).
In 1988, Carrara Stadium played host to the very first Touch Football World Cup in which teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the USA competed in the Men's, Women's and Mixed Opens as well as Men's Over 35's divisions. Australia won all 4 division finals which were played against New Zealand.
The Gold Coast Clippers played their 1989-90 Australian Baseball League season at Carrara before changing their name to the Daikyo Dolphins and moving to Palm Meadows. For the 1992-93 season they moved back to Carrara as the Gold Coast Cougars. The Cougars stayed at Carrara until the abolition of the Australian Baseball League in 1999.
In 1996 when the Gold Coast Seagulls moved to Carrara from Tweed Heads. They continued to use the ground until the end of the 1998 NRL season when they were excluded from the competition as a part of the rationalisation of the National Rugby League. Rugby league matches continued to be played at the stadium, with pre-season trials being played there annually from 2002 to 2005[2], and NRL premiership matches in 2001 and 2005. The ground's capacity was increased slightly during this time. In 2005 the NRL announced that a licence would be awarded to the Gold Coast Titans, and that the stadium would be their home ground in 2007 until the completion of Skilled Park, which was be opened in 2008.[3]
In response to the NRL move, the AFL scheduled 3 AFL 'home games' for the North Melbourne Kangaroos and a NAB Cup match for Carrara for 2007, and the Queensland State League began hosting Grand Finals there.
The Gold Coast City Council built an indoor sports centre nearby which hosted the Gold Coast Rollers National Basketball League team until 1996, when they were excluded from the competition.
[edit] Current
Carrara is still used for some Australian rules games even though it is no longer home to a professional club, hosting events such as the junior representative championships, Queensland State League finals matches and holds a status of a secondary AFL venue, becoming a second home to AFL club the North Melbourne Kangaroos, which has been contracted since 2007 to play at least 3 premiership season matches at Carrara a year.
However, the AFL has announced a new team, the Gold Coast FC and has also announced that they will play games at Carrara. The Queensland Government has promised to contribute $60 million towards the redevelopment of the stadium which would increase the capacity to around 25,000 with 23,500 seated.[4] The Gold Coast City Council also will contribute $20 million.[5] Finally the AFL has promised $10 million.[6] This is a total of $90 million. The esablishment of Gold Coast FC is expected to contribute $34 million dollars to the region, 92 per cent of which will go to benefit non-AFL businesses in the Gold Coast such as tourism, retail and hospitality industries.[7]
[edit] Redevelopment
On Friday, 30th October 2009, demolition work began on the $126 millon redevolpment of the stadium.[8] The redeveloped stadium will seat 25000 spectators, and will later be extended to seat 40000-50000.[9] The stadium will feature an AFL oval capable of accommodating an ICC-compliant cricket oval, an IAAF Athletics field and a FIFA World Cup soccer field, facilities for 2,000 corporate patrons, AFL team and officials’ changing facilities, AFL media facilities, and team and officials’ suites.[10] Watpac have been contracted for the construction, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2011.[11]
[edit] Attendance records
| Date | Teams | Sport | Competition | Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 March 1994 | Gold Coast Chargers v. Brisbane Broncos | Rugby League | NSWRL premiership | 22,688 |
| 27 May 2005 | North Queensland Cowboys v. Canterbury Bulldogs | Rugby League | NRL premiership | 21,012 |
| 28 February 2005 | St George Illawarra Dragons v. Canterbury Bulldogs | Rugby League | NRL pre-season | 18,356 |
[edit] Tenants
| Years | Tenant | Sport |
|---|---|---|
| 1983-1984 | Nerang Bulls | Rugby union |
| 1987-1992 | Brisbane Bears | Australian rules football |
| 1989-90 | Gold Coast Clippers | Baseball |
| 1992-93 | Daikyo Dolphins | Baseball |
| 1993-1999 | East Coast Cougars/Gold Coast Cougars | Baseball |
| 1996-1998 | Gold Coast Chargers | Rugby League |
| 2007 | Gold Coast Titans | Rugby League |
| 2007 | East Coast Aces | Rugby Union |
| 2007-08 | North Melbourne Kangaroos | Australian rules football |
| 2009- | Gold Coast Football Club | Australian rules football |
[edit] Sources
- AFL Attendance Records
- NRL Attendance Records
- Brisbane Lions website
- Gold Coast Titans website
- Nerang Bulls Rugby Union website
- Gold Coast City Council - Carrara Stadium
[edit] References
- ^ http://lions.com.au/default.asp?pg=fitzroyhistory&spg=chronologydisplay&articleid=130868
- ^ http://www.titans.com.au/pages/page.php?page=28
- ^ http://www.titans.com.au/pages/page.php?page=36
- ^ http://goldcoastfc.com.au/index.php?id=52&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=101&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=51&cHash=e1a81852ce
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25266401-19742,00.html
- ^ http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/74077/default.aspx
- ^ http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/74077/default.aspx
- ^ http://www.austadiums.com/news/news.php?id=410
- ^ http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/05/08/76995_gold-coast-news.html
- ^ http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/article/Watpac-wins-Carrara-Stadium-work/493622.aspx
- ^ http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/article/Watpac-wins-Carrara-Stadium-work/493622.aspx
[edit] External links
- Description and aerial view of Carrara Oval at the Gold Coast City Council's web site
- Carrara Stadium at Austadiums
- Bring Carrara Back to Life - But Slowly
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