Eden Park

For other places with the same name, see Eden Park (disambiguation).

Eden Park
Garden of Eden
Eden Park viewed from Mount Eden
Location	Reimers Ave, Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand
Coordinates	36°52′30″S 174°44′41″E
Opened	1900
Owner	Eden Park Trust Board
Operator	Eden Park Trust Board
Surface	Grass
Capacity	50,000. (60,000 with temporary seating)
Tenants
Blues (Super Rugby) Auckland Rugby Football Union (ITM Cup) Auckland Aces (State Championship/State Shield/State Twenty20)

Eden Park is the biggest stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer (although most domestic cricket games are played on the Outer Oval, which is situated next to the main stadium). The ground also occasionally hostts rugby league matches. To accommodate all three sports, the cricket pitch is removable. The ground is located three kilometres southwest of Auckland's CBD, straddling the boundary between the Kingsland and Mount Eden suburbs.

It became the first stadium to host two Rugby World Cup Finals in 2011, having held the inaugural final in 1987. It was also the venue for the Rugby League World Cup final in 1988.

History

The Eden Park area has been in use for sport since around 1900. Eden Park has been the home to Auckland Cricket since 1910, and has also hosted many international Tests and One Day International cricket matches.

In 1950, Eden Park was the principal venue for the IV British Empire Games, where the Opening Ceremony and the Track and Field Events were held.

In 1981, Eden Park was buzzed by a Cessna light airplane on the occasion of the third and final New Zealand v. South African test match of the South African Springbok rugby tour. The pilot, who was a staunch anti-apartheid activist, had threatened to land the plane on the pitch, but instead just dumped onto the field leaflets, flares, a parachute-supported banner reading "Biko", and flour bombs, one of which felled a New Zealand player.

The original grandstand that was situated at the north-west corner of the main ground was relocated to the west side of the number two ground in the late 1980s. The number two ground also served as supplemental car parking at major sporting events.

Eden Park is the home of the Blues Super Rugby team, and has also been the home of the Auckland Rugby Football Union since 1925, hosting Auckland's home games in the NPC and its successor the ITM Cup. The ground has also been a frequent host of international test rugby. It hosted the final match of the Rugby World Cup. In a switch of codes, Eden Park hosted the 1988 Rugby League World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia which drew a sell out crowd.

An American college football game, the Haka Bowl, was scheduled to be played at Eden Park in 1996, but was cancelled because the organisers could not make required financial guarantees. It would have been the first collegiate American football game in New Zealand, and the first "bowl game" anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

It is scheduled to be the focal point of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, with the opening ceremony, first pool game, two quarter finals, both semi finals, the third-place play-off and the final taking place at Eden Park, as well as numerous other pool games.

Eden Park is a very successful venue for the All Blacks. They have won 56 of the 69 test matches played there which is about 81%. The All Blacks have not lost there since their defeat against France in 1994.

Panorama of Eden Park in 2010

Redevelopment Plans

Eden Park final design for redevelopment. Completed in 2011.

Capacity

Eden Park used to have a crowd capacity of 42,000 for cricket, and 47,500 for rugby. This is the largest of any New Zealand sports arena. There are no standing areas. Temporary seating in front of the ASB Stand and the West Stand (usually only used for international rugby matches) is required for the capacity of 45,472 to be reached. Due to sight-screens and the larger area required for cricket matches, cricket capacity is less.

A $256 million redevelopment was completed in October 2010, providing a permanent capacity of 50,000 and ability to add a further 10,000 temporary seats for the 2011 Rugby World Cup finals.

Expansion

Cranes building the new South Stand in 2009

Looking south on the construction of the West Stand at Eden Park

The redevelopment project includes a new three-tier South stand that will replace the old South and South West stands with a capacity of 24,000 and a new three-tier East stand to replace the Terraces. The number of covered seats will increase from 23,000 to 38,000. The redeveloped Eden Park will also feature an internal concourse that will allow people to circulate around the grounds inside the stadium and world-class facilities, including food and beverage outlets, toilets and corporate areas, are being promised. Public transport upgrades are also planned, including a transport hub, featuring a pedestrian bridge between the stadium and Kingsland Station, and a bus drop-off area. The open plan approach to the design and establishment of a community centre and green space, as well as the removal of the perimeter fence, all mean that the stadium is set to become more publicly accessible and a part of the neighbourhood.

There have been public concerns about the height of the new structure and its shading effect on many nearby houses. Auckland City Council announced that it had received 470 submissions towards Eden Park's resource consent application – over 300 of which were in favour of the redevelopment. On 26 January 2007, Eden Park received resource consent, but 91 conditions were imposed. The consent permits the building of new stands in place of the terraces and south stand, but does not include consent for the NZ$ 385 million 'full option' which would include covered seating.

Possible alternative stadium for the RWC

In September 2006 it was announced that instead of Eden Park, the Government and Auckland City Council were assessing the possibility of a new stadium on Auckland's waterfront to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup. This assessment was part of the Government's formal due diligence process on the decision to redevelop Eden Park. The Government had said it would assist with the funding if a new stadium was built.^{[citation needed]}

The Government announced in a report in November 2006 that it would favour a new stadium on the Auckland City waterfront, which would have meant that the Eden Park redevelopment would not have gone ahead, and that eventually, new options for its use or redevelopment would have to be developed.

After the Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Council differed in their support for the new stadium, the Government changed to supporting the redevelopment of Eden Park, subject to suitable resolution of the design, funding and governance issues.

IRB Rugby World Cup 2011

Eden Park was the largest stadium selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. After the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes, the two quarter final matches (scheduled to be held in the AMI Stadium in Christchurch), were moved to Eden Park. Eden Park therefore played host to the opening ceremony and also hosted the following 11 matches:

Date	Team #1	Res.	Team #2	Round	Attendance
2011-09-09	New Zealand	41–10	Tonga	Pool A (opening match)	60,214
2011-09-17	Australia	6–15	Ireland	Pool C	58,678
2011-09-24	New Zealand	37–17	France	Pool A	60,856
2011-09-25	Fiji	7–27	Samoa	Pool D	60,327
2011-10-01	England	16–12	Scotland	Pool B	58,213
2011-10-08	England	12–19	France	Quarter Final 2	49,105
2011-10-09	New Zealand	33–10	Argentina	Quarter Final 4	57,192
2011-10-15	Wales	8–9	France	Semi Final 1	58,630
2011-10-16	Australia	6–20	New Zealand	Semi Final 2	60,087
2011-10-21	Wales	18–21	Australia	Bronze Final	53,014
2011-10-23	New Zealand	8-7	France	Final	61,079

On October 23rd 2011, Eden Park became the first ground to host two Rugby World Cup finals, after hosting the inaugural tournament final in 1987. Also, the four teams that reached the semi-finals in 2011 were the same teams that reached the semi-finals in 1987. Furthermore, the third-place and final matches consist of the same national teams as in 1987.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

This stadium has also been selected for the 2015 Cricket World Cup which will jointly be hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Rugby League

The New Zealand Warriors played their first ever NRL match at Eden Park to start the 2011 NRL season in front of a crowd of 38,405. The Warriors will once again start their season with their first home match of the 2012 season at Eden Park.

International Rugby League has also played at this venue. Including the 1985/1988 World Cup final and two Four Nations matches in 2010. All Rugby League matches have pulled crowds over 44,000.

Football

Eden Park has played host to three New Zealand National Team games; friendlies against South Africa and FK Austria Wien in 1947 and 1957 respectively, and an Olympic qualifier against Israel for the Seoul Olympics in 1988. They were defeated in all three games.

On the 19th of November 2011, Eden Park hosted its first game of professional club football. The A-League regular season fixture between Wellington Phoenix and Adelaide United resulted in a 1-1 draw. The game attracted 20,078 supporters, a new attendance record for the Phoenix.

Auckland's A-League club, the New Zealand Knights, played at North Harbour Stadium in the outer northern suburb of Albany, before they folded in 2007.

See also

• 2011 Rugby World Cup
• Stadium New Zealand
• List of Test cricket grounds
• List of international cricket centuries at Eden Park
• 1985/1988 World Cup

External links

• Eden Park website
• All Blacks.com
• Redevelopment Plans

New sporting event	Rugby World Cup Final Venue 1987	Succeeded by Twickenham, London
Preceded by Stade de France, St-Denis	Rugby World Cup Final Venue 2011	Succeeded by Twickenham, London